Dental News - Your new and improved guide to New York City

Fred Michmershuizen / DTA

Tue. 26 November 2019

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New York City is constantly changing. For visitors, there are more attractions, more things to see and do, than ever before. Even many of the city’s most famous tourist spots, such as the Empire State Building and Liberty Island, have been revamped within the past year!

Therefore if you are coming into town for the 2019 Greater New York Dental Meeting and want to do a little sightseeing, you can have the world at your feet. Read on for some ideas, and don’t forget your selfie stick!

The Empire State Building — New York City’s most famous skyscraper, which is located five blocks due east from the Javits Center — has completely reimagined its experience for sightseers. The changes, which were unveiled this fall, include a new museum on the second floor. From there you can be whisked to the main observatory on the 86th floor. You can also visit a completely refurbished “top deck” observatory, on the 102nd floor. The views from both levels are spectacular, especially when the sky is clear.

If you go: Enter on West 34^th Street. You can visit any time during the day or even very late at night. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Prices start at $38 for adults and $32 for children and go up from there. Advance tickets are available at www.esbnyc.com. There’s also an app, called Empire State Building Guide.

Even more views: You can also visit the Top of the Rock Observation Deck, at Rockefeller Center, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, www.topoftherocknyc.com. There’s also One World Observatory, at the top of One World Trade Center, www.oneworldobservatory.com.

Also located near the Javits Center is Hudson Yards, a new, modern public square that includes a shopping mall, restaurants and live performances, all amid a cluster of high-rise luxury apartment buildings. The visual centerpiece of Hudson Yards is called Vessel, which is an interlocking grid of staircases that can be climbed or simply admired from ground level. This iconic structure, which opened to the public in March, has quickly become one of the most photographed attractions in New York.

If you go: To visit Hudson Yards from the Javits Center, simply cross 11th Avenue and go right (south). It’s free to enter Vessel, but you need tickets, which are given out on a first-come, first served basis. You can get the tickets on site beginning each day at 9:30 a.m., or go online, to www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com.

A nearby stroll: From Hudson Yards you can enter The High Line, www.thehighline.org, an elevated rail platform that has been turned into a public park. It snakes its way down into the West Village, offering unmatched views of urban street life. Winter hours are daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

If you love art, you know that some of the world’s most priceless works are famously on display in New York City. The Museum of Modern Art — known affectionately to New Yorkers as the MoMA — has recently undergone a massive renovation and expansion, which was unveiled in a grand reopening on Oct. 21. Now, masterpieces such as Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” and Monet’s “Water Lilies” are presented in new galleries, juxtaposed alongside unexpected works by contemporary artists.

If you go: MoMA is located at 11 W. 53rd Street. It’s open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except on Fridays when it is open until 9 p.m. Admission is $25 for adults and $18 for seniors. Children get in free. It’s free for everyone on Fridays starting at 5:30 p.m. Expect crowds and long lines, especially on Friday evenings. You can buy tickets at www.moma.org.

More art: Also not to be missed is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at 1000 Fifth Avenue, www.metmuseum.org, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort St., whitney.org.

This past May, a new Statue of Liberty Museum, www.statueoflibertymuseum.org, opened on Liberty Island. The museum tells the story of how the 150-foot copper statue was conceived and built as a gift from the French people. On display is the statue’s original torch, as it appeared atop the monument in 1886, as well as copper replicas of Lady Liberty’s face and foot.

If you go: Admission to the new Statue of Liberty Museum is free, but to get there you have to take a boat from either Battery Park or from Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Visit Statue Cruises, www.statuecruises.com, for tickets and information. Prices start at $18.50 for adults and $9 for children.

More bang for your buck: On the way to Liberty Island your boat will also stop at Ellis Island, which also has a museum. It’s definitely worth visiting. And be sure to check out the glorious views of the Lower Manhattan skyline on the way to and from.