Step off the Concourse and Into the Sky
You enter SUMMIT One Vanderbilt through the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal, which means your visit begins under that painted zodiac ceiling, among the commuters and the echoes. Then you leave the marble and the crowds behind and ride upward into One Vanderbilt, the glass-and-terracotta tower that rises at the corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, built to harmonize with the terminal beside it. The observatory sits at the top of the building, and the shift from the terminal's old stone to the tower's glass is the whole point: you are standing in the middle of Midtown, looking down on it.
Walk Out onto the Glass and Look Straight Down
What you do up here is not just look out a window. The deck is built around art installations and glass ledges, and the exterior glass-floor elevators carry you up the outside of the tower with the city dropping away beneath your feet. Step onto the glass and 42nd Street is directly below you — the taxis, the terminal's roofline, the grid of Midtown laid out like something you could reach down and touch. Because One Vanderbilt's base is set back from the street and its lower facade slopes into a wedge, the building was shaped to keep Grand Central in view; from the top, that same geometry hands you the skyline the tower was designed not to block.
Raise a Glass at Après, Inside or Out
When you have had enough of standing on transparent floors, settle in at Après, the food and beverage spot at SUMMIT, with an indoor space and an outdoor terrace. Order a cocktail and take it outside. You are drinking above the city on a terrace attached to the tallest commercial skyscraper in Midtown, with Grand Central's roof and the Chrysler Building's spire in your sightline — one block east, if you want to place it. It is the kind of stop that turns a viewpoint into an evening.
Time It Right and Go on Foot
Midtown is at its most manageable on foot, and SUMMIT sits directly above the terminal, so the subway and the railroad bring you to the door. Plan around the rush: Manhattan's gridlock peaks between 4:30 and 6:30 in the evening, when every subway line and road is busier, so an earlier or later slot leaves you more room on the deck and less jostling on the way. If you are building a day of observation decks and museums, look at the city's multi-attraction passes — GoCity's Explorer and All-Inclusive passes, the New York Pass, and New York CityPASS all bundle admissions and line-skipping privileges, though you should check which attractions each one currently covers before you buy.
Make a Day of the Blocks Around Grand Central
You are standing in one of the densest clusters of landmarks in the city, so do not rush back down. Grand Central Terminal itself, one of the busiest train stations in the world, is immediately east. The Chrysler Building is one block east; the New York Public Library, with its lion statues and grand reading rooms, and Rockefeller Plaza, home to NBC Studios and Radio City Music Hall, are both nearby. The Empire State Building looms over the same district. Walk it rather than ride it — buses are the slowest way to cross Midtown at peak hours, and taxis are not much better.
Book your SUMMIT entry for a slot that leaves you daylight for the view and dusk for the terrace, ride the subway to Grand Central, and let the evening unfold from there. The city looks different from above the terminal — and you will want to see it before you leave.