With a vast amount of landmarks, historic sites, and soaring skyscrapers, finding an Instagrammable place in New York City is quite easy, but also easy to get overwhelmed due to the wide array of choices. Below are 21 most Instagrammable places in the city that should be on every Instagrammer or tourist's list.
1. Top of the Rock
There's a very popular observation deck on the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, a 66-story skyscraper in Midtown that is often referred to as 30 Rock, the observation deck is thus dubbed Top of the Rock. It spans multiple levels, including an open-air deck on the rooftop.
The rooftop deck is 840 ft high above ground, offering unobstructed 360 degree aerial view of the city.
Once ascended to the deck, you get the opportunity to enjoy and capture views of the most number of Instagrammable places from a single site, for the building sits on an ideal location and is high enough for visitors to capture the sights of most of places and landmarks in the city, including the Central Park, Times Square, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, etc., the deck is considered the best place to take pictures of the Empire State Building.
The Empire State Building also has an observation deck, but is too crowded and can't provide the view of the building itself, also a little far away to see the panoramic view of the Central Park.
SEE ALSO: Observation decks in New York City
2. Central Park
Central Park is an urban park near Midtown Manhattan. For a park in the city center, the Central Park is surprisingly huge, covering an area of 843 acres. As the park is so huge, it contains a vast amount of Instagrammable places, including lakes, ponds, bridges, meadows, ice skating rinks, and some classic buildings beside the park.
Some of the most Instagrammable views in the park are of Bow Bridge, Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, Sheep Meadow, and The Eldorado (an Art Deco style twin-towered building on the west side of the park) seen across Central Park Reservoir.
The panoramic view of the park seen from the sky is even more Instagrammable. If you want to get a panoramic view of the entire park, you can either go to the Top of the Rock observation deck or take a helicopter tour.
3. Vessel
Located in the Hudson Yards Public Square between those newly developed towers, this honeycomb-like structure is opened in March 2019 and has quickly become one of the most Instagrammable sites in New York City.
The structure is 150ft tall, consisting of tens of stairways and landings, which are intended for visitors to climb to enjoy the views of the surrounding areas, and also to be impressed by the amazing architecture of the structure itself.
The point to take the most Instagrammable photo of Vessel is at its top level, once get there you can look down at all those many stairs from high above, you don't necessarily need to climb to there, an elevator is there to take visitors to access the top level in a short time.
SEE ALSO: New York City's futuristic buildings
4. Brooklyn Bridge
Opened in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest suspension bridge in New York City, and an icon of the city, it connects Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan across East River.
The bridge has a total length of 6,016 ft (1,833.7 m), the main span is 1,596 feet (486 m).
Aside from roadways for vehicles, the bridge also has an elevated path for pedestrians in the middle, it with the beautiful surrounding views make the bridge a popular place to take a pleasant walk, you don't need to be worried about the length of the path, as it has many benches on the sides prepared for visitors.
5. Downtown skyline from Brooklyn Bridge Park
New York City is best known for its large amount of skyscrapers, which form one of the most impressive skylines in the world. The skyscrapers are mostly concentrated in two areas, the Downtown and Midtown Manhattan, the Midtown's number of buildings is higher but Downtown is home to the city's tallest building (One World Trade Center) and is more Instagrammable.
One of the best places to take pictures of Downtown skyline is Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is located right across the river from Downtown Manhattan.
6. One World Trade Center
The 1776-ft-tall One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is the tallest building in New York City, and is definitely one of the most Instagrammed buildings for its stunning height and tapered shape.
The building is tall enough to be seen in every borough of the city. But in order to get the most Instagrammable photos of the tower, you'd better to go closer to the tower to have the full building captured.
There's also a much better way to get Instagrammable photos for One World Trade Center, that is to take a helicopter tour and take photos from sky when the helicopter get close to the tower.
New York's helicopter tour comes with many different routes, many of these route will pass by One World Trade Center.
7. The Oculus
One of the most Instagrammed structures in Downtown New York is the Oculus, also known by its formal name World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the structure serves as a train station on the PATH system, it's also a part of World Trade Center complex, not far from the One World Trade Center.
Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who designed many landmark buildings in the world (including Dubai Creek Tower, the next world's tallest tower), this train station has a very futuristic design, consists of many white ribs that interlock high above the ground, both its exterior and interior are dominated by white color, the interior is a large hall that looks very empty with high and asymmetrical ceilings on the top. Photos taken from both its interior and exterior are very Instagrammable.
According to Santiago Calatrava, he designed this station to be simple enough so that people can find their ways through the station easily without straying confusedly here and there, this is very different from other train stations.
Aside from the futuristic design, the Oculus cost $4 billion to build, making it the most expensive train station in the world.
SEE ALSO: Most expensive houses in the world
8. Manhattan Bridge from DUMBO
Not far from the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge is another iconic bridge on East River. There are many places to take a nice picture of the bridge, but none of them is more popular than DUMBO in Brooklyn, which is in close proximity to the bridge's east tower. The exact location to take pictures is at the intersection of Water Street and Washington Street, from there you will see the east tower of the bridge in the middle of two red-colored old buildings, and the Empire State Building in the distance, which is perfectly framed by the aperture of the bridge tower.
9. Manhattan's Chinatown from Manhattan Bridge
A lot of cities in the world have Chinatowns, New York City is no exception, the city has many Chinatowns of different sizes in boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The Chinatown in Lower Manhattan is the second oldest Chinatown in America (the oldest is in San Francisco).
The Chinatown covers many blocks and streets, and has a population of about 100,000 people, it's home to the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere.
Wandering in the Chinatown, you will see that most people here are Chinese people, and buildings have a variety of signs with Chinese characters written installed on walls, you will feel that it's a part of a Chinese city.
