New York City's Top Three Tourist Attractions

New York City is described by many as the capital of the world... and for good reason. There's so much to see and do while in New York City. While New York City is made up of several boroughs, most tourists are most familiar with, and visit the borough of Manhattan.

When I used to work in Manhattan, I felt as if the world was my playground. Right outside of my office door was a fantastic world of art and culture that drew millions of visitors to my beloved city each year. While living there I had the opportunity to experience much of what Manhattan has to offer, and here are, in my opinion anyway, the top three tourist attractions in Manhattan.

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building towers 102 stories above Manhattan. Completed in 1931, the Empire State Building stood as the tallest building in New York City until the World Trade Center towers were completed. With the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in the terror attacks of 2001, the Empire State Building is once again the tallest building in New York City.

There are two observation decks open to visitors. One is located on the 86th floor and second, smaller deck on the 102nd floor. Because the observation deck on the 102nd floor is small, it may be closed on high traffic days.

MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)

Located at 53rd street between Fifth and Sixth streets, MoMA houses what most in the art world consider to be the most important collection of modern art in the world. MoMA's collection of over 300,000 pieces of art is impressive. Because of the large number of pieces in MoMA's collection, not all are on display at any one time.

Throughout MoMA's galleries visitor will encounter pieces of art for greats such as Henri Rousseau, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, and others. The collection also includes some iconic pieces such as van Gogh's The Starry Night and Henri Matisse's The Dance.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or more commonly referred to as "The Met" is an art museum located on the edge of Central Park and is almost two million feet in size.

The museum houses a wide rage of art including paintings from European masters, and antiquities such as ancient Roman and Egyptian sculptures.