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The argument for Top of the Rock is simple: it is the major deck with the Empire State Building in the view rather than under your feet. Sitting atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza, it looks out over Midtown with the Empire State Building framed to the south.
We at Travelmyth, the hotel search engine that ranks stays by your interests and needs across 60 stay categories, put this guide together to make the case, and the plan: what you see from the top, how the floors and the add-ons work, how it stacks up against the other decks, and how to fold it into a Rockefeller Center visit. It is a companion to our wider guide to things to do in New York City.
Top of the Rock's calling card is its subject: from the deck you get a distant view of the Empire State Building itself, which is the one thing you cannot see from the Empire State Building. The platform sits atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the 67-story, 850-foot Art Deco tower at the center of Rockefeller Center, and opens onto a wide Midtown panorama in every direction. An 8.5-foot parapet of frameless safety glass runs around the perimeter, so the sightlines and the photos are clean.
The observation experience spans the 67th, 69th and 70th floors, with sheltered viewing below and the fully open-air main platform on the 70th floor. It first opened in 1933, closed in 1986, and reopened in 2005 after a full renovation. Two extras sit alongside the view: the Beam, a ride on the 69th floor themed to the famous "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" image, and a rotating Skylift on the 70th story. Both are optional experiences alongside the standard deck view.
Entry is by timed slot, so book ahead and pick your hour deliberately. Sunset is the most sought-after and sells out first; weekday mornings are the calmest, and a clear day matters more here than at any indoor deck. If you want the Beam or the Skylift, it is best to add them when you book rather than relying on same-day availability. Prices and add-ons change, so confirm the current options before you go.
Here is the honest comparison. Top of the Rock's deck is actually lower than the Empire State Building's 86th-floor deck, which sits about 200 feet higher, but that is the point, because from Top of the Rock the Empire State Building is in your photo instead of beneath you.
New York has five major decks in all, and they trade off differently: the Empire State Building is the 102-story 1931 icon, Summit in One Vanderbilt is the mirrored experience, Edge at Hudson Yards is the West Side platform, and One World Observatory sits atop the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere downtown. Our guide to things to do in New York walks through all five so you can pick one for a clear day.
Half the value of Top of the Rock is what sits beneath it. Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 buildings, including 14 original Art Deco buildings commissioned by the Rockefeller family, and its plaza sits directly below the deck. Radio City Music Hall, the Art Deco venue nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation" and home of the Rockettes, is part of the same complex and worth a look on the way. It is easy to make an afternoon of the deck, the plaza and the surrounding blocks together.
Midtown around Rockefeller Center puts Top of the Rock, the plaza and the shops within a short walk. On Travelmyth you can filter New York stays by the features that matter to you, from boutique-style properties and stays taking steps toward sustainability to family-friendly, spa, dog-friendly or adults-only stays. You can also combine two filters at once to narrow the long list to the handful that fit how you travel.