MailCon New York has been a popular destination for attendees for years. It’s a safe bet that many who will be attending this year’s MailCon on August 10th at the Intercontinental Times Square are undoubtedly familiar with the city’s landmarks, boroughs, and late-night pizza stops.
But what if this is your first time attending MailCon, or even your first time in New York? While MailCon is a packed day, you may want to explore more of the city either a day before or after the conference craziness. If you’re interested in hitting all the Big Apple landmarks, we’ve narrowed down some of the biggest highlights for your convenience.
What to See on your First Visit to New York
1. Empire State Building
The most iconic skyscraper in New York, and perhaps the world, is located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Even if you’ve seen it a thousand times on television and in movies, the Empire State Building is still startling to see in-person from afar or up close.
A visit to the building’s famous viewing roof deck, which has seen famous stars from King Kong to Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan, is surely a must for any first-time visitor. The wait time can be long (or shorter if you plan ahead), but standing at the top of the towering structure built during the Great Depression is an experience you won’t soon forget.
2. Central Park
It’s worth noting that one of the city’s greatest attractions is completely free and open all year round. Central Park was originally commissioned in 1853 and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The park features a mix of woods, meadows, paths, bodies of water, and many attractions over its 843 acres. It’s the kind of place where you can spend an hour or an afternoon, wandering around and taking in the sights with locals and tourists alike.
3. Rockefeller Center
A cluster of striking Art Deco buildings from the 1930s, Rockefeller Center is an essential part of any New York visit. The architecture is stunning, and the buildings house some of the most famous locations in entertainment, including Studio 1A (The Today Show), Studio 8H (Saturday Night Live) and Radio City Music Hall.
4. Statue of Liberty
A gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States, the Statue of Liberty is one of the better-known landmarks in all of America, and it is located right off the coasts of New Jersey and Manhattan. Visiting the statue itself requires tickets and a ferry ride, but it can be seen easily from either Liberty State Park or Battery Park.
5. One World Trade Center
Standing at a patriotic 1,776 feet tall, One World Trade Center is the tallest building in New York City and the United States. It boasts jaw-dropping views from its observation deck and offers dining and shopping in the Oculus transportation hub at ground level. Also at ground level is the moving 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which honors the original World Trade Center twin towers and the lives lost from the tragic attacks of September 11th, 2001.
6. Brooklyn Bridge
An engineering marvel when construction finished in 1883: the Brooklyn Bridge was the world’s first steel-wire suspension bridge and succeeded at creating a vital connection between Brooklyn (back then, its own independent city) and New York City. That today it not only still stands, but continues to support pedestrian and vehicular traffic, is a testament to engineers and builders from well over a century ago. It is beautiful to behold from Empire Fulton Ferry Park—and even better to walk across.
7. A Slice of New York Pizza
No trip to New York is complete unless you’ve chowed down on a slice of New York-style pizza, preferably late at night to continue an evening out in “the City that Never Sleeps.” Truthfully, you’d be hard-pressed to find a bad slice in most parts of the city, but a few stand-out favorites include Bleecker Street Pizza, NY Pizza Suprema, Prince St Pizza, and Totonno’s.