The western section of Manhattan Bridge has a point on the south side to get a very Instagrammable aerial view of the Chinatown, the street and buildings of Chinatown is beautifully mixed with the skyline in the background.
10. Flatiron Building
This wedge-shaped building is one of the most Instagrammed buildings in New York City, not only for its iconic shape, but also for its ideal location, as it sits on a triangular block formed by Broadway and Fifth Avenue at its two sides, and East 22nd Street at its back on the north.
Flatiron Building is named for its resemblance to a clothes iron. It has been featured in a lot of films and TV series, including Spider-Man movies, in which the building is the headquarters of a newspaper company and Peter Parker works in it as a photographer.
11. High Line elevated park
This beautiful and interesting park is one of its kind, it sits on a super-long elevated linear platform that has a length of 1.5 miles, the park was used to be an active rail line, which was abandoned in late 20th Century, and was then transformed into an urban park in 2009.
Now the High Line has become an icon of contemporary landscape architecture, and a popular tourist attraction, attracting more than five million visitors every year.
You can see many other beautiful and Instagrammable sights along the linear park, one of the most Instagrammed sights that can be seen from the park is a skybridge above West 15th Street, near the southern end of the High Line.
SEE ALSO: New York City's futuristic skybridges
12. Joker Stairs
Joker Stairs is a steep stairway on West 167th Street in the Bronx, not far from the Yankee Stadium. The 180ft-long stairway is used for connecting Shakespeare Avenue and Anderson Avenue, for the latter avenue is about 80 ft higher in altitude.
The stairway got its name Joker Stairs after being featured in 2019 thriller film Joker, it also appears in the film's poster. The film makes the stairway a popular tourist attraction, attracting lots of visitors and fans of the film to the site to take pictures, imitate the Joker dancing on the stairs, many of them dress Joker's red-colored suites.
13. Delmonico's Restaurant
At Financial District in Lower Manhattan, there's another building that sits on a triangle plot, which is at the intersection of Beaver Street and William Street. The building was built in 1891 by Delmonico's brothers for their restaurant Delmonico's, which was the first a la carte restaurant in New York City, as well as one of the best fine dining restaurants in the city, the restaurant is the birthplace of the famous and widely imitated Delmonico steak.
Now this 8-story historic building is still occupied by Delmonico's Restaurant, though it has no connection with the original restaurant operated by Delmonico's family beyond the name and location. The current restaurant serves many of the original restaurant's dishes, and the operators state that they continue the Delmonico's brothers' standards.
14. Statue of Liberty
This colossal statue in New York Harbor is a must-see for all visitors to New York City. The statue has a total height of 305 ft with the foundation included, the woman depicted by the statue rises her right hand with a torch, which is meant to be enlightening the world.
The Statue of Liberty is built on the Liberty Island, with no tunnels connected and no pier for private boats, the only way to get there is by taking a ferry, which starts from Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan.
15. Washington Square Arch
Standing in the Washington Square Park, this arch is New York's version of Arc de Triomphe, and one of the most famous monuments in the city. As its name indicates, Washington Square Arch was dedicated to George Washington as the first president of America. The arch has stood there for over 120 years.
16. Times Square
No other place in New York City attracts more visitors than Times Square, which is widely referred to as the Crossroads of the World or the Center of the Universe, it draws approximately 50 million visitors a year, and about 340 thousand pedestrians pass through the square every day.
The square is at the junction of Seventh Avenue and Broadway, stretching from 42nd to 47th Streets, the facades of buildings on the sides are filled with eye-catching signs, billboards and advertisements.
One of the most Instagrammable views on the square is of the tower One Times Square, which has various billboards installed from the bottom to top, and Two Times Square on its opposite site across the square is similar, with the famous Coca-Cola sign displayed on the facade.
17. Abe Lebewohl Triangle in East Village
A triangular building is always a magnet for Instagrammers, this highly Instagrammable house can be found at Abe Lebewohl Triangle on the eastern end of Stuyvesant Street, in East Village, the area is one of the oldest in New York, and is often used for scenes of movies set in old New York.
18. Queensboro Bridge
Another frequently Instagrammed bridge in New York City is the Queensboro Bridge, a very unique cantilever bridge that passes over Roosevelt Island and the East River, connecting Queens' Long Island City to Midtown Manhattan.
The bridge has two levels, both upper and lower levels have lanes for automobile traffic, the lower level also has a path for pedestrian walk and cycling.
19. St.Patrick's Cathedral
St.Patrick's Cathedral is a Neo-Gothic twin-towered cathedral on 5th Avenue, right across the street from Rockefeller Center. It occupies a whole city block and can accommodate 3,000 people. The church's two spires rise 330 ft (100 meters) from the ground, making it the third tallest church in Americas.
SEE ALSO: 10 tallest churches in the world
20. 56 Leonard Street
Did you ever see a residential tower built like stacked Genga blocks? There's such a illusive tower at 56 Leonard Street in Tribeca, Lower Manhattan. The tower rises 821 ft and has 60 floors, containing 145 condominium residences. It was designed by Pritzker Prize winning architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, an assemblage of cuboids are irregularly stacked to form its Genga-like appearance.
21. Supertall towers on Billionaire Row from Central Park
The 57th Street is widely known as Billionaire Row, the street is home to several supertall luxury residential towers, the highest one (Central Park Tower) of them rises 1550 ft to the sky, that is even much higher than the roof of One World Trade Center, which won't be the city's tallest if it doesn't contain a spire on the top.
One of the best locations to take Instagrammable photo for these supertall towers is in Central Park, since there's no buildings around blocking the view, and the southern edge of the park is only one block away from 57th Street.
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