Rockefeller Center Walking Tour | A Manhattan Treasure (4K City Walk)
hey everyone it's catherine with free tours by foot today we're going to go on a little walk around rockefeller center so let's go ahead and get started so we are starting here we're at 49th street and 6th avenues the car is going by this way that's sixth avenue um so the first thing i'm going to show you is actually right across the street these tall buildings a few of them this maybe is not what you had in mind when you thought about rockefeller center these are technically a part of rock center though these were an extension of rockefeller center that was built in the 1960s so if you're sitting here thinking that you know these are a little little boxy a little boring there would be a lot of people that would agree with you on that one most people think rock center and they think like beautiful art deco buildings probably something a little bit more like this so the other side of 6th avenue totally different story um so we started with the planer looking buildings and we'll we'll get to the more interesting looking stuff from here so i'm walking north right now on sixth avenue and you can see right here a sign for the tonight show nbc studios you'll be seeing the nbc name a lot though uh as we walk around we'll talk a little bit more about it a bit later on so straight ahead you can start to see radio city music hall so this was actually the first building of rockefeller center that was opened up in the 1930s um when it was opened it was one of the largest venues of its kind in the world it's actually still i believe the largest venue in the united states seats almost 6 000 people so people think of radio city today and they definitely think the christmas spectacular and the rockettes that's definitely true but radio city when it first opened up showed all kinds of things it was concerts and so symphonies performed there they showed movies they showed newsreels um that's actually kind of how the christmas spectacular got started um the the radio city rockettes were an act they would come out and like perform before the movie started or if they were showing a double feature they would perform in between the movies um so they were showing something that happened to be a christmas story and so they decided to you know be in theme and do something festive so they did came out and did their uh their toy soldier dance that they still do in the radio city christmas spectacular to this day and a tradition was born eventually ditched the movies and made it all about the show people still flock to see the radio city rockettes every single year so these days mostly concerts and things like that but there are some other events that happen there the tony awards typically happen at radio city music hall and also the nfl football draft it's actually a radio city every year as well so you're going to see me focusing a lot on the sides of buildings and that is because one of the fantastic things about rockefeller center is there's so much artwork um usually just right on the buildings themselves and so you kind of have to be paying attention but i'll make sure i show you as many of them as i can so another nbc sign here and this one says rainbow room which is a restaurant uh up towards the top of the building an observation deck so take a quick look in here we'll go up and look in the window up here so you can see the big red carpet there that's for top of the rock so that's the observation deck and you can go in right in these doors to go to top of the rock so oh i want to make sure i show you in the window here if you can see that spectacular chandelier that actually goes all the way down those are swarovski crystals and um kind of in the shape if you can really look you can see it's kind of in the shape of 30 rock the building this is inside so make sure you stop and check that out even if you don't go up to the observation deck but top of the rock is really worth checking out um when you're here a lot of people ask i have a lot of people on tours ask me empire state building or top of the rock i guess my answer is if you have time both it's a different view from both but top of the rock is definitely worth doing i think you can get some pretty amazing views and amazing photos so that beautiful chandelier that we just saw the swarovski crystal chandelier that was put in place back when they reopened the observation deck top of the rock back in 2005. so definitely something to look for um so we're gonna go over this way first they have some nice planters here it's starting to look like spring in rockefeller center so this is a pretty big complex people think rock center and they they sort of just uh i think tend to focus on 30 rock itself the main building but it's a pretty big complex i'm going to stop here when i get a chance and give you a quick look around so this is all rock center it's a pretty massive complex more rock center more rock center of course 30 rock so just give me an idea of this scale i do want to come up here and see if i can get a good view again more artwork on the buildings um see if i can get around this restaurant set up even though it is very cute it's right across the street um the silver over there uh that's a piece by naguchi uh it's called news and if you really look it's actually depicting reporters um getting their news you can see one on the phone one writing down on a on a pad somebody on a typewriter so kind of the the tools of the trade um so a lot about rockefeller center i think is very much a product of the times that it was built in obviously the art deco the style of the center very very popular in new york especially in the 1920s and 1930s and this was built in the 1930s so the way all of this started was john d rockefeller jr had actually been approached by the metropolitan opera company said you know they wanted to partner they wanted a new opera house they were thinking about moving uptown further and um they said you know hey maybe maybe our opera house could be like the centerpiece of a big project um and so he said uh he would develop this whole compound basically around their