Address: 26 Broadway
Hours: Open 365 days. Monday – Friday, 9am – 7pm; Saturday – Sunday, 9am – 9pm. Last entry is 90 minutes prior to closing. Hours are subject to change. Click here to get your tickets to the sports museum
The Sports Museum of America (SmA) is the nation's first and only all-sports experience richly showcasing the history, grandeur and significance of sports in American culture – from yesterday’s legends to today’s stars.
Created in exclusive partnership with over 50 single-sport Halls of Fame, National Governing Bodies and other sports organizations across North America, this next-generation attraction features amazing state-of-the-art interactives, original films and awe-inspiring artifacts that powerfully celebrate your favorite goose bump moments in American sports history.
SmA is also home to the legendary Heisman Trophy and the Billie Jean King International Women's Sports Center, including the first ever women's sports hall of fame.
Conveniently located next to the “Charging Bull” statue, footsteps from the Statue of Liberty Ferry, and only 15 minutes from Midtown by subway, SmA delivers the ideal combination of inspiration, education, and flat-out fun!
One of the most popular and spectacular venues in New York City, Radio City Music Hall has been delighting audience members since it first opened in 1932. Conceived by S.L. "Roxy" Rothafel, it was the largest indoor theater in the world at the time.
The theater was designed in the Art Deco style, which utilizes glass, aluminum, chrome, and geometric ornamentation. The famous marquee, a full city block in length, consists of more than six miles of red and blue neon tubes. The Grand Foyer ceiling is adorned with 24-carat gold leaf.
Above the Grand Staircase, in the Grand Foyer, is a huge mural by Erzra Winter. The sixty foot by thirty foot mural depicts mankind in his pursuit of eternal youth. The Wurlitzer Organ, a 1932 original, has two independent consoles on each side of the stage. An organist is able to reproduce the sound of an entire orchestra using the features of this organ. The auditorium is truly breathtaking. Inspired by a cruise on an ocean-liner, Rothafels wanted the auditorium to resemble the sun setting on an ocean of red velvet seats.
Synonymous with Radio City Music Hall is the Rockettes Chorus Line. They were founded in 1925 when Russell Markert began selecting dancing girls for the Missouri Rockets precision dance team. The troupe toured the country and eventually found a permanent home in New York. Rothafel saw them and decided he wanted them for his new Roxy Theater. He renamed them the Roxyettes. Eventually, the chorus line was expanded and the name was changed to The Rockettes. Today, there are over 175 women in The Rockettes dance troupe. Their Easter performances and Christmas spectaculars are popular events for visitors and New Yorkers alike.
In 1979, Radio City moved beyond its traditional movie/stage format, and it now presents spectacular live stage performances, concerts, television events, and Hollywood movie premieres. Don't forget tobring a great camera!
Ellis Island
Phone: (212) 363-7620 or (212) 269-5755 Hours: July to August: 9:30am - 6pm daily; September to June: 9:30am - 5pm daily. Closed: December 25.
During the period from 1892 to 1954, nearly twelve million people entered the United States through the gates at Ellis Island. Forty percent of the population of America can trace their roots to an ancestor who passed through Ellis Island. In fact, at least seventy percent of all immigrants who came to America came through the New York port.
Ellis Island came into being as a result of the U.S. Government's attempt to regulate the flow of the huge waves of immigrants coming to America's shores. Federal law determined immigrants' citizenship eligibility. As many as 5,000 people a day were checked, questioned and sent to their destination. For most people, the process took approximately 3 to 5 hours. For the unfortunate two percent, it was a grief-stricken return trip home. First and second-class passengers on many ships were processed on board, but third class and steerage were transported to Ellis Island. Once at Ellis Island, immigrants underwent medical and legal examinations at the main building. Don't forget to bring a great camera!
Chinatown
Address: East of Center Street, south of Canal Street
Chinatownbegan as a small community of Chinese immigrants seeking work in the West so that they could send home wages to their families still living in China.
At the turn of the century,
Chinatown was isolated and controlled by secret neighborhood organizations collectively known as "The Tongs." Some of the Tongs simply brokered loans within the community; others, such as the "Hip Sing," had formed criminal organizations. Doyers Street was well known as "the bloody angle," where gangs often carried out retribution against their enemies. The Tongs made a truce in 1933 which brought peace to the streets of an agressive
Chinatown.
By 1940 the area had become home to many middle-class families. During the post-war era, businesses and immigrants from Hong Kong brought new wealth to
Chinatown . Today, over 80,000 Asian Americans who trace their roots back to the East call
Chinatown their home. The neighborhood is known for its excellent food, but its highlight is the
Eastern
States
Buddhist
Temple at 64b Mott Street. Inside the
Temple , visitors will be delighted by the sight of 100 golden Buddhas shimmering in the candlelight. The frequent festivals and parades, as well as the galleries and curio shops create a celebration of Chinese culture every day of the year. Don't forget tobring a great camera!
The Guggenheim museum is the home to one of the finest collections of contemporary and modern art in the world.
Established over sixty years ago by Solomon R. Guggenheim (a well-known philanthropist) with the help of Hilla Rebay, an artist of the time and advisor to Guggenheim, it was originally housed in what had been a showroom for automobiles on East 45th Street. At that time, it was known as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting because it welcomed and featured a collection of the newer art forms being produced by the likes of Kandinsky, Mondrian and Klee.
