The lifts
A skyline through time.
Rashmi Maity — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bmzuckerman — CC BY 4.0 · Wsurg — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Liam Enea — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ron Cogswell from Arlington, Virginia, USA — CC BY 2.0 · Jakub Hałun — CC BY 4.0 · Chattus — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cjnyc57 — CC BY-SA 3.0
An observation deck at the top of One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, designed by the architect David Childs. It stands 1,776 feet, or 541 metres, a height that references the year of American independence, 1776. The tower rises on the north-west corner of the new World Trade Center site. It opened in 2014 and the observatory on its top floors in 2015, reached by fast lifts whose walls show New York's skyline growing over the centuries. Behind floor-to-ceiling glass the whole of Manhattan spreads out to the north as far as the Empire State Building, with both rivers, the bridges, the Statue of Liberty and the harbour islands, and New Jersey to the west. Adult tickets start at $39, plus a $3.50 processing fee and tax, per the observatory's official site. It pairs easily with the 9/11 Memorial next door, and just before sunset is the best time.
A skyline through time.
From the top.
In the harbour.
One World Trade Center, Lower Manhattan
National September 11 Memorial & MuseumA memorial and museum at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, created2 minutes walk4.9
Staten Island FerryA free passenger ferry run by New York City's transport department, crossing 8.416 minutes walk4.6
Brooklyn BridgeA suspension bridge across the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, opened20 minutes walk4.9
Brooklyn Bridge ParkA 34-hectare park on the Brooklyn side of the East River, stretching about 2.1 k24 minutes walk4.7From $39 for adults plus a $3.50 processing fee and tax, per the official site.