opera house took out a lease on this land all of this was actually owned by columbia university at the time took out a lease a 50-year lease i believe and this was the late 1920s then the great depression hit and the metropolitan opera company decided it wasn't really a great time to build a new opera house they backed out of their end of the project and rockefeller was left kind of holding the bag so he went ahead anyway which was really an enormous show of faith i guess in in our ability to bounce back here another great piece over here really see all of the detail this fantastic very art deco style artwork and the gilding um so part of the idea behind this is in order to make this this place work and in order to help new york bounce back they were hoping to not just attract american businesses to rockefeller center but a lot of international business as well and so a lot of parts of rockefeller center were built with that in mind having kind of this international flair and so this is depicting um things from all over the world just to try to stay in keeping with that idea of of this was going to be a place for international business not just new york not just the united states so honestly it was a really big deal when rockefeller decided with the onset of the great depression that he was going to build anyway you know during this same time a lot of other planned building projects in new york city were being dramatically scaled down or they were being canceled altogether so the fact that he went ahead with this this was i think the largest private building project that had ever been undertaken in modern times and so the fact that he went ahead with this anyway was pretty fantastic and definitely a really big show of faith in in the fact that things would come back and importantly also employed thousands of people during the great depression building something of this scale took a lot um and not just people to do the actual construction clearly a lot of artists as well as you can see by the amount of artwork um so i'm on fifth avenue right now so rockefeller center really stretches all the way from 5th avenue to 6th avenue so we are here at the international building this is probably one of the most famous sculptures here in rockefeller centers this is done by lee lowery which actually you can find his work all over rockefeller center this is definitely the most famous thing though any any fan of the tv show 30 rock definitely recognizes this from the opening credits um so for anybody who's a mythology buff out there you might recognize this as atlas according to mythology atlas was punished by the gods and he was made to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders forever so that's what's here it is really amazing an amazing piece though uh you get this this ancient myth but done in this very very modern style and it's something that just blends so perfectly with the art deco buildings um it's this building over here and actually see it says the international building uh which of course i i said they did really want that international character of rockefeller center but it wasn't supposed to be um just the international building was actually supposed to be a lot more specific than that so the 635th avenue so right along fifth avenue the plan was they were going to build four lower rise buildings here on fifth avenue and um they would actually offer space to foreign governments so that they could have embassies here and this one was meant to be the deutsche house or german building but this was the 1930s tensions were rising and they decided they did not want to offer space to the nazi government and so this became the international building instead of the german building but actually uh they were so committed to that plan that actually a good amount of this building was made with steel manufactured in germany so 635th ave i am going to walk us inside just a minute because there's some beautiful artwork in here as well um the lobbies of some of these buildings are so spectacular so here's the international building pretty beautiful so actually on both sides here this is an art installation that was added in the 1970s it's pretty beautiful though um so that was a little bit later certainly not a part of the original design of the building that was though right up the escalator i don't know if you can see um oh you know what i think i can go up there can i go up no okay no that's okay never mind not allowed up today um but right up there the guy at the top of the escalator is charles lindbergh so that's a bust of him right up there sometimes you're allowed up but not always like today so charles lindbergh was the first person to fly solo across the atlantic flew from long island to paris and on a plane called the spirit of st louis and so you know when rock center was built that was pretty shortly after this happened it was considered such an amazing feat just like a testament to what humans could do and that was so in the spirit of rockefeller center that he he was included there so i love this view of atlas right here directly across from the entrance to st patrick's cathedral the seat of the catholic archdiocese of new york um there are a lot of people that think that placement is really not an accident that it was very purposely placed to have this stark contrast of this figure from ancient mythology done in this really modern at the time uh style just right across the street from the front doors of the seat of the catholic church in new york and this very very different style of building here so we're gonna go back up fifth avenue from the international building so even though the german building did not end up working out um it this idea of having embassies here did work out in a couple of cases this one right on the corner once i'm able to cross the street this one is the british empire building um and this was actually utilized as the british empire building um it was also a home of mi5 ian fleming the creator of james bond actually worked in this building and there's an early bond story uh where he's uh stationed here at rockefeller center um so right above the door