Its a great view, no doubt about it, but you must research to find the best times when the crowds are smaller, thus a shorter wait to get to the top. Assume that summer, around xmas and Easter breaks are all heavy tourist times.

We arrived about 10:20pm and were immediately accosted by the seller outside who tried to tell us that the queue was an hour long and we should buy an express ticket. He gestured towards shadows in the window to demonstrate the queue. We politely declined and went inside where we waited 5 minutes to buy tickets and 5 minutes to... More

Empire State Building is in Midttown in NYC, and is not a beautiful building to look at. It is actually not very nice looking at all. But, it does give the best view of all of Manhatten. From 84th floor, you can see all the boroughs of NY; Queens, Brookelyn, Staten Island, Manhatten, Harlem etc. It is WONDERFUL. I would... More

We visited on a clear May morning and the views out over Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs were stunning. It was somewhat crowded at the top but I suppose this is to be expected given the popularity of this attraction. I had been concerned about long queues for the lifts up and down but things could not have been smoother.... More

A must see when you go to NYC. We had this ticket with our hop on hop off bus tour and it saved us some time by not queuing up to get to the top. It really gives you the prespective on the size off this amazing city. Be prepared to see it with loads of pushing people though. Patients... More

Expensive, very long queues for each stage before reaching the heady heights of the viewing platform. I suffer from vertigo but couldn't miss this trip and I coaped well. Worst bit was leaving the first lift, but so worth thebutterflies in the tummy effect. The views are stunning over so much of Manhatten and the broughs of New York. Need... More

Brilliant view and one of the "must do and see" activities when in New York. Although I felt it was a little over priced.

I recommend visiting the ESB during the day and Rockefeller for the view at night. We visited using our New York pass, late one afternoon. We appeared to have missed most of the crowds and yet it still had to queue at various points to get the viewing floor. This added to our anticipation...but I imagine when it was busy... More

We went in the late evening and had a magnificent view of the lights. We paid to go to the 102nd floor but were disappointed as it was indoor. The view from the 86th floor is as good!!! If we'll go again we will go during the day and visit top of the rock at night!