Rockefeller takes on Empire State for eagle's view of New York

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2005

NEW YORK (AFP) — After 20 years, New York's renowned Rockefeller Center skyscraper will reopen its observation deck next month, challenging the Empire State Building's lock on the best bird's eye view of the city.

Organisers are expecting around two million people a year to visit the renovated "Top of The Rock," which offers a panoramic view of Manhattan and beyond from a height of 850 feet (260 meters).

First opened in 1933, the observation deck was orginally designed to evoke the upper decks of a 1930s grand ocean liner, complete with deck chairs on the 70th and top floor, as well as large vents intended to look like the stacks on a ship's deck.

The attraction closed in 1986, after the celebrated Rainbow Room bar on the 65th floor expanded, cutting off...