Description
One World Observatory is the observation deck on floors 100 to 102 of One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the United States, in Lower Manhattan: from 386 meters up, the highest vantage point in New York City, the view takes in the whole city, the harbor and New Jersey.
The tower rose on the site of the World Trade Center destroyed on September 11, 2001, and the visit starts at its foot. Visitors have their own entrance, on the West Street side or from the shopping mall, and pass security below ground.
On the ground floor, the Global Welcome Center shows on a digital display where the day's visitors come from, beside an interactive exhibit on the history of New York.
Then come the SkyPod elevators, which reach the top in 47 seconds. During the ride, a time-lapse shows New York growing from the 1500s to today, until the real city comes into view.
Before the viewing floor, the See Forever Theater plays a short show of time-lapse images, music and motion on a floor-to-ceiling screen.
The main observatory is on the 100th floor, with unobstructed 360-degree views: Midtown to the north, the harbor to the south, Brooklyn across the East River and New Jersey across the Hudson.
Along the windows, staff guides at City Pulse point out the neighborhoods and landmarks outside and tell stories about them, and a digital skyline guide lets visitors look up what they are seeing. The 101st floor has a café, a bar and a restaurant with skyline views; the 102nd is used for events.
The tower's height is a statement: with its spire it reaches 1,776 feet, or 541 meters, for 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence. Its roof is 417 meters high, the same as the North Tower it replaced, whose name it also took.
Just south of the tower, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum stands where the Twin Towers stood. The architect Daniel Libeskind, who drew the first plan for the site, placed the tower where it would line up with the Statue of Liberty.
Don't miss
• The ride in the SkyPod elevators.
• The See Forever Theater.
• The 360-degree view from the 100th floor.
• City Pulse.
Did you know?
• The tracks for the window washers, at the very top, are numbered floor 110, after the 110 floors of the original towers.
• The building has 94 real stories, but its top floor is numbered 104.
• At night a beam of light shines from the spire over 300 meters into the sky.
The tower rose on the site of the World Trade Center destroyed on September 11, 2001, and the visit starts at its foot. Visitors have their own entrance, on the West Street side or from the shopping mall, and pass security below ground.
On the ground floor, the Global Welcome Center shows on a digital display where the day's visitors come from, beside an interactive exhibit on the history of New York.
Then come the SkyPod elevators, which reach the top in 47 seconds. During the ride, a time-lapse shows New York growing from the 1500s to today, until the real city comes into view.
Before the viewing floor, the See Forever Theater plays a short show of time-lapse images, music and motion on a floor-to-ceiling screen.
The main observatory is on the 100th floor, with unobstructed 360-degree views: Midtown to the north, the harbor to the south, Brooklyn across the East River and New Jersey across the Hudson.
Along the windows, staff guides at City Pulse point out the neighborhoods and landmarks outside and tell stories about them, and a digital skyline guide lets visitors look up what they are seeing. The 101st floor has a café, a bar and a restaurant with skyline views; the 102nd is used for events.
The tower's height is a statement: with its spire it reaches 1,776 feet, or 541 meters, for 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence. Its roof is 417 meters high, the same as the North Tower it replaced, whose name it also took.
Just south of the tower, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum stands where the Twin Towers stood. The architect Daniel Libeskind, who drew the first plan for the site, placed the tower where it would line up with the Statue of Liberty.
Don't miss
• The ride in the SkyPod elevators.
• The See Forever Theater.
• The 360-degree view from the 100th floor.
• City Pulse.
Did you know?
• The tracks for the window washers, at the very top, are numbered floor 110, after the 110 floors of the original towers.
• The building has 94 real stories, but its top floor is numbered 104.
• At night a beam of light shines from the spire over 300 meters into the sky.