86th floor. Open since 1931. King Kong. Sleepless in Seattle. The one your grandparents did.
Opened 2021. Glass floors. Silver balloons. The one your Instagram feed won't shut up about.
You're on top of the most famous building in the world, looking down at every other building in the world. The Chrysler Building is right there. Central Park is a green rectangle. You can see 80 miles on a clear day. But here's the real win: you can see Summit One Vanderbilt. You're above it. That feeling is worth $44 alone.
The view is great. But you're not looking at the Empire State Building — you're looking at Midtown office towers. The real show at Summit isn't the skyline. It's the room you're standing in. More on that later.
You wait in line. Then you wait in another line. Then you watch a video about how great the Empire State Building is. Then you wait for the elevator. Then you get to the 86th floor and realize you forgot to bring a jacket. It's a pilgrimage. Pilgrimages involve suffering.
The elevator has a glass floor and a 360-degree LED ceiling. You feel like you're entering a spaceship. Then you walk into a room covered entirely in mirrors. Silver balloons float at chest level. The floor reflects the sky. You've never been anywhere like this. It's not a viewpoint. It's an art installation that happens to be 1,000 feet up.
You can't beat the original. Everyone knows the silhouette. When you tell someone you went to the Empire State Building, they know exactly what you mean. It's cultural shorthand for "I went to New York." Summit requires explanation. "It's the new one. By Grand Central. With the mirrors." See?
Summit is a flex for people who follow architecture blogs. If your friends know what Summit is, you're in a specific demographic. If they don't, you sound like you're making it up.
Yes, we're including this. It matters.
Grey tile. Fluorescent lighting. Hand dryers that don't work. Feels like 1987.
Italian marble. Heated floors. Individual vanity mirrors with perfect lighting. You will take a photo of the sink. You will post it. You will not apologize.
$44 gets you the 86th floor. $64 gets you the 102nd floor (don't bother — it's enclosed and the view is worse). No hidden fees.
$45 gets you in the door. But then you discover that the really good stuff — the transparent corner, the balcony, the champagne — is in the "Summit Experience" tier for $65. The pricing feels like a video game DLC.
Go to Empire State.
Here's why: Summit is incredible. It's beautiful, it's innovative, and it's the best Instagram location in the city. But it's not the Empire State Building. You don't go to New York for the first time to see a mirror maze. You go to see the building you've been seeing in movies your entire life.
Summit is for your second trip. Or your third. Or for locals who already did the Empire State thing in 8th grade. But if you have one shot, take the legend.
30 Rockefeller Plaza · $40
You knew this was coming. Top of the Rock beats both of them for one simple reason: you can see the Empire State Building. Not from below. From the side. From above. From exactly the angle you've seen in a thousand photos but never taken yourself.
The view faces south. Empire State is dead center. Chrysler is to the left. The Freedom Tower is in the distance. It's the New York skyline postcard, and you're standing inside it.
Plus: No waiting. No crowds. No "DLC" pricing. Just elevators and the view.
THE KICKLIKE PHILOSOPHY
Here's the truth: all three are good. You won't regret any of them. But if you want the view that looks like the movie poster, the one that makes you say "holy shit, I'm actually in New York," that's Top of the Rock. Empire State is the icon. Summit is the future. Top of the Rock is the photograph you'll keep.
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