more fabulous artwork everything's so shiny at rockefeller center so these are supposed to depict some different industries um and uh different industries important to the british empire and the sun over the door uh was also meant to symbolize the idea that in the days of the british empire which spread spread all over the world that the sun never set on the british empire that's why there is a sun and then there's a coat of arms above the door so the other uh building that worked out in that way oh here's the here's the sign for the british empire building here and then directly across the way is the maison frances which was also used by the french government um and so this idea this original idea for these buildings did did work out in some cases just not in the case of the german building though it did become the international building so you can see the maison frances here and go check out the artwork over the door you're walking around rockefeller center definitely always check the entryways because that's where you tend to find a lot of these fantastic pieces oh that's so shiny um so right above here lots of gold and you can see all the way up there liberty legality fraternity uh the woman with the torch um if you look in the gold those two women at the top of this holding hands that's meant to be um paris and new york holding hands across the atlantic um that kind of sweeping thing in the middle is meant to be the atlantic uh you can actually see notre dame there on paris's lap and that's new york over there you can see a little bit of the skyline so right in between these two buildings we have this little stretch here just some a garden um some some water some fountains some pretty flowers very nice flowers got some tulips and some daffodils and what you see into the fountain there depending on the time of year when you come here and walk around for yourself this may look a little different depending on on time of year and holidays sometimes they take some of this out put some installations in but this is called the channel gardens the reason it's called the channel gardens is because we are between british empire building and the french building and in between those two countries in real life we have the english channel so channel gardens um so you also see some of the the shops here a lot of this is office buildings but the ground floors there's quite a bit of retail there's a tiffany and company here chocolate shop some clothing shops oh we got the tulips out it's spring i always tell when it's spring in new york there's tulips everywhere so very beautiful seeing it this time of year and we're coming up to one of the other really famous sites of rockefeller center and that's prometheus across the way and then also here you have this plaque um i'm not gonna read all of it because it's it's quite long but um this is something from john d rockefeller actually so just kind of outlining some of his beliefs some of the things that led to him building something like this says i believe in the supreme worth of the individual and his rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness um and then some other very nice sentiments there and so right across the way straight across is prometheus i'm going to go around so i can get a better view maybe so we'll we'll walk around so what's going on right here is a changeover uh it's just the time of year um we're in a short little window where this is a little bit torn up so what's happening is typically down there is the um ice skating rink so starting in the late fall and then going all the way through the end of march that's an ice skating rink um but then they take it out and there's a changeover that happens and that will be an outdoor cafe pretty soon so that's what's happening there we'll go get a better look at prometheus from a different angle i might have to go around to the other side but for now we'll take a quick look over here at some more of rockefeller center over here is the today show so you can see nbc news written up there nbc obviously has a really big presence here in rockefeller center the today show is a really popular thing for visitors coming to new york city though so they film i'll walk over and show you now i can go okay um they can go they film here and um because of all the windows it's almost like a fishbowl so you can see in and so you have people that gather out here um in the morning and they watch filming inside and then this open space here if you've ever watched the today show and seen an outdoor concert or some kind of gathering outside where the actual hosts of the show are outdoors as well that's where they are is over there so we're gonna walk around so we can get a better better look at prometheus unfortunately because they do have everything changing over right now it's just a little harder to get some views um but we will come back so we can finish up at 30 rock right here uh we'll come back and we'll definitely go inside as well but 30 rock has to be the grand finale that's definitely the most recognizable of the buildings here so one of the other things you may notice when you come here and is definitely a little different right now is all of the flags so um these are definitely different right now and this is a special installation this is a flag project 2021 83 artist so it says spring 2020 we invited photographers of all abilities to participate in the flag project and share images inspired by city spaces objects textures so that's actually what all of this is right now is all of these different photographers work printed on flags so something a little different right now so what this normally is kind of as a nod to the international character of rockefeller center is typically all of these flagpoles are filled with flags that are all the flags of the member nations of the united nations on u.s holidays sometimes it will either be all u.s flags or it will be all 50 state flags of the united states obviously we have way more flagpoles than we do states so they just repeat all of the state flags over and over again until until they fill up okay so now i think this is the best we are going