Empire State Building or Top of the Rock?

[antmaril]

From Top of the Rock —

 

[shudie]

I'm not sure about the lines at this time of the year.

 

In March a few years ago we did both - the ESB at night and Top of the Rock in the day. If you are going in the day, the view from Top of the Rock is far superior because you look straight out at the Empire State Building one way and Central park the other. However, there was something special about going up the Empire State Building having seen it on TV/movies for so many years!

 

Definitely buy tickets in advance, our NY Pass got us in the quick queue. 

 

Pic below taken from Top of the Rock

[NCteacherlovescruising]

3 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

This gets back to my earlier point about figuring out what you truly want to do/see, vs. seeing things just because they are iconic sites that you somehow feel you need to check off on a list.

 

3 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

If I recall, you are landing at 8am.  Most of the foodsofny.com tours start around 11:00 I think, so you'll have all you can do to get bags, get into the city and drop off bags, and get to the food tour meeting point.  At one point you were set on some diner for breakfast (or your hubby was), but unless you are doing a food tour that starts later, there is no way you can do both on the same day.  Personally I'd grab something on the run from the airport for breakfast and focus on the food tour but that's just me.  Then since you're already downtown, take the ferry to SOL and back.  Don't get off, just take the ferry round trip for the views from the water.  Late afternoon after the SOL ferry, visit the 9/11 memorial, then head uptown for a stroll through Central Park. 
At this point I can't recall if your hotel is in midtown or Jersey, but if midtown, it would be very convenient to save the CP stroll for the following morning to avoid feeling rushed the day before.  You could also do ToR or ESB that morning, whichever you choose.  You likely have until mid-afternoon the next day for all aboard, so it's quite possible to split your sightseeing up over the 2 days.

 

Our hotel WAS in Jersey City. However, this morning I canceled that and booked the Courtyard Central Park. I was tired of trying to plan things around transpiration I have no control over. Now we can walk most places And that’s determining what we are doing. For instance, from our hotel we can easily walk to Central Park, Top of the Rock, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, so they are all on our list. Anything else in that general area we might want to checkout while we are there?

 

I hadn’t really thought about doing any sightseeing the morning of our cruise, but we could if we wanted to. 

 

 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

3 hours ago, shudie said:

I'm not sure about the lines at this time of the year.

 

In March a few years ago we did both - the ESB at night and Top of the Rock in the day. If you are going in the day, the view from Top of the Rock is far superior because you look straight out at the Empire State Building one way and Central park the other. However, there was something special about going up the Empire State Building having seen it on TV/movies for so many years!

 

Definitely buy tickets in advance, our NY Pass got us in the quick queue. 

 

Pic below taken from Top of the Rock

That’s a cool view!  I’m glad we are going during the day!  I doubt we would have time for both, because of lines.  However, we will still get to see most of the things we wanted to. Unless we went at night, like after our sunset cruise which ends at 9:00. That would be a really long day though, considering we have to get up around 3-3:30 am. 

Edited August 3, 2019 by NCteacherlovescruising

[lenquixote66]

15 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Len, that's not what the OP asked.  She said that she and her husband have limited time in NY and wanted to know about lines and waits, especially on the Saturday of a holiday weekend.  If you've been there recently on such a date, that information is what she's looking for.

Correct but if they have not been to either my suggestion is the Empire State Building.

In 2007 I organized a school reunion in NYC .Every person opted to go to the Empire State Building because wherever they lived at the time everyone who found out that they grew up in NYC always asked about the Empire State Building.Nobody ever asked about Top Of The Rock. I was merely offering the OP a suggestion from someone living in NYC  nearly 9 decades.

[Turtles06]

Just now, lenquixote66 said:

Correct but if they have not been to either my suggestion is the Empire State Building.

In 2007 I organized a school reunion in NYC .Every person opted to go to the Empire State Building because wherever they lived at the time everyone who found out that they grew up in NYC always asked about the Empire State Building.Nobody ever asked about Top Of The Rock. I was merely offering the OP a suggestion from someone living in NYC  nearly 9 decades.

 

We understand that. The OP clearly has heard of the ESB and knows how famous it is, but she also said she has limited time and doesn't want to waste it standing in long lines.  So she was specifically looking for information about long waits on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend (a legitimate concern), and has been trying to decide between the ESB and Top of the Rock with those issues in mind (or skip them both).

[Tedferg]

We have somewhat similar questions. We arrive at LGA 8:30 pm, staying near WTC, then a full day and finally half day before sail at 5:00 from Brooklyn. I am now thinking the lines might take too much time for top of anything 😞 Was thinking of 9/11 and One World Center on the morning of Sail day - how are lines there ?

 

Separate question, on our full day we will do Central Park, Rockefeller Center etc. back to WTC hotel for rest in late afternoon. Would it be reasonable to take Subway to Times Square to see it at night ?