Best NYC Attractions + Free Map

New York City is one of the most popular tourist destinations worldwide with an average of 65 million people visiting yearly. Some of its main attractions are often included in lists of the best landmarks to visit worldwide, such as The Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, and Times Square. Needless to say, a tourist will never be bored in NYC. 

Featured on this page: Central Park, Washington Square Park, NOLITA, Grand Central, The High Line, Little Island, Times Square, Top of The Rock, Flatiron, The Vessel, The Edge, One World Trade Center, Westfield Center, Empire State, Statue of Liberty, Lincoln Center, DUMBO, and Coney Island.

Save the map below and use it during your trip! Feel free to tag us on your pictures @gaysintown.

Central Park

Address: From 59th Street to 110th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West.
Subway: A, E, C (West) & 4, 5, 6 (East)

This 843-acre park is the heart and lungs of Manhattan. No matter what time of the year you visit the city, Central Park is always ready to seduce you with its charm. For the perfect experience, take a whole day to adventure yourself through its bushes, hidden waterfalls, bucolic castle, and incredible zoo. Although, if you don't have much time, we'd recommend going right between 72nd and 96th Streets on the park's Eastside. This is where you will find the Bethesda Fountain, featured in Enchanted, the Alice in the Wonderland statue, and the conservatory water pound featured in Stuart Little. 

Central Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and influenced the development of urban parks nationwide. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece of landscape architecture. The park provides essential ecological and environmental benefits to the City. Its more than 18,000 trees cool and clean the air, and provide habitat for wildlife. 

Washington Square Park 

Address: Washington Square, New York, NY 10012
Subway: A, C, E, B, D, F, M, 1, R, W, 4, 5 & 6

Washington Square Park is NYC's most popular public space for students and teens. Surrounded by the New York University (NYU) campus and many of Manhattan's most fun neighborhoods, this spot sums up the vibrant energy of this town with live concerts, artistic performances, social manifestations, fashion statements, bold pigeons, chess competitions, and Justin Theroux walking his dog in a white tank top - if you're lucky. 

The land where Washington Square Park is located was once a marsh fed by Minetta Brook located near an Indian village known as Sapokanikan. Used first as the Washington Military Parade Ground in 1826, the site became a public park in 1827. The Washington Arch is made of marble and it was designed by Stanford White. It replaced a wooden arch erected in 1889 to honor the centennial of the first president’s inauguration. 

NOLITA

Address: Nolita, New York, NY 10012
Subway: 4, 5, 6, J, Z, R, W, B, D, F & M

Desperately Seeking Susan, After Hours, When Harry Met Sally, and Sex and The City are some of the many movies that borrow Nolita's charming aesthetic during the years. NOLITA is a neighborhood with chic (and expensive) boutiques, art galleries, and many options for dinner and all-day-long drinks. This tiny neighborhood is bounded north by Houston Street, east by the Bowery, south by Broome Street, and west by Lafayette Street. 

The name is an abbreviation for North of Little Italy. In the second half of the 1990s, the neighborhood saw an explosion of expensive retail boutiques and restaurants, and bars. Nowadays, NOLITA is a popular neighborhood for tourists and influencers looking for classic New York pictures. 

Top of the Rock, The Rockefeller Center

Address: 45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111
Subway: B, D, F, M, E & 1

The Rockefeller will forever be one of the most classic buildings in New York. During the winter, you can enjoy ice skating, visit the NBC studios, or their famous Christmas Tree in The Rockefeller Center. And their observation deck has a reasonable price with one of the best views of the city. 

In 1928, John D. Rockefeller leased land from Columbia University for the future site of Rockefeller Center. It was during its construction, in 1931, that the first Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was erected by workers. The Rockefeller Center was completed in 1939. The building is a National Historic Landmark.

Grand Central

Address: 89 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017
Subway: 4, 5, 6, 7 & S

Grand Central is one of the busiest train stations globally and probably the most glamorous of them all. Opened in 1913, the terminal incorporates numerous works of art, various stores, and restaurants - including the historic Oyster Bar, as seen on The Girl on the Train, and Art Bird & Whiskey Bar, managed by Lady Gaga’s dad. 

For over a century, New Yorkers have used Grand Central as their town commons. The station inspired a whirlwind of construction through the 1920s, and it is until today the most extraordinary public space in New York City. 

