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I will be visiting New York for a business trip but only have about 1 hour to sightsee and possibly one early evening. What should I do?

For the early evening, it is easier because only sunlight is the issue, not closing times. For example, take a walk on the Upper West Side or take the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty in the distance or the exterior of the World Trade Center or Chinatown. Another possibility is to see the exterior of the Seagram Building, Chrysler Building, and Pan Am/Met Life Building. If I get up early, I might be able to see another one of those exterior sights, too.

For the one hour during the day, what to do? I was thinking of Grant's Tomb, American Museum of Natural History around W. 79th St or so, Metropolitan Museum of Art, or Guggenheim. Of course, the museums would be a very quick run through and only one museum. Any unusual museums to see instead?

If you ask what topics I like to see, it's architecture and aviation. I've been to the USS Intrepid before.

Nugget_Oz

If you only have an hour I would think of doing the Tenement Museum or if you have the time to get out there The Queens Museum has the Panorama of the City of New York.

turnleftbrighteyes

Since you mention architecture, you might pop into MoMA (check the web site to see if the current offerings-- Young Architects; Making Music Modern; Design & Violence-- are of interest). Architecture & Design is on the 3rd floor, and you can get through those galleries within an hour. You can also pop into the photography galleries, also on 3, which has modernist photos that dovetail nicely with an interest in architecture. Leaving MoMA, you're not far from moseying by/seeing from afar the Seagram, Chrysler Buildings, or Pan Am buildings.

VidaNaPraia

Where are you going to be located (start point)? It can take quite a while to get to some of the places mentioned (by subway or taxi) if you are across/up/down town or traveling at certain hours.

Analise

1 hour? A neighborhood bar and enjoy the ambience of the locals. Sightseeing in 1 hour whether at some attraction or a museum which would include getting to and from that location? Not what I would recommend.

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I have a little more time but, not including travel time, I have about one hour.

jspira

There are several museums you might want to spend an hour in, including the Jewish Museum and the Neue Galerie (as long as there is no line at the latter).

This might help a bit in narrowing it down between a few good choices:

What’s Doing at New York City’s Museums

UKtravelbear

You cold walk the Highline. But again that depends where you will be before you get your spare hour. At one end you will have the new Whitney and the other the new construction at Hudson Yards/


BTW the Staten Island Ferry will take you an hour as its roughly 30 minutes each way.

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Thanks for the replies so far. Keep them coming!

Nobody seconds the idea of Grant's Tomb. No worries because I think it may just be a stone and also in an inconvenient location for me.

I think I'll cross off the Staten Island Ferry because I've been on that before and the Statue of Liberty view is not that good as the ferry route is not that close to it.

The Tenement Museum is a very interesting suggestion, something that I wouldn't have thought of!

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I've done it before elsewhere! I once was in Montgomery, Alabama. No time to see anything. However, a quick drive to the Maya Lin designed sculpture at the Southern Poverty Law Center, look at it for 3-5 minutes then off to the airport. In the grand scheme of life, that trip was insignificant and the business purposes long forgotten except the 3-5 minute tourist stop!

I've had similar experiences in other cities, too. Every city I go to, no matter how busy, I try to see something of interest, even if only for 5 minutes.

Analise

Ok....when will you be here? I respect that you want to do SOMETHING of interest. If it's hot outside, avoid the Tenement Museum.

I love the Metropolitan Museum and if you have a particular era/genre that you love, perhaps going to the Met will work but you'll be inundated with tourists.

Then there's the Frick Collection, one of my personal favorites and NOT inundated with tourists. The Frick is centrally located on 5th Ave and can be enjoyed in an hour.

http://www.frick.org/collection

swag

For architecture, with one hour, I'd visit Grand Central and the NY Public Library. Both are spectacular buildings, at least IMO.

SJC AA

I believe the Tenement Museum is by guided tour only, so harder to do on a very tight timeframe.

If you're interested in architecture, the Guggenheim may be the best choice of museum, because it's small enough to see in an hour, and the architecture is often the main attraction, depending what the rotunda exhibit is.

Grant's Tomb is very meh.

NYCRachel

Agreed on the Highline and ending by walking around Chelsea Market.

Analise

Construction at the NYPL has closed off many of the beautiful rooms including the Rose main reading room. Save the NYPL for another trip; the OP will be disappointed.