Yes, that’s right.  This is the view one gets from the top of the Rockefeller Centre, and I was the lucky one to capture it on my last night in New York.  After a long and rewarding day of traversing the city and taking in every sight imaginable, I decided to cap my day off with a trip to The Top of the Rock, and I was not disappointed!  This is the New York skyline looking towards Lower Manhattan, with the iconic Empire State Building making a statement on the horizon.

The Rockefeller Center is now one of my favourite haunts, not only for its rich history but also for its immersion in Art Deco.  As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, the center was built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in the early 30’s and it takes up 22 acres!  Rockefeller originally bought the land from Columbia University in 1928 and intended to build The Metropolitan Opera on this site.  Unfortunately the stock market crash of 1929 put John D’s dream to rest, leaving him to finance the development of the site on his own at a time when cash was scarce. But build he did with the help of principal architect Raymond Hood.

The development was not without intrigue.  The current International Building became the home of the U.S. operations of British Intelligence in WW2, with Room 3606 the center of Allied Intelligence and later the office of the future head of what would become the C.I.A., Allen Welsh Dulles. Cue eerie music here…

The building from which I took the picture above is indeed 30 Rock, or 30 Rockefeller Plaza, home of such television icons as NBC and Saturday Night Live.  I took this photo from the Observation Deck at the very tip top of this towering 70 floor, 872 foot high sky scraper. Trust me, the elevator ride to the top is ear-popping!  What a great way to end a fab day in The Big Apple!

If you want to know more about 30 Rock, go here, and if you haven’t yet had a chance to see my snaps from NY, please visit my photo site here.  Happy snow day Sunday everyone!