Midtown icons: Grand Central to MoMA

The Beaux-Arts core of Midtown on foot: Grand Central's concourse, the Chrysler Building, the Morgan Library, the New York Public Library and Bryant Park, St. Patrick's Cathedral and MoMA, ending with a halal cart dinner.

Best time: Weekday morning for Grand Central and the library; MoMA at 10:30am opening or Friday evening

The route, stop by stop

1. 1
   Grand Central Terminal

   Main concourse and Whispering Gallery. 20 min.

   1913 Beaux-Arts terminal with a celestial ceiling over the main concourse, the four-faced opal clock, and the Whispering Gallery outside the Oyster Bar.

2. 2
   Chrysler Building (exterior and lobby)

   Art deco lobby is open on weekdays. 10 min.

3. 3
   The Morgan Library & Museum

   J. P. Morgan's library rooms. 60 min.

   J. P. Morgan's private library (1906) with three tiers of rare books, Gutenberg Bibles and literary manuscripts; the East Room is one of the city's most striking interiors.

4. 4
   Empire State Building

   Observatory, or view from outside and return at night. 5-90 min.

   1931 art deco skyscraper with an open-air 86th-floor deck; the lobby's gold-leaf ceiling murals and the second-floor exhibits on its construction are part of the visit.

5. 5
   New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

   Rose Reading Room and Treasures gallery. 30 min.

   1911 Beaux-Arts library guarded by the lions Patience and Fortitude; the Rose Main Reading Room and free Treasures exhibition (Gutenberg Bible, Jefferson's Declaration draft…

6. 6
   St. Patrick's Cathedral

   15 min.

   Neo-Gothic Catholic cathedral dedicated in 1879, facing Rockefeller Center; the restored marble interior and rose window are worth a quiet ten minutes.

7. 7
   Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

   Floor 5 highlights. 2 hours.

   Core modern collection including Van Gogh's The Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Monet's Water Lilies; the fifth-floor galleries hold most of the famous works.

8. 8
   The Halal Guys (original cart, 53rd St & 6th Ave)

   Chicken and rice platter to finish. 15 min.

   The cart that started the NYC chicken-and-rice platter trend; still the busiest halal cart in Midtown and a genuine late-night street meal next to MoMA and Rockefeller Center.

Walking directions

More walks in New York City

• Lower Manhattan: from the Battery to the Brooklyn Bridge3.7 km · 2 h 20 min
• Greenwich Village and the West Village: slices, jazz and side streets1.7 km · 2 h 50 min
• Lower East Side and Chinatown food walk2.9 km · 4 h 50 min
• Museum Mile and Central Park's east side3.5 km · 7 h 45 min
• Jackson Heights and Elmhurst food crawl (Queens)1.1 km · 2 h 5 min
• Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn2.6 km · 2 h 55 min