Midtown Manhattan is New York City’s hard-beating heart, both centrally located and constantly pumping. Within its borders — generally agreed to be 34 Street to the south, 59 Street to the north, Third Avenue on the east and Eighth Avenue on the west — you can find almost anything: Art Deco skyscrapers, giant billboards lit up at all hours, tiny parks, every cuisine on the planet, ice skating rinks, century-old department stores, abstract expressionist art, cheap pizza and $100 steak. Never-ending waves of tourists pass through the streets, side by side with locals there to work, eat, shop or see a show. And no matter how many times you’ve been there, you can find something new or exciting or just plain weird during every trip. Here’s our guide to the best that Midtown has to offer.
Arts & Culture
Neither local nor tourist is unaware of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and its enormous collection of some of the finest works of painting, photography and sculpture in the world. But it’s impossible to stress enough just how enriching and enthralling MoMA can be, particularly in the wake of a recent renovation that both added gallery space and reconfigured the layout to combine the museum’s various disciplines into a mixed display, allowing the works to be in conversation with each other across time. One of the best ways to spend an afternoon in the city is to wander the MoMA’s galleries at your leisure, bouncing from piece to piece.
Do you fancy heading home with an Impressionist painting or Picasso sculpture? Drop in on a live auction at Christie’s, the famed British auction house that has a Midtown outpost. Auctions are free and open to the public, though if you want to put in a bid, you need to register in advance.
Midtown is synonymous with Broadway and the Theater District, ranging from giant musical productions to the latest staging of Samuel Beckett or Henrik Ibsen. The 41 theaters that make up Broadway offer shows Tuesday through Sunday, with evening performances through the week (except for Sunday) and matinees on the weekends and on Wednesday as well. Tickets for all performances can be acquired at TKTS, which has a hub on the northern end of Times Square.
Classical music aficionados should make a point to take in a concert at Carnegie Hall, the former home of the New York Philharmonic and a city institution dating back to 1891. The list of important and noteworthy musicians who have performed on stage at Carnegie Hall is longer than the phonebook. Guided tours are available for those who want to learn about the music hall’s history, as well as a museum dedicated to the building and its performers.
The Morgan Library & Museum is one of New York’s more overlooked and underrated museums, with a sizable collection of books, illuminated manuscripts, sheet music, maps, and other art works collected by billionaire financier J.P. Morgan over the course of his life. Within, you’ll find hundreds of illuminated manuscripts, a Gutenberg Bible, letters and diaries of famous authors and politicians, and much more.
Landmarks
Two of New York’s most iconic skyscrapers can be found within a short stroll of each other. Over on Fifth Avenue stands the Empire State Building, the 102-story Art Deco tower that was the world’s tallest building from its completion in 1931 until the erection of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in 1970. Formerly the site of the Waldorf-Astoria, the Empire State Building was conceived and built during a veritable skyscraper craze and a competition to be the tallest building in the world. That title briefly belonged to Midtown’s other noteworthy tower, the Chrysler Building, which stood 1,046 feet when it was finished in 1929. The Empire State Building’s owners, though, added several floors to their plan, as well as a 250-foot-tall spire, to reach 1,250 feet and snatch the crown from the Chrysler Building. That, and the subsequent decision to have the Empire State Building feature prominently in the blockbuster movie King Kong two years later, cemented its status as a New York landmark.
Times Square is a neon-drenched mall that feels like a TikTok feed come to life. It’s the most visited tourist attraction in the United States, drawing 50 million people every year, and on any given day there, you’ll bump into all of them at once. Over the last 150 years, Times Square has gone from being the center of the city’s horse carriage trade to a theater district and home to New York’s newspapers to one of its seediest neighborhoods to a Disney attraction. You can get lost in its stores or staring slack-jawed at the billboards, but the best way to spend time there is to snag a seat on the Red Stairs at Father Duffy Square and enjoy the circus playing out in front of you.
Rockefeller Center was one of the city’s great building projects in the 1930s, though today it’s probably best known as the site of the annual Christmas tree lighting and as the backdrop for NBC’s Today Show broadcasts. Seventeen buildings make up the complex, including Radio City Music Hall, 30 Rockefeller Plaza (which houses the offices and studios of NBC), and several Art Deco-style towers. Most of the site is commercial in use, with several shops occupying the ground-level storefronts. The ice rink at the center of the plaza is the main tourist draw, as is Lee Lawrie’s sculpture of Atlas bearing the world on his shoulders. Try not to get lost in the underground concourse.
The New York Public Library’s main branch building is beautiful inside and out, with frequent free exhibitions for visitors and self-guided tours offered as well.
