The towering visual symbol of Manhattan stands 102 stories high on 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. An Art Deco triumph, and the highest building in the world for half of last century, the Empire State draws hefty crowds to its 86th-floor observation deck, where the view expands far beyond the city on clear days. Its colored lights give the city a lift every night, with special colors to commemorate certain holidays and special events. If the queues are too long head up to the Rockerfeller Centre for the “Top of the Rock” experience, the queues are shorter and the view equally stunning, and you get to see the Empire State Building.