When it opened in May 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world — its main span stretching 486 metres over the East River. John Roebling designed it, but he died before construction began; his son Washington took over, and when Washington fell ill, his wife Emily Warren Roebling became the engineer who saw the project through. The first person to test the finished bridge wasn't an engineer, though — it was a woman with a rooster, leading a parade of elephants through an archway as the city watched to see if the great structure would hold.
Audio guide New York City
Tella is a free audio guide for any place on Earth. Here are 30 places in New York City worth a story. Open one on the map and hear it read aloud in English, or take the Android app on a walk and let it narrate whatever you pass.
Places worth a story
Empire State Building
skyscraper located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, USA
Photo: Sam Valadi · Public domain
World Trade Center
former skyscraper complex in Manhattan, New York (1968-2001)
Photo: Jeffmock · Public domain
Chrysler Building
building in New York City
Photo: w:User:Overand derivative work: Overand ( talk ) · Public domain
One World Trade Center
main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City
Its height, 1,776 feet, is a deliberate reference to the year the United States declared independence. The building, designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, took over eight years to construct. When the final component of its spire was installed in May 2013, it became the tallest building in the United States. It opened to the public in November 2014, with its observatory welcoming visitors from the hundredth floor the following spring.
Times Square
neighborhood and square in Manhattan, New York City, United States
The New York Times moved here in 1904 and gave the square its name, trading the paper’s old Longacre Square address for one it could brand. The city had just finished its first subway line, and the paper convinced the city to put a station right underneath. On opening night, the Times threw a New Year’s party with fireworks — starting the famous ball drop that now happens every December. The glowing billboards came later, but they grew so bright the city passed laws forcing them to stay lit at all times. Today the square is closed to cars, and a half-million people cross it every day.
Photo: Terabass · CC BY-SA 3.0
Museum of Modern Art
art museum in Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States
Photo: hibino · CC BY 2.0
Madison Square Garden
multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City, located in Midtown Manhattan between 7th and 8th Avenues from 31st to 33rd Streets
Ellis Island
island in New York Harbor in the United States of America
American Airlines Flight 11
9/11 hijacked passenger flight, hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center
Photo: United States Federal Bureau of Investigation · Public domain
Rockefeller Center
mixed-use building complex in New York City, New York, USA
Woolworth Building
skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City, United States
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Aude assumed (based on copyright claims). · Public domain
Bank of America Tower
skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States
Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0
St. Patrick's Cathedral
cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York
Photo: Ajay Suresh · CC BY 4.0
United Airlines Flight 175
9/11 hijacked passenger flight, hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center
30 Rockefeller Plaza
Art Deco skyscraper at the Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, New York City
Photo: David.Cole · CC BY-SA 4.0
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
memorial & museum in New York City commemorating the September 11, 2001 attacks
The two square pools set into the ground trace the exact footprints of the Twin Towers, each one nearly an acre of falling water. Architect Michael Arad called the design "Reflecting Absence," and won the competition for it from more than five thousand entries. Around the pools, swamp white oaks were chosen because they leaf late, staying bare through September. The bronze parapets carry the names of everyone killed on September 11, 2001, and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — arranged not alphabetically, but by where people were and who they knew.
Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0
Stories are written by an AI from public map and encyclopaedia data and may contain mistakes.