Built on the site of the old Croton Reservoir (which can be seen in the building's foundations), it was upon its completion the largest marble structure in the United States and holds as many as 2.5 million volumes in its stacks, though you can't check any of them out; all the circulating material is across the street at the Mid-Manhattan Library, opened in 1970.
Fun fact: You can also find one of the few remaining working public payphones inside.
Grand Central Terminal is an architectural masterpiece that invites you to stop and stare; the ceiling in the Main Concourse, consisting of astrological signs and constellations, is an art exhibition by itself.
READ MORE: Explore the Many Wonders of Grand Central, Hidden in Plain Sight
While there, swing by The Campbell, a swanky bar and cocktail lounge built in what was once the office of a New York Railroad executive (and at one point an MTA police office with a small jail), or pop into the historic Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant, which has been open and serving seafood to hungry commuters since 1913.
Shopping
Do you need a 24-carat diamond pendant in the shape of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” or Britney Spears in the “Slave 4 U” music video? Probably not. But if you do, or if you just want to gawk at the chains and rings all studded with precious stones, the Diamond District is your destination. Consisting of a single block — 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues — with jewelry stores lining both sides, it’s the world’s largest diamonds shopping area and a fantastic place both to window shop and to people watch. Diamond sellers and jewelry buyers are regularly hustling up and down the block or shooting the breeze with each other, giving the street a manic live-wire energy that alone makes the Diamond District worth a visit.
Fifth Avenue is a long stretch of luxury retailers and boutiques best left to the jet set. Instead, pay a visit to two iconic department stores: Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy’s in Herald Square. The former might beat up your wallet, but it’s a joy to browse; the latter, built in 1901, is the biggest department store in the United States and has everything from frying pans to mattresses to running shoes, plus wooden escalators that date back to the 1920s.
For some powerful kitsch, head to Christmas Cottage, which sells nothing but holiday decor and merchandise year-round. Another good niche store is The Drama Book Shop, which opened in 1923 and sells theater scripts and plays (and was also the spot where Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote In The Heights). Amateur conjurers, meanwhile, should spend a spell browsing the shelves at Tannen’s Magic Shop, the oldest operating magic shop in the city, founded in 1925.
If you’re looking to expand your vinyl collection, Rough Trade is an independent record store with a fantastic selection and knowledgeable staff that relocated to Rockefeller Center after years in Williamsburg.
Breakfast
Midtown is home to plenty of cafeteria-style restaurants offering a wide array of breakfast foods in buffet trays, as well as countless cafes slinging coffee, bagels and pastries. But if you have time to enjoy your morning meal, opt for one of the area’s many diners. This area is one of the few parts of the city where the once-commonplace diner still holds on, and it has no shortage of options.
Tick Tock Diner has 280 seats in its huge corner spot opposite Penn Station and is the Platonic ideal of its kind.
For those who want a show with their scrambled eggs, Ellen’s Stardust Diner — owned by a former Miss Subway — has a singing waitstaff and a kitschy 1950s theme.
Astro is as old school as it gets, owned and operated by two Greek immigrants who opened their restaurant’s doors in 1980 and have barely adjusted the decor or menu since.
The same is true for New York Luncheonette on the east side.
Lunch
A quick cheap lunch is a Midtown staple, and nothing is quicker or cheaper in the neighborhood than the dollar slice. 2 Bros Pizza is the best of a large lot of pizza purveyors; though their plain cheese slice is no longer $1 (it’s $1.50 now), it’s still a deal bordering on a steal. And you’re getting a good piece of pizza, too — a nice crispy crust with ideal ratios of cheese and sauce, and lots of topping options. Plus, it’s ideal for lunch on the go.
For something more substantial, Margon is your destination. This Cuban lunch counter has the full array of entrees — roast chicken, beef stew, pepper steak — to go with daily specials like oxtail stew, roasted pork, and salted cod (aka bacalao) and one of the best Cuban sandwiches in the city. Boasting some of the biggest portions out there, you won’t leave Margon hungry or unhappy.
In a similar vein, El Sabroso is an Ecuadorian restaurant in the loading dock of a nondescript building offering lunch specials catered to local workers. Don’t let that stop you from getting a big steaming plate of rice, beans and meat.
Dinner
Monkey Bar is a fun nostalgia trip — its sunken dining room with expansive red leather booths, enormous menu of American classics, Jazz Age murals and dressed-to-the-nines waitstaff will make you feel like you stepped into 1940. A classic choice.
