The tallest building in the western hemisphere, at a height of 1,776 feet chosen for the year rather than the engineering. Fully enclosed, with a harbour view no other deck gets.
1,776 feet
The number is the point. The tower reaches 1,776 feet to the tip of its spire, for the year of the Declaration of Independence, and the design was worked backwards from that figure. Below the spire the occupied roof is at 1,368 feet, exactly matching the original North Tower.
The base is a windowless 185-foot concrete pedestal, clad in glass fins to soften it, and it is there because the site sits between two major roads and the structure had to be blast-resistant. The tower above it is a square that twists into an octagon and back to a square rotated 45 degrees, so the silhouette changes depending on where in the city you see it from. From New Jersey it reads differently than it does from Brooklyn.
The lift
Fifty-one seconds from the ground to the 102nd floor, in a lift whose walls are floor-to-ceiling screens. What they show is a time-lapse of Manhattan from 1500 to the present, growing around you as you rise — marshland, then a Dutch town, then the grid, then the skyline. The twin towers appear briefly and the moment is handled with a light touch. It is the best lift ride in the city and people applaud at the top, which they should not, but they do.
The view
Floors 100 to 102. It is entirely enclosed — floor-to-ceiling glass on every side, no outdoor terrace at all — which is the main structural difference from the Midtown decks and the thing most likely to disappoint someone who wanted wind in their face.
What it gives you that nothing else does is the harbour. From here the Hudson, the Upper Bay, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Governors Island, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and the New Jersey shoreline are all in one arc. Midtown gets you the skyline; this gets you the geography — the reason a port city grew here at all.
Looking north, the whole of Manhattan runs away from you in a single strip with both rivers visible at once.
Practical
Timed tickets online. It is busy but rarely as badly queued as the Empire State Building, partly because the capacity is larger.
There are two restaurants and a bar on 101, which are expensive and have the same view as the free floor above. The See Forever Theater show at the top of the ride is short and can be walked past.
The observatory entrance is on West Street, separate from the memorial plaza. Security screening is airport-style.
Do the memorial first
Almost everyone pairs this with the 9/11 Memorial and Museum at the base, and the order matters. The museum is emotionally heavy and takes two to three hours. Doing it first and then going up leaves you with the view; doing it the other way round means finishing your day underground. Most people find the first order easier.
More Skyscrapers & Views
Empire State Building
Built in 410 days during the Depression and empty for years afterwards. The 86th-floor deck is open air, which is what the newer decks in Midtown are not.
Chrysler Building
The best Art Deco tower in the world, and you cannot go up it. The lobby is open, the crown is not, and it is still worth the detour.
Top of the Rock
The deck to pick if you are only doing one, for the simple reason that the Empire State Building is in the photograph rather than under your feet.