The current building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is designated as a New York City landmark.
The realization of Guggenheim's dream to create a facility for his avante-garde collection of art, the museum contains works by noted artists such as Braque, Calder, Chagall, Delaunay, Giacometti, Leger, Miro, Picasso, and Van Gogh.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum offers guided tours, slide lectures, and exclusive private viewings of the museum during nonpublic hours. Groups of ten or more receive discount admission to the museum. Reservations are required and must be made three weeks in advance. Guided tours are available for groups of up to twenty people. Rates are $125 per guide and tours last approximately one hour. Foreign language tours are available. Private viewings and special dining programs can be customized for your group. Don't forget tobring a great camera!
The Statue of Liberty
Address: Liberty Island Hours: July to August: 9:30am - 5:30pm daily; September to June: 9:30am - 6pm daily. Closed: December 25. Transportation: Ferries depart from Battery Park every 30 minutes, from 9:30am - 3:30pm during the summer months (winter hours vary).
Lady Liberty, as the statue is sometimes called, was a gift from the French commemorating the American Revolution. The statue was unveiled on October 28, 1886, by President Grover Cleveland. Previously, the statue had been a fixture in Paris before it found its way to its present home on Bedloe's Island, now known as Liberty Island. In 1986 the statue underwent extensive restoration at a cost of $69.8 million dollars. A new gold torch was added replacing the corroded original (the original is on display in the main lobby). The torch was coated with 24-carat gold leaf. The Statue of Liberty is recognized as a symbol of freedom throughout the world.
Some interesting facts:
Height: 305 feet (93 m). 354 steps lead from the entrance to the crown. The seven rays of Lady Liberty's crown represent the seven seas and seven continents. The pedestal is set within the walls of an army fort. It was the largest concrete mass ever poured. There are 25 windows in the crown, which symbolize 25 gemstones found on the earth. The tablet, which the statue holds in her left hand, reads (in Roman numerals) "July 4th, 1776."Don't forget tobring a great camera!
Rockefeller Center
Address: 47th to 51st streets between Fifth and Sixth avenues
In 1928, John D. Rockefeller envisioned Rockefeller Center as the site of three huge office buildings and an ideally-located opera house. The stock market crash of 1929 forced him to re-evaluate his plans. The opera house backed out of its deal and the whole project was sent into disarray and confusion.
Not to be thwarted, Rockefeller and his lead architect, Raymond Hood, set to work on what was to become the first integrated office complex in the world, combining shops, gardens, restaurants and entertainment.
The first of 14 buildings was completed during the depression era between 1931 and 1940, and provided jobs for over 225,000 people. Thirty Rockefeller Plaza, with its gilded statue of Prometheus at the entrance, was another of the early buildings constructed and is the largest. The famous Radio City Music Hall was added in 1932 and features the famous Rockettes chorus line, a highlight during the Christmas and Easter season. The music hall, which features year-round entertainment from top performers, seats 5,874 people, and is an Art Deco masterpiece.
Another of the magnificent treasures found at Rockefeller Center is the statue of Atlas. Lee Lawrie designed this 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) bronze statue at the entrance to the International Building on Fifth Avenue at West 50th Street. Atlas is just one of twelve Lawrie works that one can view at Rockefeller Center.
Known as much for its outdoor spaces as it is for its indoor areas, Rockefeller Center features an outdoor cafe, the sloping Channel Garden, and a skating rink. Each Christmas season, the world's largest decorated tree sits next to the skating rink. Beneath Rockefeller Center are shops and restaurants. There are upscale shops of all types here, and visitors can purchase anything from Japanese books to Italian leather goods. For special gifts, visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store or Agatha, which offers French costume jewelry. Don't forget tobring a great camera!
The American Museum of Natural History
Address: Central Park West (8th Avenue) at 79th Street Hours: Sunday to Thursday, 10:00am - 5:45pm; Friday to Saturday 10:00am - 8:45pm; closed: Christmas and Thanksgiving day
The American Museum of Natural History is home to the largest collection of insects, amphibians, ocean life, reptiles, anthropological artifacts, fossil mammals and dinosaurs in the world. It houses over 36 million artifacts that will guarantee a memorable visit, regardless of your interests.
Opened in 1869, the museum now has over 200 working scientists and several million visitors each year. One of the most popular displays is a replica of a ninety-four foot female Blue Whale which was captured off the southern coast of America in 1925. Another favorite is a giant four-and-a half-billion-year-old meteorite found in Greenland.
The Hall of Minerals and Gems contains jewels valued at nearly $50 million; and the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda contains a Barosaurus fossil which is the largest freestanding dinosaur exhibit in the world. The museum also presents special exhibits like the recent ?pidemic! World of Infectious Diseases?which explains how the mixture of ecology, evolution, and culture can produce conditions in which deadly microbes thrive.
The American Museum of Natural History is home to the largest collection of insects, amphibians, ocean life, reptiles, anthropological artifacts, fossil mammals and dinosaurs in the world. It houses over 36 million artifacts that will guarantee a memorable visit, regardless of your interests.
