Rockefeller Center
This iconic art deco landmark is filled with art, style, and entertainment. Shop, eat, chill in the always-changing Channel Gardens, admire the incredible architecture, look for rotating installations and join frequent special events.
Look out for tourists during summer & the holiday season, weekday and morning visits are usually best.
Rock Center Shops
FAO SCHWARZ (10am – 9pm)
Salute the live toy soldier as you enter this iconic three-story toy store with high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, giant Transformers, lots of demos and crazy candy. Dance on the giant piano made famous in the movie Big.
AMERICAN GIRL (11am – 7pm)
Explore immersive environments for historical and contemporary high-end dolls including a 1970s pod chair, 1980s arcade and a surfboard on waves. Shop tons of dolls and accessories, design you own doll or visit the salon for girl & doll hair styling, manicures & ear piercings. Reserve tea at the cafe for a special experience.
NINTENDO (11am- 6pm)
Explore two-levels of everything Nintendo. Say hi to life-size Mario, Luigi and Bowser, see the newest Switch games, shop games, accessories, apparel, and other items featuring everyone’s favorite Nintendo characters and see historical items including original systems and game boys and cute figurines.
Also visit the LEGO store around the corner. See our guide to Rockefeller Center.
The LEGO Store Fifth Avenue
Take photos with taxis, subway stations, the Statue of Liberty and other NYC icons built out of LEGOS and the recently relocated, multi-floor LEGO Store (630 Fifth Avenue at 51st Street). Engage in hands-on, minds-on play. Make mosaics, create a custom Minifigure, look for hidden treasures in the enormous Tree of Discovery and shop for exclusive sets, hard-to-find bricks and elements that you can select by hand at the rainbow Pick A Brick wall. Don’t miss the detailed replica of Rockefeller Center with lots of whimsical vignettes.
Go on a 20-minute interactive, immersive journey into the LEGO Brick Lab with innovative technology that brings walls, floors and ceilings to life with light, sound and music. Build a creation with an exclusive set of bricks, scan and watch it become a living part of the Brick Lab ($15, includes brick set, reserve online). Choose from outer space or NYC themes in a trippy digital experience with signature LEGO wit.
Find more brick-inspired fun at Legoland Discovery Center in nearby Yonkers and Legoland New York, about a 1 hour drive north.
La Maison du Chocolat
Choose from two types of hot chocolate at the US outposts of this Parisian legend – kid-friendly milk chocolate and the super rich Caracas. Shop gorgeous bon-bons and bars, all made by hand in an Atelier in Nanterre, on the outskirts of Paris with the finest raw ingredients. Pastries, macarons and ice cream also available.
Also on the UES (1018 Madison at 79th St).
Daily 11 am – 6 pm
Tuescher
Extravagant seasonal flowers and decor surround all natural chocolates flown weekly from Zurich. Shop for all sorts of solid chocolate shapes and bonbons featuring marzipan, fruits, nuts and more by the pound or pick up cute packaged collections including unique character boxes. Located in the lovely Channel Gardens of Rockefeller Center.
Monday – Saturday 11am – 7pm
Sunday 12 noon – 7pm
Rock Center Food
Find lots of fast-casual food options at the concourse level of 30 Rockefeller Plaza include lots of outposts of popular NYC shops. Choose from middle-eastern Samesa, Black Seed Bagels, global rice bowls at FIELDTRIP, Dough Doughnuts, Van Leeuwen ice cream and many more.
Bring food to tables and chairs around the disco roller rink and watch skaters while you eat. For indoor table service, try kid-friendly Bill’s Bar & Burgers. Look for seasonal food trucks and carts.
Pick up cupcakes and banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery and delicious chocolates at floral explosion Tuescher or classy La Maison du Chocolate.
See our guide to Rockefeller Center.
MASA: Intervención/Intersección
See work by Mexico-based artists, architects, and designers, alongside significant historical works that complicate and extend the Mexican canon as well as a public installation by Mexican artist Pia Camil on the flagpoles surrounding The Rink.
The Rink Gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10am-6pm. Enter through the Channel Gardens, into into the 620 Lobby and down the steps to the Rink Level. The exuberant clotheslines n the flagpoles are always open.
See our guide to Rockefeller Center.
Top of the Rock
Experience incredible views from 70 floors up. Three indoor and outdoor viewing decks offer breathtaking 360-degree views of the city – you start on the lowest deck, then head up to the better, higher views so plan your photos accordingly. The decks are mostly glass enclosed so visit toward dawn or dusk for better photos with less glare.
One of the best places to take in Central Park.
Learn about the fascinating history of Rockefeller Center in the lobby and take a green screen photo on a constriction beam (optional $27 to purchase).
See our guide to Rockefeller Center.
Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace at Rock Center
For the first time since 1940, the skating at Rockefeller Center foes year round with a reincarnation of the legendary family owned and operated roller rink Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace (originally in LA 1979-1981).
Programming includes “meditative” early morning skate sessions, disco nights and gospel music on Sundays.
Retro ankle-height four-wheel “quads” that were worn at the original Flipper’s available for rent and purchase. Note that rental skates sizes start at 8C.
Skate sessions are 1 hour. Admission is cheaper on weekdays & mornings.
See our guide to Rockefeller Center for more fun and food. Bring food to tables and chairs around the rink to watch skaters.
Monday-Wednesday 10 am – 10 pm
Thursday–Friday 10 am – Midnight
Saturday 8am – Midnight
Sunday 8 am – 10 pm
Forever and Forever
Navigate an opulent Art Deco lobby at 45 Rockefeller Plaza to encounter a new site-specific video installation by artist Tommy Malekoff in a raw, underground chamber, formerly an obscure storage area. Quietly hiding the artist’s poetic meditation on nature within the underworld of Rockefeller Center puts the work in dialogue with the surrounding touristic and commercial bustle and the enduring Atlas, bent under his burden just outside the entrance.
Rock And Roll Playhouse at Rockefeller Center: Beach Boys
Get ready for summer by dancing to the music of The Beach Boys, played live on on the plaza of Rockefeller Center (Radio Park between 50th and 51st/5th and 6th Avenues).
Part of a monthly series. Hot drinks and treats will be available. See our guide to Rockefeller Center.