Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings in Midtown Manhattan developed by John D. Rockefeller Jr. during the Great Depression, with the original 14 Art Deco structures completed between 1930 and 1939. The complex's centerpiece, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, rises 70 stories above the Channel Gardens — a formal promenade linking Fifth Avenue to the sunken Lower Plaza where the famous ice rink operates from October through April and a restaurant occupies the space in warmer months. The surrounding buildings house the studios of NBC (including Saturday Night Live's Studio 8H), Radio City Music Hall, and dozens of restaurants and retailers. Top of the Rock, the observatory on floors 67, 69, and 70 of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, offers what many visitors consider New York City's finest skyline view: unlike the view from the Empire State Building itself, Top of the Rock looks directly at the Empire State Building, placing it in full context within the Midtown skyline. The outdoor top deck at 850 feet elevation is open to the elements, giving it a different character from the fully enclosed observation decks at competing buildings. Radio City Music Hall, designed in 1932 by Edward Durrell Stone, is the largest indoor theater in the United States and offers public tours of its Art Deco interior and backstage areas. The Channel Gardens between Fifth Avenue and the plaza are planted with seasonal displays — tulips and narcissus in spring, evergreens and angels flanking the famous rink in winter. The Rockette Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall runs from late October through January and typically sells out weeks in advance.