to get of prometheus here um but i wanted to make sure you got to see it because it is one of the most recognizable statues in new york definitely in rockefeller center and it has kind of the place of honor there in front of 30 rock so prometheus was said to be a favorite myth of john d rockefeller jr the man who was building rockefeller center um so prometheus according to mythology was a titan he was a titan and he stole fire from the gods at mount mount olympus so he could give it to man so that mankind could progress as a society and he was banished um so what the statue is depicting there is prometheus with the fire in his hand leaving the heavens if you look really closely sorry i can't get any closer there's actually astrological signs around him on that ring and that's supposed to be him descending from the heavens it's kind of an interesting depiction it's not the reason for the sculpture behind him but the sculpture behind him over the front door of 30 rock is actually zeus so from this angle it kind of looks like zeus is banishing him from mount olympus um for stealing fire so we will start making our way over towards 30 rock i'm going to stop on the stairs up here so i think i can give you a really good look up and down at 30 rock i really like these flags definitely different than what's normally there but i think it's a very cool project all right very sunny today there is a look at 30 rock so uh you know originally the idea was you know this whole thing was going to give me centered on the opera house but then the metropolitan opera backed out and instead for a performance venue we got radio city music hall which you can see straight ahead and rockefeller center became a big hub for for radio and later television um so this building here was originally built as the rca building the radio corporation of america so that's where the nickname radio city comes from as there is major broadcasting for the radio happening here at 30 rock um 30 rock is not nearly as tall as it looks i always have people on tours ask me when they see it um is this one of the tallest buildings in new york uh no not by a long shot actually it's just taller than everything else around it so it kind of tricks your eye a little bit and it also has this tiered shape this idea of of setbacks this tiered shape of the building i think it also makes it look taller um but 30 rock today is the home of nbc studios so if you are a fan of you know snl or late night any of that this is where that happens so you can see the gold lettering outside here um it says comcast building now that's the current owner of the building but it was originally the rca building so i want to give you a better look at zeus here there he is um this is called wisdom and it says wisdom and knowledge still be the stability of thy times um so the idea behind this work here is um and this is a a big idea that john d rockefeller i think wanted to convey was that radio and television could actually be used to spread knowledge to spread wisdom i know that's not not always what we think of when we think about tv today but but that was you know that was the thought behind it was this can actually be used as a force for good all right let's go in i'll give you a look around hopefully i won't get kicked out um see some big murals here right there across the way it's american progress um and so what you have in this mural is you actually see abraham lincoln gandhi's in there it's showing basically some of the great figures of the past and then us moving forward through industry and progress then you have this up on the ceiling no surface uncovered here it's crazy if you're actually standing under this you may not be able to see it from here but it actually sometimes looks like it's moving up on the ceiling strange little trick of the eye um so this may seem like kind of bold visions or designs for the 1930s and they are uh the artist spanish artist jose maria start and it was but uh not as not as bold as what was going to be there um they had actually originally hired diego rivera a very famous artist uh to do the murals inside and he did um but if you know anything about diego rivera he had some pretty outspoken political opinions and it was definitely found their way into his mural there at rockefeller center it had some pretty strong anti-capitalist themes going on and the rockefeller foundation was willing to keep it there they just asked him like would he paint over some of the more controversial parts and he said absolutely not he said he would rather it be destroyed than alter his ideas and uh that is what happened so instead we have american progress there especially right here on the ground floor uh fao schwartz and fao schwartz used to be a little further up town it's kind of right by the southeast corner of central park and then it closed um but they fortunately reopened here because fao schwartz was a really well-loved tradition in new york city so it's nice nice that it's still here um and so this is the other side now of 30 rock we'll come up here to to finish up but right across the street opposite this side of 30 rock this is christie's uh the famous auction house so if you're here in new york city um and you're an art lover definitely worth a stop um just a quick little jump across the street and you could head over and check out what's going on at christie's and straight up here got the sign for the rainbow room and the observation deck again it's a giant teddy bear at fao schwartz um so there's a look at christie's there okay hope you enjoyed our little walk around rockefeller center um definitely if you have not already subscribe to our channel and ring that bell so you get notifications every time we release new content we'll have more walks coming out there are lots of places we can see together and you can do it right from wherever you happen to be sitting right now and it's not just new york we have these walks going on in cities all over the world we have them in new orleans we have them in london so check out what we have going on in some of these other places as well and we'll see you again soon bye
2021-05-13 14:14