The High Line

Address: The High Line, New York, NY 10011
Subway: A, C, E, & 7

Built on an abandoned freight rail line, this elevated linear park offers fantastic city views, and it’s constantly updated by art and architecture projects. The High Line can get packed over the Summer, so try to avoid going there on the weekend. 

The elevated rail line was ordered for construction in 1924, and only in 1933, it was ready to be used. With the decline of trains during the 60s and 70s, the High Line was destined for demolition. In 1983, the community proposed to transform the rails into a park. The project, however, took decades to finally happen. 

The first section of the High Line to be ever opened to the public was inaugurated in 2009. The rest of the park completed construction in 2014 and 2019. 

Little Island

Address: Pier 55 at Hudson River Park Hudson River Greenway, NY 10014
Subway: A & C

Next to the beginning of the High Line, there is the first floating park in New York. The Little Island was designed to remember a leaf on the water, with 280 concrete piles creating the base and 132 concrete tulips on top. Go there for lots of green, incredible views, and live performances. 

Little Island is located where Pier 54 once was, The pier was a safe haven for New York City’s LGBTQ community over the 70s and 80s, but it eventually became part of the Hudson River Park in 1998. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit New York City’s coastline, heavily damaging several piers along the Hudson. 

Fun fact: The Pier 54 was the arrival destination of the Titanic.

Little Island opened on May 21, 2021, and it’s sponsored by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation.

Times Square

Address: Times Square, Manhattan, NY 10036
Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, Q, R & W

There's no way you are coming to Manhattan and not visiting its main attraction. Times Square draws an estimated 50 million visitors annually for a reason. It’s part of the New York spirit! However, if you’re not into packed places, you might consider going there in the early morning or late evening. 

Originally known as Long Acre (also Longacre) Square, Times Square served as the early site for William H. Vanderbilt’s American Horse Exchange. In the late 1880s, the construction of New York’s first rapid transit system brought attention to the area. Adolph S. Ochs, owner and publisher of The New York Times, saw an opportunity and selected a highly visible location to build the Times Tower in the middle of the Long Acre. In January 1905, the Times finally moved into its new headquarters and Mayor George B. McClellan signed a resolution that renamed Long Acre Square to Times Square. The New York Times eventually moved to a new location, but the tower still stands as the main attraction in Times Square. 

The Edge

30 Hudson Yards, New York
Subway: 7 

The Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere. Right on its 100th floor, you will find a glass floor expanding 225 square feet, offering you breathtaking views. There is even a restaurant for meals and drinks. Tickets for tourists are $38. 

At the top of The Edge, you can look 100 stories down from the thrilling glass floor, lean out over the city on angled glass walls and sip champagne in the sky.

The Flatiron Building

Address: 175 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010
Subway: 4, 5 & 6

One of the first skyscrapers of modern times, the Flatiron Building attracts thousands of tourists every day. They are all impressed by its distinctive triangular shape and dramatic-looking. At 22 stories and 307 feet, the Flatiron was never the city's tallest building but certainly is the most photogenic. 

Flatiron Building, designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built-in 1902, was intended to serve as offices for the George A. Fuller Company, a major Chicago contracting firm. Fun fact: When the Flatiron Building first opened, the building's designers had failed to include any ladies' restrooms and they had to designate bathrooms for men and women on alternating floors.

The Vessel

Address: 20 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001
Subway: 7

Almost 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings came together to form this interconnected structure in the middle of the Hudson Yards Plaza. The building has closed its door for visits a few times following safety reasons, so always check their official website before planning your visit.

The Vessel comprises 154 intricately interconnecting flights of stairs. It has a diameter of 50 feet at its base, which extends to 150 feet at its 6-story peak as it grows vertically. The design was inspired by the step-wells of Rajasthan. 

One World Trade Observatory 

Address: 117 West St, New York, NY 10006
Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, R & W

On the 100th floor of the One World Trade Center, you will find this amazing observatory with 360-degree views of Manhattan, the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge, and New York Harbor. The building was completed in 2014 and is also called the Freedom Tower, as a way of celebrating the city's recovery after 9/11. 

The building measures 546 meters high (1776 feet), which corresponds precisely to the year of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.

