Actually a 22 acre “city within a city”, Rockefeller center was built by John D Rockefeller Jr at the height of the Great Depression. It was the US’s first retail/entertainment/office center of 19 buildings and declared a National Landmark in 1987. Most interesting in this space is the GE Building offering a Top of the Rock observation tower (actually taller than the Empire State Building’s) and Rockefeller Plaza. You’ll see art scattered around including an 18 foot Prometheus overlooking the plaza, Atlas in front of the International Building (630 5th Ave), News at the entrance of the Associated Press Building (50 Rockefeller Plaza), and American Progress in the lobby of the GE building.
At the holidays, Rockefeller Plaza is where you’ll find NYC’s famous and ginormous Christmas Tree lit just after Thanksgiving in a tradition that dates back to the 1930s. The Rink at Rockefeller Center underneath is the city’s most famous ice skating rink (but it’s small, so we actually recommend the rink in Central Park if you want to skate).