This crowded convergence is best known as the home of mammoth department store Macy's, where you can still ride some of the original wooden elevators. As part of the city’s ‘traffic-free Times Square’ plan, you can also (try to) relax in a lawn chair outside the store, slap-bang in the middle of traffic-clogged Broadway. And Koreatown's restaurants are only a block to the east.

Herald Square gets its name from a long-defunct newspaper, the New York Herald (1835–1924), and the small, leafy park here bustles during business hours thanks to a much-needed facelift. Skip the indoor malls south of Macy’s on Sixth Ave, packed with dull, suburban chains.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Empire State Building

0.17 MILES

The Chrysler Building may be prettier, and One World Trade Center taller, but the queen bee of the New York skyline remains the Empire State Building. NYC…

2. Garment District

0.26 MILES

Otherwise known as the Fashion District, this thread-obsessed territory might look like an unremarkable stretch of designers' offices and wholesale and…

3. Le Carrousel

0.3 MILES

Among Bryant Park's attractions is this French-inspired, Brooklyn-made carousel, with over a dozen delightfully baroque animals you can ride to the sounds…

4. Bryant Park

0.32 MILES

European coffee kiosks, alfresco chess games, summer film screenings and winter ice skating: it's hard to believe that this leafy oasis was a crime-ridden…

5. Morgan Library & Museum

0.32 MILES

Incorporating the mansion once owned by steel magnate JP Morgan, this sumptuous cultural center houses a phenomenal array of manuscripts, tapestries and…

6. New York Public Library

0.35 MILES

Loyally guarded by 'Patience' and 'Fortitude' (the marble lions overlooking Fifth Ave), this beaux-arts show-off is one of NYC's best free attractions…

7. Bank of America Tower

0.38 MILES

Designed by Cook & Fox Architects, the 58-floor Bank of America Tower is famed for its striking crystal shape, piercing 255ft spire, and enviable green…

8. Museum of Sex

0.42 MILES

Get the lowdown on anything from online fetishes to stag films to homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck at this slick ode to all things hot and…