9 Best Sights in New York City, New York

Sky-high views dazzle visitors to the Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Center's famous, multifloor observation deck. Arrive presunset to watch New York's five boroughs (and New Jersey) morph into a dazzling wash of colors, casting magic-hour light on the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings, Central Park to the north, and World Trade Center towers to the south. Indoor exhibits include films of Rockefeller Center's history, a building model, and endless photo ops—including the Beam Experience, where you can re-create the famous 1932 "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" picture; and the Skylift compact, private elevator rising above the deck (each requires separate tickets).

Rapid elevators lift you to the 67th-floor interior viewing area, and then an escalator leads to the outdoor deck on the 69th floor for sightseeing through glass safety panels. Take another elevator or stairs to the 70th floor for a 360-degree, open-air NYC panorama on a deck that stretches nearly 200 feet long. You can opt for a general-admission ticket or the Rock's combo deal with other local attractions (like MoMA); or better still, save money across town by investing in a CityPASS or other NYC sightseeing pass. For Rock Center only, starting at $95, the Express Pass allows sunset entrance and ticket rescheduling (for poor weather or any other reason). Starting at $190, the VIP Pass includes expedited entry, a guided tour, Skylift and Beam Experience tickets, sparkling wine at the Weather Room café, and a gift-shop discount.

Walking the stretch of Bleecker Street between 7th Avenue and Broadway provides a smattering of just about everything synonymous with Greenwich Village these days: NYU buildings, record stores, Italian cafés and food shops, pizza and takeout joints, bars and nightclubs, and funky boutiques. A lazy afternoon here may consist of sampling some of the city's best pizza, grabbing an espresso, and soaking up the downtown fashion scene. Foodies love the blocks between 6th and 7th Avenues for the specialty purveyors like Murray's Cheese (No. 254). At the intersection of Bleecker and Carmine Streets is Our Lady of Pompeii Church, where Mother Cabrini, a naturalized Italian immigrant who became the first American citizen to be canonized, often prayed. West of 7th Avenue, the shops get more upscale, with fashion and home-furnishings boutiques featuring antiques, eyeglasses, handbags, shoes, and designer clothing.

A long-running community outreach program that used to operate a mobile children's museum out of a purple bus has now found a permanent home within the cavernous, former Powerhouse building in Mill Pond Park. Kids can play and create in this bright, colorful, and bilingual space (English and Spanish) with two arts and crafts areas, a learning area about local nature, a flowing water play table to learn about boats on the river, and "The Block"—a kid's version of a neighborhood street scene. Programs, like story times and animal encounters, are scheduled regularly.

Four centuries' worth of artifacts bring Brooklyn's story to life at this marvelous, renovated space inside an 1881 Queen Anne–style National Historic Landmark building. The center surveys the borough's changing identity through interactive exhibitions, landscape paintings, photographs, portraits of Brooklynites, and fascinating memorabilia. Upstairs, the Othmer Library’s spectacular reading room, with its stained-glass windows and carved wooden columns, transports visitors to an earlier era.

The cast of talented freaks and geeks who keep Coney Island's carnival tradition alive include sword swallowers, fire-eaters, knife throwers, and contortionists. Every postmodern show is an extravaganza of 10 different acts to fascinate and impress. Next door is The Coney Island Museum with a large collection of artifacts celebrating the history of this legendary amusement area. The vibe continues at the Freak Bar, offering beverages and pinball. Museum and bar open year-round.

Atop Lighthouse Hill sits this replica of a tranquil Tibetan monastery so impressive, it's listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Founded by an American collector of Tibetan art, it's partly a museum comprising a temple and a garden, holding her formidable collection of Tibetan and Himalayan sculpture, paintings, and artifacts. It's also an active community center for visitors to mediate, practice yoga or tai chi, or attend other events posted on their website's calendar. Views from their terrace truly transport you to another place, far from an urban center.

Artist and film director Julian Schnabel lives here. But that's not why it's worth making a point to stand across the street and marvel at this pink structure of wonder. Plopped atop a former horse stable, this 12-floor pink Venetian-style palace rises 170 feet above the low-level skyline of the West Village. The facade is highlighted by Renaissance-style porticos and the name engraved halfway up, Palazzo Chupi—a reference to a popular brand of Spanish lollipop and the pet name for Schnabel's wife. When it was completed in 2008, there were rumors that various celebrities—Bono, Madonna, the Olsen Twins—were going to buy one of the five apartments inside. (The only famous person who actually did buy a place was actor Richard Gere.) The building immediately became a divisive flashpoint for West Villagers: some passionately hated it while others loved it. Over time, the haters have thinned out and now most locals love Palazzo Chupi.

The Bronx certainly has a reputation of being relentlessly urban, but there are parks in abundance, including the largest city park across the five boroughs (in terms of land area): Pelham Bay Park, a sprawling landscape of marshland and woods laced with nature trails for both human and horse feet. (There's horseback riding at the Bronx Equestrian Center on Shore Road.) The Bronx's only public beach, the 1.1-mile-long Orchard Beach offers views of Long Island Sound, along with a pavilion and snack bars. The incongruous Bartow-Pell Mansion ( www.bartowpellmansionmuseum.org), built in the Greek Revival style in the 1830s, has exhibits of period furniture and historic Bronx memorabilia, plus manicured gardens and a carriage house. The park also holds two golf courses, miniature golf, sports fields, playgrounds, and miles of paved biking paths.

With views of the Hudson River and New Jersey's dramatic Palisades cliffs, Wave Hill is a former 19th-century estate with residents that have included Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain. Today it's a renowned 28-acre public garden and cultural center that attracts visitors from all over the world, with exquisite theme gardens, from an aquatic garden to a shade border. Grand beech and oak trees tower above wide lawns, an elegant pergola overlooks the majestic river view, and benches on curving pathways provide quiet respite. The 1843 Wave Hill House is home to The Café and hosts workshops, talks, and concerts. Exhibitions in the Glyndor Gallery take place spring through fall each year. On the grounds, visitors enjoy a wide range of gardening and wellness programs and walks year-round.