I'm going to say what no polite travel writer does: A big part of the allure of seeing the view from atop the western hemisphere’s tallest building (at 1,776 ft.) is the knowledge that you may be tempting fate by doing so. The skyscraper was built as a nose thumb to the terrorists who had twice attacked the World Trade Center on this same acre of ground. That has meant that the building’s office space is still not fully rented (according to the scuttlebutt). But the observation deck should be a big hit because, along with the tremendous views, visitors can show their patriotism by choosing this eagle's-eye perch over the Empire State Building, the Top of the Rock or one of the city's other observation decks. That point used to be brought home by the introductory video, which detailed the pride that the men and women who built the building took in their work (touchingly, one of the construction workers did the same job on the Freedom Tower that his father had on the Twin Towers). Unfortunately, it no longer seems to be playing (or wasn't when I visited in late 2021). The other side of the coin (whether the place is safe) is addressed when you head into the final part of the lobby: a tunnel the developers dug into the bedrock, and kept purposefully rough-hewn, filling it with signs (in lights) about the durability of the rock foundations and the fact that the building contains 5.4 million cubic feet of concrete “making this the strongest building ever constructed.” Is this meant to reassure patrons or hype up the excitement? I’ll leave that to the cynics among you to decide.

The Observatory also lures customers with some pretty whiz-bang features, like elevators that not only shoot passenger up 102 stories in an ear-popping 47 seconds (making these among the fastest elevators in the world), but also have walls that turn into video "windows" through which riders see a computer-generated visual history of the city, from meadowlands through to the skyscrapers of today. (Be sure to look right so that you can see the Twin Towers, which are just a brief blip in this 500-year timeline). At the top is a room with walls of video screen, where poignant close-ups of city life eventually rise to make way for a view of the city itself. I think the designers here made a big mistake in taking guests to the top level for the introductory video, and then having them go down two stories for the actual observatory, with its 360-degree views. We've all paid to see the view from the highest point, so why are we being told to descend to see it?


As for the marquee attraction, the view: On a clear day, one can see 50 miles in all directions through the 30-foot-tall windows here. That being said, as a matter of personal taste, I prefer the view from the midtown decks, as you have Manhattan all around you, making it more of a buzzing, visceral experience. (At the city’s other observation decks, guests also can go outside, and there’s something thrilling about feeling the whoosh of the winds that high up).

Some notes: On site are a bar/restaurant (One Dine) and a souvenir store. As at the city's other observation decks, tickets are timed, which should mean minimal waits, so there's no need to buy a VIP pass. Yes, that comes with an I-Pad that's stocked with videos about the sights you're seeing, but do you really want to be standing watching TV while the view unfolds in front of you? I didn't think so.