Ten Best Places to Take Visitors in New York City

1. Central Park
What serves as a sanctuary in this crazy city is also one of its most picturesque spots. Take visitors on an early morning stroll across the great lawn, stop to pet the dogs off leash at this time and enjoy the secret soft side of New York and New Yorkers. If it's summer, take in one of Central Park's many free concerts and performances.

2. The view from the Time Warner Center
I know, it's a mall and that should automatically knock it off the list (I surely wouldn't recommend taking guests to the Manhattan Mall), but if you take the escalators up to the second floor and look out the windows, you'll get what is, in my opinion, one of the best views in the city. Part Central Park, part Columbus Circle, part Central Park South, you'll get a little bit of everything. Before making your way past the mob at Whole Foods and outside, grab a delicious hot chocolate at Bouchon Bakery on the third floor and use the giant, clean (!!) restrooms before leaving.

3. Top of the Rock
30 Rock may be considered the step-child of the Empire State Building to some, but I think this newly-renovated, slightly shorter building is filled with class and art deco charm. Home to NBC studios where Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien among other shows are filmed, you can ride the glass elevators to the top and take in the entire city from its roof deck. Enjoy shorter lines and less construction dust than the Empire State Building, but best of all, you get the Empire State Building in your photos and you can see Central Park all the way up to Harlem.

4. Brooklyn Heights Promenade
If you're looking for a pristine, unobstructed view of Manhattan, take the subway to Borough Hall and walk toward the water. From this spot you'll get a spectacular view of all of lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Roosevelt Island, Staten Island, South Brooklyn including Red Hook, the Verazano-Narrows Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge--and stop by the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory in the lighthouse for a sweet treat.