Los Tacos No. 1 is authentic and quick, with a compact menu of classic tacos and small Mexican dishes that hits all the right notes. Their space is fun, too – white tile and bright lights give it the feel of a diner on a movie set.
Ippudo’s ramen is worth the long wait for a table, but if you don't want to risk missing curtain by sitting down for dinner, check out Urban Hawker, a Singapore-style food hall featuring a dozen different vendors serving specialties from across southeast Asia.
Some of the best sushi in the city can be found by walking through a smoke shop and up a back flight of stairs: Sushi 35 West, a one-person operation that puts out fresh, luscious nigiri and sashimi. Enjoy it at the metal outdoor cafe-style chairs and tables in the hallway or grab it to go.
For a nice night out, Bar Centrale is a speakeasy hidden in a brownstone on 46th Street with a short but deep menu of small plates and entrees. The waitstaff there will even ask you beforehand if you’re heading to a show that night to make sure you’re out the door on time.
Drinks
Sardi’s is the home of a picture-perfect Martini. The century-old Broadway staple caters to tourists and locals alike, both of whom should check it out if searching for an authentic Midtown experience.
Similarly, Jimmy’s Corner is a tight squeeze of a dive covered in boxing memorabilia and $5 bills where you’ll find cheap drinks and genuine Midtown representation in the loyal clientele.
Barcelona Bar is a hoot if you’re in the right mood, which is to say 1) shots and 2) themed shots. It’s like a Cold Stone that sells tequila.
Descend into the 50 St 1 train station to find Nothing Really Matters, a grungy-looking yet upscale speakeasy-type bar with dim lighting meant for late nights and a long list of cocktails, both classic and new.
Dear Irving on Hudson is your destination if you want skyline views with your well-made cocktail. Located on the 40 and 41 floors of the Aliz Hotel Times Square, it’s got outdoor balcony seating, too, for those perfect spring, summer and fall evenings.
The Rum House has live jazz every night and the throwback vibe you’d expect from a hotel bar decked out in wood and copper. Rum is unsurprisingly the star of the show here, but the bartenders there can and will happily put together whatever you’re craving.
Family Friendly Stops
Bryant Park has room to run, a stand that sells chocolate-covered waffles, an ice-skating rink and winter holiday market with tons of food options, its own subway station, and, most importantly, free and clean public restrooms.
F.A.O. Schwarz left its longtime Fifth Avenue home for Rockefeller Center but still has more toys and games for kids then you could play with in a lifetime (and yes, they still have the giant piano).
MoMA has a kid-oriented creation space, the Heyman Family Art Lab, where budding artists can draw, make collages, or read about famous painters and sculptors.
Looking for something to read? Kinokuniya specializes in Japanese-language magazines and books to go with sizable non-fiction and fiction sections, plus a children’s books section and a whole floor of manga, graphic novels and toys. Similarly, Midtown Comics is the place to go for recent releases and graphic novels as well as collectible toys and figurines.
Times Square’s enormous shops can be overwhelming but ducking into the M&M Store and sampling chocolates in every color of the rainbow is a recommended move.
A Little Bit of History
The growth of the railroad industry helped expand New York from the narrow slice of southern Manhattan it occupied throughout the 18th century. Seeking to connect the various rail lines that took people north into Harlem, the Bronx, and points beyond, shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt commissioned a new train station at the site of a depot on 42nd Street on the east side, then undeveloped land. That station became known as Grand Central Depot, which opened in 1871 and was replaced in 1900 by a bigger building, Grand Central Station, which was itself torn down and replaced by Grand Central Terminal, which opened in 1913 and remains there to this day.
The simultaneous construction of Pennsylvania Station on the west side turned Midtown into a bustling transportation area, and the city’s constantly growing population followed the trains north, bringing along businesses and industry from lower Manhattan. Times Square in particular became a popular entertainment destination in the post-World War I years, making 42nd Street a vital artery and turning Midtown into a vibrant, busy and often chaotic neighborhood in the process.
Getting There
Virtually every subway line in New York takes you to Midtown, with four major transit points allowing you easy access to the neighborhood as a whole: Times Sq-42 St (serviced by the 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R and W trains); Grand Central-42 St (serviced by the 4, 5, 6 and 7 trains); 34 St-Penn Stn (serviced by the 1, 2, 3, A, C and E trains); and 59 St-Columbus Circle (serviced by the 1, A, B, C and D trains). In addition, all Metro-North trains originate or terminate at Grand Central, and you can catch the LIRR out of either Grand Central or Penn Station.
LIRR
Grand Central Madison
Grand Central Terminal
Penn Station
NYCT, LIRR and Metro-North all have multiple lines that will take you to various points of Midtown
