May 30, 2006
A glimpse of the Rockefeller Center roof gardens
You probably won't find them in any guide book, but from the Top of the Rock observation decks you can see three of Rockefeller Center's secluded roof gardens. You have to know where to look, and even then, the viewing isn't ideal as they're partially blocked by the tower's own ornamentation.
 The gardens can be seen from the eastern edges of the Top of the Rock observation decks if you look directly down toward the Atlas statue facing St. Patrick's Cathedral. They're closed to the public now, but according to the Daniel Okrent's "Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center," the Gardens in the Sky were originally open to the public but operated at an annual loss of $45,000.
In the book, Okrent describes the gardens as built:
The roofs on the four low buildings on Fifth were done up in styles appropriate to the buildings' themes -- cobblestones from the streets of Italian towns and two stone plaques from the Roman Forum framed the plantings on the Palazza d'Italia, for instance, and the British Empire's Building's umbrella-topped garden tables, where tenants could take tea in clement weather, were surrounded by well-trimmed yews and other hedge plants. But the gardens meandering around the eleventh-floor setback, on the RCA building, 140 feet above street level, were so lavish they made the tops of the low buildings look like suburban backyards. Earlier: Sound for Sights' free Rockefeller Center audio tour
Nighttime video from Top of the Rock
New Rockefeller Center roof decks offer a 360 of NYC
Rockefeller Center observation decks to open Nov. 1
May 30, 2006 03:09 PM in Midtown, Sightsology
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