Rockefeller Center

(212) 632-3975

30 Rockefeller Plz (Between 48th Street and 49th Street)
New York, NY 10012 40.7591 -73.9808

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Neighborhoods: Midtown Center, Midtown

Hours:

Daily 9:30am-5pm

Last updated 9.11.08

What People Are Saying About Rockefeller Center

Featured Review

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Contributor

The History – In 1929, John D. Rockefeller leased the site on which the center sits from Columbia University, with plans to revitalize the area with office buildings and a new home for the Metropolitan Opera. After plans for the opera house were thwarted by the market crash later that year, Rockefeller continued to develop the area as an entirely commercial complex. – – The Features – The 19-building art-deco complex, stretching from 47th to 51st streets and 5th to 7th avenues, features art in its foyers, gardens and facades. On the lower level, visitors find subway…

Editor's Tips

Know Before You Go:
The famous skating rink is open from early October to early April every year.
The Extras:
A viewing platform called Top of the Rock allows for a bird's-eye-view of the city.
ambiance
50.0% positive
  1. i'm really fit and all but all that walking around wasn't too fun.
  2. Top of the Rock- amazing views, decent price, and no lines on a Saturday afternoon!
service
100.0% positive
  1. probably because i'm easily amused but our two tour guides were very friendly and had some funny jokes!
value
50.0% positive
  1. Top of the Rock- amazing views, decent price, and no lines on a Saturday afternoon!
  2. For the expensive price they charged for the tour, we only got to see 2 studios: Studio 3B - home of Dateline NBC, and Studio 8H - home of Saturday Night Live.
4 Star Rating: Recommended

05/03/08

i prefer the nbc studio tour

by juliannapham

i went to nyc for the week with my school, so i was mostly with friends but the radio city hall was really tiring! i'm really fit and all but all that walking around wasn't too fun.. we seen the hall, met a rockette, and pretty much visited a bunch of other things but overall it was okay. the nbc studio tours was hilarious though! probably because i'm easily amused but our two tour guides were very friendly and had some funny jokes! we watched a video on this big screen about the history of nbc which was actually interesting. then visited studio 8H where they film saturday night live, also pretty interesting! we got our pictures taken inside this 'studio' and also where one person pretended to be a news anchor and another was the weather man in front of this green screen.. very hilarious since the one guy i knew. but i definitely loved the nbc studio tour more.

after for lunch, it was a bit confusing where to eat! but all the shops were nice since they all had glass windows, pretty much like a normal mall but the lighting was a bit dark. the most interesting place was the shoe shining shop! it was very interesting.. like in one of those old movies! watching businessmen line up for it was amusing.

  • Pros: nbc studio tours, interesting shops!
  • Cons: lots of walking around during the radio city music hall , going in large groups of people you know would make both tours more interesting
4 Star Rating: Recommended

10/23/07

Today Show/Top of the Rock/NBC tour

by jewels9954

Here's my breakdown:

Today Show- Definately recommend going to the plaza to see this if you can. We only stayed for 30 minutes but got to see Matt Lauer, Meredith, etc along with a few celebrities. Overall a fun experience.

Top of the Rock- amazing views, decent price, and no lines on a Saturday afternoon! I would recommend this over the Empire State building observatory because of the long lines there.

NBC Studio Tour- I really didn't think it was worth it. My husband liked it but we only got to see the SNL set and Conan OBrien set. Thats it. Once Conan moves to California in '09 what are they going to show on the tour? If the prices were lower you might as well but it wasn't that exciting.

4 Star Rating: Recommended

03/14/05

Ice Skating

by slhslh

Don't miss out on the opportunity to go ice skating outside Rockefeller Center. At first you'll think this seems lame but once you start and are looking up at the buildings you'll realize that this is pretty cool. Now, I hadn't been ice skating in about 20 years but that didn't matter. Be a kid again and add this to the list of winter activities to do while visiting NY.

1 Star Rating: Poor

09/02/03

NBC Studio Tour too short

by rudee

Boy do I feel like a sucker. I was told that the tour would last a hour and a half. Well, it did, however most of that time was spent waiting for elevators and listening to lame pre-recorded video of the history of NBC studios. For the expensive price they charged for the tour, we only got to see 2 studios: Studio 3B - home of Dateline NBC, and Studio 8H - home of Saturday Night Live. The majority of people on the tour felt equally ripped off. I would recommend you avoid this tour, as it's certainly not as exciting as it's advertised.

  • Cons: waiting for elevators, dont see all studios
4 Star Rating: Recommended

07/02/02

Rockefeller Center Tour

by aml75

Stick to the NBC tour! A friend and I went on the Rockefeller Center Tour (a tour of all of the buildings that make up Rockefeller Center). Our tour guide was a bit not with it. While she provided some interesting information, it was clouded by extraneous comments and the horrible static on the headphones handed out to each. Also, the tour walks you through Rockefeller Center and the tour guide didn't seem to realize that we were a large group proceeding through many operating buildings...

The Details on Rockefeller Center

Place Categories:

  • decent price
  • interesting information
  • interesting history
  • recommend definately
  • horrible static
  • not too fun walking
  • big screen
  • amazing views
  • definitely loved nbc studio tour
  • very friendly tour guides
  • nice shops
  • most interesting place
  • cool experience
  • lame prerecorded video
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