The Oculus

Address: Church St, New York, NY 10006
Subway: 1, 2, 4, 5, C, E & R

Right across the One World Trade Center, you will find this transportation hub and shopping mall named The Oculus. This place is all about its incredible stark white architecture. The Oculus' total cost was estimated to be nearly four billion dollars, and its design was intended to remind us of "a bird flying from the hands of a child". The building is a symbol of hope standing where the 9/11 tragedy happened. 

Construction on the One World Trade Center portion of the mall began in 2007. In February 2012, Westfield Corporation entered an agreement with the Port Authority, which owns the rest of the World Trade Center site. The mall opened on August 16, 2016. 

Empire State Building

Address: 20 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001
Subway: B, D, F, M, N, Q, R & W

This 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan may have lost the title of the tallest building in New York, but it is still the greatest symbol of the city’s architecture and power. You can check their 86th Floor Observation Deck for $30. 

The Empire State Building was erected where the old Waldorf Astoria Hotel once was. Construction of the Empire State Building began on March 17, 1930. In a record-breaking 1 year and 45 days, construction on the building was completed. In 1961, Lawrence A. Wien, Peter L. Malkin, and Harry B. Helmsley bought the Empire State Building for $65 million (approximately $557 million today). The price is the highest ever paid for a single building.

The colored flood lights tradition began in 1971, with only three colors - blue, red, and white. In 2012, they unveiled a new LED lighting system capable of 16,000,000 different colors. 

Statue of Liberty

Address: Liberty Island, New York, NY 10004
Ferry: Liberty Landing Ferry

It’s a journey to visit Lady Liberty, but one that is very worth it. To avoid long lines for the boat that takes tourists to Liberty Island, try to arrive before 8 AM and guarantee your ticket online. 

The Statue of Liberty was created by Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, after a meeting in 1865 when Édouard de Laboulaye proposed the idea of presenting a monumental gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. Laboulaye was moved by the recent abolition of slavery in the U.S., which furthered America’s ideals of liberty and freedom. 

Bartholdi designed Liberty Enlightening the World, thinking of every detail. Her crown represents light with its spikes evoking sun rays extending out to the world. The tablet, inscribed with July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals, referencing the American independence. And a broken shackle and chains at the Statue’s foot symbolize the end of slavery. 

France was responsible for creating the Statue and assembling it in the United States while the American people built the pedestal. The pedestal was founded with help of Joseph Pulitzer, who placed an ad in his paper the New York World inviting readers to donate to the cause.

The statue was completed in 1884, in France. To cross the Atlantic, the Statue was reduced to 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates. The ship arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885.

Lincoln Center 

Address: Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023
Subway: 1

Lincoln Center has an impeccable schedule of performances, plays, concerts, and movie exhibitions, besides its incredible architecture. Always check their website to find out what's happening there. 

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is an extensive 16.3 acres arts complex in New York City. It was conceived and designed beginning in the 1950s. The center includes twelve arts organizations: Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Juilliard School, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., Lincoln Center Theater, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and School of American Ballet.

DUMBO

Address: 40-58 Washington St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Subway: A, C & F

Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, you will arrive in Brooklyn's dearest neighborhood, DUMBO. This is one of the most romantic and beautiful places in New York. Go walk by the water, check out the carousel, and don't skip the most Instagrammable address of all time: Washington Street. 

In 1686, the New York City municipal government sold the first lots of underwater land, or “water lots,” to private citizens who then filled in these spaces. The waterfront build-out began in earnest in the late 18th century. In the past, DUMBO was the address of Domino Sugar factory, the Ariosa coffee empire, and Brillo soap pads. 

Coney Island

Address: 1000 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224
Subway: D, F, N & Q

Remember when Beyoncé made two women get suspended 150-feet in the air on the top of a 100-year-old wonder wheel for over 30 minutes while she was recording the video for XO? Yes, this happened in Coney Island. If you need more reasons than that to visit this lovely neighborhood, think about the boardwalk with the best sunset in town, street art, and multiple roller coaster rides.

Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area, bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach. Between about 1880 and World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year. By the first decade of the 20th century, the neighborhood was seen as "a symbol of Americans' increasing pride". 

The Wonder Wheel, which opened in 1920, is a New York City Landmark. The Coney Island Cyclone, which opened in 1927, is one of the United States' oldest wooden roller coasters still in operation. Currently, Luna Park features 28 rides, 13 carnival-style games, and an arcade for kids and adults.

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