Landmarks

Yellow taxi on a Manhattan avenue at night
The Route

Five Landmarks. One Unforgettable Walk.

Bryant Park to Grand Central — 1.5 miles through the most famous square mile in America, told by guides who live here.

Bryant Park
01

Where the tour begins

Bryant Park

Bryant Park wasn’t always the manicured lawn you see today. In the 1970s it was so overrun that New Yorkers nicknamed it ‘Needle Park’ — the story of its transformation into Manhattan’s living room is one of the great urban comebacks in American history, and it’s where every one of our tours begins.

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New York Public Library
02

Beaux-Arts grandeur

New York Public Library

The lions out front have names — Patience and Fortitude — christened by Mayor LaGuardia during the Great Depression, when he decided those were the two virtues New Yorkers needed most. They’ve watched over Fifth Avenue for more than a century.

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Rockefeller Center
03

The heart of Midtown

Rockefeller Center

John D. Rockefeller Jr. broke ground here in 1931, at the depth of the Great Depression — the largest private building project ever attempted in modern times. Standing beneath 30 Rock and the golden Prometheus statue, you feel the sheer audacity of it.

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Radio City Music Hall
04

Showbiz royalty

Radio City Music Hall

When Radio City opened in 1932 it was the largest indoor theater in the world, and it still takes your breath away: a sunburst proscenium arch 60 feet high, designed to make every audience member feel the curtain rising on them.

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Grand Central Terminal
05

A cathedral of transit

Grand Central Terminal

Look up in the Main Concourse and you’ll see 2,500 painted stars — arranged backwards. The official story: the ceiling shows the heavens from God’s perspective. Whether that was design or the most elegant cover-up in New York history is a debate our guides love to fuel.

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Walk All Five — For Free

Two hours. 1.5 easy miles. Pay what you wish at the end. English daily at 10 AM, Spanish at 10:30 AM & 3 PM.