What about the High Line? The former El track that’s been converted into a linear park? Obviously not going to offer the same panoramas as 30 Rock or the Empire State Building, but maybe comparable to the Brooklyn Bridge?
Apropos of which, another hearty recommendation to walk it from Brooklyn into Manhattan. My wife and I did that on my one trip to NYC, and it was beautiful, both the views of Manhattan and the bridge itself.
I chose the ESB when I was there in 1994. I have no memory of paying money, though we must have. Surely, it wasn’t outrageous or it would have been more memorable. I enjoyed it. It was nice being in the open air, and, IIRC, there was no time limit on how long we could stay. The only negative for me was the elevator ride. I think, being a native Californian, I had twinges of earthquake fear lingering in my lizard brain.
Our family has been on the High Line several times and on the Brooklyn Bridge by car a few times. My husband and kids have walked across the Brooklyn Bridge too. We all agree that the High Line is nice, but the view from the bridge is better, hands down.
And no one so far has mentioned my favorite view in NYC: from the crown of the Statue of Liberty. It’s only 93 meters high compared to the Empire State Building’s 443 meters, but if you can climb up the spiral stairs inside the statue (no elevator), it’s a much more powerful experience. I’ve been to both and I thought that the views from the Empire State Building were OK, but the view across the harbor is far more memorable.
The link at the National Park Services page Visiting the Crown - Statue Of Liberty National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) goes to this official vendor Search Result - City Experiences anchored by Hornblower and it looks like there are no crown access tickets available until January.
I went to the Statue of Liberty once and we climbed to the top. I was surprised just how small the windows in the crown were. (Some movie convinced me that they were large enough that you could stick your head out of one of the windows but they’re fixed and too small.)
There are old photos of people leaning out of the windows in the crown, but they’ve been glass enclosed for a while. However my first visit was on a very clear uncrowded January day and in spite of the glass, the view just blew me away.
And I just saw that even if there were bookings available for the OP’s trip a few weeks from now, they have young kids; the minimum height to climb is 42". I do remember seeing kids around 7 or 8 years old.
Statue of Liberty is out for several reasons, but mainly because that’s a whole process and takes a bunch of time we don’t want to spend on it.
I did it years ago and I barely got time to look out the windows because there was a big crowd pushing in from behind. Apparently they now have a restricted ticketing system which resolves this issue.
The high-line is on our ‘maybe’ list. If we are in the area we’ll definitely make a detour for it. I’ve been curious about that for years but just never made it into that corner of Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge is on our ‘definitely’ list, so thanks everybody for that suggestion.
Yes, the double entendre is delicious, but I resisted the temptation of responding with a wisecrack. However, since you broke the ice … … LOL
I almost went with “How to get High in NYC?” but decided the slightly less overt phrasing was funnier.
The High Line is a curiosity and does get overcrowded. I’ve been there on days when it was so crowded that it was hard to walk.
If you do go to the High Line area, you may also want to look at the new park on Little Island.
Little Island, the new island of New York on the Hudson River (new-york-city-travel-tips.com)
@tofor, yes, I didn’t think a Statue of Liberty trip was really feasible for you and your party. I just wanted to get some recognition for my favorite high spot.
Agreed! It would have come across as too contrived.
I’ve been to NYC once in my life. As I was walking through Central Park I was approached by a guy selling drugs. I didn’t have any money on me, but I thanked him profusely for the experience. He probably thought I was an idiot.
No time limit on Empire.
High Line was a nice walk. We took a free guided tour on Sat morn. A really nice park. But you are only 20 or so feet up.
Walking across the bridge to the Brooklyn side will put you steps away from Juliana’s, the best pizzeria in the world.
(OK, that would have been more on topic if the thread title was “How High Can My Cholesterol Get in NYC?”, but I thought you might like to know anyway)
It’s not high up, but some of the best views of Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and the waterways/islands can be found on Governor’s Island. The ferry is cheap, too.
That reminds me - I think the Staten Island Ferry was mentioned upthread. We did not do that the last time were were in NYC, but I hear the views are good of lower Manhattan (and it’s free). Can anyone comment? Altho, this probably does not qualify as “high” in the OP’s sense.
Yes, the SIF offers great views and is free! Great way to kill a couple hours.
The only problem is that it goes to Staten Island, and the ferry itself is often crowded.
Governor’s Island is a nice park and the ferry is $4 round trip (free on Saturdays and Sunday mornings.)
We took it around 11 a.m. on a Friday. Not crowded at all. We were able to sit outside and stand by the rail on various decks, and on both sides.
And it is only about 30 mins each way. We had nothing we were dying to do in SI, so we just got off and back on - total time no more than 75 mins.
This trip is on our agenda because “Views of the Statue of Liberty” are deemed important. I’m hoping it’s not too crowded on off peak hours.
I’ve ridden the Staten Island Ferry before. Yes, it is probably the best view of the Statue of Liberty you can get without actually going to the Statue of Liberty. The ferry terminal can get a little crowded when everyone is waiting to board. I don’t recall the ferry itself being especially crowded any time I’ve been on it, but that is admittedly a small sample size.
Someone else posted this video in another thread a while back. I feel it should be the official NYC tourism video. Do not get off the ferry in Staten Island 
. I actually did get off in Staten Island once. There was a Chinese lantern festival going on at the time that we wanted to attend, and it took place on Staten Island.
