Courtesy of Wayne Anderson

From the observation tower on the 88th floor of the Empire State Building, you can get good evening views of not only Manhattan, but also the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Like many people of my generation, my first viewing of the Empire State Building came from the movie "King Kong" as the hero climbed up the side holding Fay Rae in his hand.

In the early 1930s, it was famous as the tallest building in the world. Although many buildings in other cities in the world now exceed its 102 stories, an aura still surrounds it, and the lines this summer for my visit to the observation deck were long throughout the day and evening.

The observation tower on the 88th floor is still one of the best places to see New York City spread out, especially at night. Even though the building has 73 elevators, my group still had to wait in long lines at three points on the way up to get to that marvelous night view.

First we had to stand in line for security checks much like the one at the airport, then wait at the lower elevator after passing through a mandatory picture-taking and finally at the 82nd floor wait for the elevator up the final six flights to the crowded observation level. One guidebook said to allow 45 minutes for a visit; it took us that long for the first elevator line. More than 3 million people visit here every year.

Every viewing space was taken as we came out on the tower, but with a bit of patience we got good views on all four sides. During a clear day we were told you can see 40 miles, and at night we got good views of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island. Since high places give me an adrenaline charge, I can honestly say that the view was breathtaking.

The Empire State Building went up in 1931 shortly after the Chrysler Building and other tall buildings were making the streets dark; soon, restrictions were placed on the height of new buildings. In 1945, a bomber lost in the fog crashed into the 78th floor. Since then, the lights are always kept on in the upper floors at night to prevent a similar incident.

Rockefeller Center tour

One afternoon, I took the E train to Rockefeller Center, a complex of 21 buildings including the 70-story General Electric Building. I ate lunch in the vast underground area full of shops, one of the first malls in the world.

I had been told that the NBC tour was just a publicity commercial for NBC programs and that the history tour of the center was a better deal. This turned out to be a more intimate tour because there were only seven of us. At first I thought it was strange for us to be given individual headsets and that our tour guide had a microphone on his face. It turns out background noises is so great in the city that as we toured we needed the extra volume.

Our knowledgeable guide was so handsome that young women would have labeled him as "hot." Besides giving us a history of how Rockefeller had put the center together, he spent much time on the murals and sculptures around and on the buildings. More than 228 buildings had to be demolished to create the center. At Central Park, I had visited an area that had been a swamp filled in with material from Rockefeller Center when it was built.

The observation deck, which had been closed for 20 years, was reopened in 2005. Our guide took us to the 68th-floor observation tower, from which we got a good daylight view of Manhattan and the surrounding area. We seemed to be just on top of some of the sights I had visited earlier, such as the Museum of Modern Art and Central Park. From that height, the Empire State Building seemed just next door.

I did check on the NBC tour, but it was filled until the next day. If you go and want to see some shows taped, you need to get tickets well in advance by calling (212) 664-3056. A tour of Radio City Music Hall is also available.

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