Best Observation Deck in NYC: All Five, Compared by View

For the classic postcard — Empire State Building framed against downtown, Central Park behind you — Top of the Rock is the best single choice, and it is the only deck that gives you both icons in one frame.

For the highest view and the harbour, One World Observatory looks down the length of Manhattan from the opposite end. For a designed experience rather than a plain view, SUMMIT's mirrored rooms are the most photographed interior in the city. For sheer drama over the edge, Edge's angled glass floor and open-air deck do it best.

The Empire State Building itself is the one to choose if standing on the icon matters more to you than seeing it.

Top of the Rock sits in the middle of midtown at 70 storeys. Looking south you get the Empire State Building with the financial district behind it; looking north you get the full rectangle of Central Park. No other deck gives you both.

The Empire State Building's main deck is open-air on the 86th floor with a higher enclosed level above. The view is superb in every direction except the one containing the building you are standing in.

SUMMIT One Vanderbilt is next door to Grand Central and closer to a designed installation than a viewing platform: mirrored floors and ceilings, glass alcoves that project out from the tower, and a very close view of the Chrysler Building.

Edge at Hudson Yards is far west, which means midtown and the Hudson rather than the Empire State Building head-on. Its angled glass wall and inset glass floor are the point.

One World Observatory is downtown and the highest of the five. You see the harbour, the Statue of Liberty at distance, both rivers and the whole island stretching north — and midtown as a cluster rather than as individual towers.

The blue hour — roughly the 30 minutes after sunset — is when the city is lit and the sky still has colour. It is the best slot at every deck and the first to sell out.

Book a timed slot around 45 minutes before sunset. That gets you daylight, sunset and the lit skyline in one visit, which is the practical reason not to buy two decks.

Reflective interiors behave differently: SUMMIT's mirrors and glass photograph best in bright daylight, while the enclosed levels of the older decks fight window glare after dark.

Budget 45 minutes to an hour at Top of the Rock or the Empire State Building, and 60 to 90 minutes at SUMMIT, Edge or One World, where there is more sequencing before you reach the view.

All five sell timed entry, and all five have a security screening. Arriving at the start of your window rather than mid-way through it is the single most effective way to avoid queuing twice.

Only if you are pairing deliberately opposed views: one midtown deck for the skyline, One World downtown for the harbour. Two midtown decks in the same trip show you a very similar city twice.

Multi-attraction city passes include one or more of the decks and can be worth it if you are also doing museums and a cruise. If a view is the only premium thing on your list, a single timed ticket is cheaper.

Open-air levels are colder and much windier than the street — the temperature difference is real in winter, and hats blow off. Edge and the Empire State's 86th floor are the most exposed.

Tripods are not permitted at any of the five. Shooting through glass works better with a lens hood or a hand cupped against the pane.