New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [53]
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Planning | Top Touring Experiences | Top Attractions | Worth Noting | Galleries | Midtown In Depth
Updated by Robert Brenner
Just as Washington, D.C., has its Mall, New York City has Midtown, mobbed with more massive urban monuments—Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building among them—than any other part of the city. This is the New York City of opening-credit aerial views, the heart of the world’s most recognizable skyline.
When movies need a big-city backdrop, they come to Midtown. Even the small screen is drawn to New York, as Today show early risers and Saturday Night Live night owls know. But even though Midtown’s attractions seem obvious, there are gems less familiar to visitors, such as Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock or St. Bartholomew’s Church, that are every bit as showstopping.
And who could forget the origin of that phrase “bright lights, big city”: Times Square. The shopping here may be ordinary and the restaurants average, but the amazing theaters of the Great White Way still have a gravitational pull. Seeing a show can be pricey, but join the line at the TKTS booth and suddenly orchestra seats don’t seem out of the question.
The funny thing is that most locals come to think of Midtown as simply the end point for their workaday commute: they often forget the wonder its skyscrapers elicit, the magic of the department-store windows decked out in razzle-dazzle display.
It’s true that Midtown is mostly nonstop hustle-bustle, but don’t dismiss this part of town as a place without pockets of local flavor and finds. They can be hard to spot, tucked away on random side streets traversed by relatively few pedestrians, where workers load boxes onto trucks, mounds of garbage bags are piled high at curbs, and parking garages are a dime a dozen. So as you try to keep pace with the mass of crowds and fight your way across intersections—even when you have the light—take a moment to tune out the frenzy and open your eyes to what you’re passing by.
PLANNING
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TIME
If you’re staying in Midtown, take advantage of your prime location: rise early and be first in line at landmarks and museums. To avoid crowds while shopping or sightseeing, hit the streets at midday on weekdays or early on weekends. (Alternatively, to experience the thrill of thousands of racing workaday suits, visit Grand Central Terminal or Rockefeller Center at rush hour.)
At night, stroll through Rockefeller Plaza or gaze up at the Chrysler Building shimmering in the dark. You’ll see Midtown at its quieter moments, when the romance of the city washes over you.
GETTING HERE AND AROUND
You can get to Midtown via (almost) all the subways; many make numerous stops throughout the area. The B, D, F, and M trains serve Rockefeller Center and 42nd Street at 6th Avenue. The 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, Q, and R serve Times Square and West 42nd Street. The 4, 5, 6, and 7 take you to Grand Central. The S or Shuttle travels back and forth between Grand Central and Times Square.
FODOR’S CHOICE
Bryant Park
Grand Central Terminal
TOP EXPERIENCES
Elbowing through Times Square
Lounging in the grass at Bryant Park
Seeing the tree at Rockefeller Center at Christmas
Standing in the center of Grand Cetral Station’s main concourse
Strolling down Fifth Avenue
TOP TOURING EXPERIENCES
THE MANY FACES OF MIDTOWN
Midtown Manhattan is a study in contrasts, most visibly in its architecture, a mind-boggling patchwork of styles spanning two centuries. Walk west from residential Tudor City on 42nd Street and, in the span of a few blocks, you’ll pass the stately Chrysler Building (considered an Art Deco triumph), the bustling Beaux-Arts masterpiece Grand Central Terminal, and the tranquil Beaux-Arts masterpiece New York Public