New York Travel Log: Manhattan's 34th Street Downtown to Battery Park

Empire State Building

Going to New York without going up to the Empire State Building's 86th floor observatory would have been unthinkable, so thanks to Expedia, I purchased a ticket before I even left the UK.

Once in New York, the Empire State building towered over the other buildings of Midtown Manhattan. Here it is from 8th Avenue:

The Empire State Building from 8th Avenue

Given that the building was constructed in the 1930's, I was surprised at how modern the exterior looked - it's not a lot different to many of the skyscrapers built in the last decade or so. By contrast the lobby is very decorative:

The Empire State Building's lobby

Unfortunately the weather was not good during my visit, and I was sceptical that I would be able to see anything at all from the observatory. One evening the weather looked hopeful, so I joined the queues for the observatory. The queue was very long indeed, and it took at least an hour to reach the observatory. Thankfully, once I stepped outside onto the observatory, all the long queuing was quickly forgotten. This is the view towards 8th Avenue. Broadway is at the bottom of the picture, and Madison Square garden is the round building in the top right:

View from the Empire State Building's observatory

I found the top of the Empire State Building to be an eerie sight as it lit up the sea mist swirling around it:

The Empire State Building's mast, as seen from the 86th floor observatory