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Empire State Building vs Top of the Rock: Which Observation Deck?

By the Klemio team · Updated June 3, 2026

If you want the better photo, go to Top of the Rock. There is one catch with the Empire State Building that decides this for a lot of people: you cannot see the Empire State Building from on top of it. Top of the Rock faces it head-on to the south, and turning around gives you the best high view over Central Park to the north. The Empire State Building wins only on one thing, which is that it is the Empire State Building.

wide angle photo of Brooklyn Bridge under cloudy skyPhoto by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Here is the whole argument in one line: from the Empire State Building you cannot see the Empire State Building, and from Top of the Rock you can. Top of the Rock sits across Midtown facing the tower to the south, and looking the other way it has the best high view over Central Park to the north. Below is how the two decks stack up on the things that actually matter for one visit.

Empire State BuildingTop of the Rock
What you see Views in every direction, including downtown and One World Trade Center to the south, but the city's most famous tower is the one you are standing on. A clear, front-on look at the Empire State Building to the south, plus the best high view over Central Park to the north (two separate views, not one shot), widely called the better skyline postcard.
The deck itself The main open-air deck is on the eighty-sixth floor, higher up, ringed by protective wire fencing that you shoot photos between. A platform on the seventieth floor, lower but open-air at the top with no glass or fencing in the way, for an unobstructed naked-eye view across the city.
Time needed Plan an hour or two. Lines and the elevator ritual can stretch the visit, especially at sunset. Similar, roughly an hour or two, with a generally smoother flow up to the platforms.
Crowds It is the famous one, so it pulls the biggest crowds and the longest waits in peak season, and the multi-stage elevator ritual adds to the wait. Popular too, but usually a bit calmer, so off-peak it actually feels like a visit rather than a queue.
Cost Comparable to Top of the Rock, often a little higher depending on the deck and ticket type you pick. Comparable, frequently a touch lower than the Empire State Building for the basic deck.
Best for People for whom standing on the actual Empire State Building beats having it in the photo. People who want the shot: the Empire State Building one way, Central Park the other.
The verdict

One deck, and you care how the photos turn out? Top of the Rock, because it puts the Empire State Building in front of you and Central Park behind you, the two things people actually came to see. The one reason to pick the Empire State Building is the feeling of standing on the icon itself, which the view from up there can't give you.

Pick Empire State Building if

  • Standing on the famous tower itself means more to you than what ends up in the frame
  • You like that it is the highest classic open-air deck in Midtown
  • Downtown and harbor views to the south are what you are after
Empire State Building guide

Pick Top of the Rock if

  • You want the skyline photo with the Empire State Building actually in it
  • A clean, front-on Central Park view is the priority
  • You would rather look out over open air with no glass or fencing in the way
Top of the Rock guide

FAQs

Top of the Rock. It sits just south of the park and faces it head-on, so the green stretches out cleanly behind the skyline. From the Empire State Building, further south, other buildings get in the way of the park.

Yes, and that is the entire reason to go up it. Top of the Rock faces the tower directly, so you get the postcard shot you can never take from inside the Empire State Building itself.

Sunset is the busiest slot at both decks, and you pay for it in waiting. Daytime is clearer for distant views and the lines are shorter. Sunset and after dark trade that wait for the city lights coming on.

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