Top of the Rock

Top of the Rock is the observation deck at the summit of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, spread across the 67th, 69th, and 70th floors of the Art Deco tower known as 30 Rock. It opened in 1933, closed in 1986, and reopened in 2005 after a $75 million restoration that turned it into what many visitors, and most New Yorkers, consider the best view in the city.

The reason is simple geography. From the Empire State Building you can't see the Empire State Building. From Top of the Rock, 850 feet up in the center of Midtown, it fills the southern view, with the Chrysler Building beside it and One World Trade Center behind. Turn around and the entire rectangle of Central Park stretches north, framed by the towers of Central Park West and Fifth Avenue. No other deck in the city gives you both.

The top level, the 70th floor, is fully open-air with no glass barriers, which is rare among New York observation decks. In 2024 the deck added the Beam, a ride that lifts visitors 12 feet above the roof on a replica of the steel beam from the famous 1932 Lunch Atop a Skyscraper photograph, and the Skylift, a rotating glass platform that rises 30 feet above the 70th floor.

Top of the Rock has been open to the public, with a long gap, since 1933. Here are the key facts every visitor should know:

• How high is Top of the Rock? The observation decks sit on floors 67, 69, and 70 of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, about 850 feet above street level.
• Top of the Rock vs. Empire State Building: Top of the Rock's view includes the Empire State Building itself and all of Central Park, which the Empire State's deck can't show. The Empire State Building is taller and more iconic to stand on.
• The deck was designed in 1933 to evoke the decks of an ocean liner, and the reopening in 2005 preserved that layout with tiered levels stepping up to the open-air 70th floor.
• The Beam, added in 2024, recreates the 1932 photograph of ironworkers eating lunch on a girder 850 feet up during the building's construction.
• Unlike the Empire State Building, the top level has no protective glass, only low walls, giving unobstructed sightlines for photography.
• The Rainbow Room, the legendary supper club on the 65th floor, sits just below the deck and reopened in 2014.

Top of the Rock is open from 9am to midnight, and the experience changes with the light.

Sunset is the slot everyone wants, and for good reason: book a timed entry 30 to 45 minutes before sunset and you'll see the city in daylight, watch the light turn gold over the Hudson, and stay as the skyline lights up, all on one ticket. Sunset slots cost more and sell out days in advance in peak season, so book ahead.

If sunset is gone, the 9am opening slots are the quietest of the day, with the clearest air and the shortest elevator lines. Late evening after 9pm is also calm, with the city fully lit and the decks far less crowded than at dusk.

Clear, cold winter days offer the longest visibility, sometimes 80 miles. Summer haze shortens the view but brings later sunsets, around 8:30pm in June. Rain and fog make any deck a waste, so check the forecast and reschedule if needed.

Top of the Rock is at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown, with the entrance on West 50th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Take the B, D, F, or M train to 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center, which exits directly into the complex, and follow the signs to the observation deck entrance.

The N, R, and W trains stop at 49th Street, one block west; the 1 stops at 50th Street; and the E and M stop at Fifth Avenue–53rd Street. From Times Square it's a five-minute walk east, and from Grand Central about ten minutes west.

Use our interactive NYC subway guide to plan your exact route from any hotel or neighborhood before you arrive.