It rocks!
A new 360-degree skyline attraction at Rockefeller Center is guaranteed to bring you a step — or a few hundred — above the rest.
Top of the Rock unveiled its brand-new Skylift ride — a stunning ascending circular platform that propels up to 13 riders 900 feet in the air. The attraction, which opened Tuesday on top of the observation deck on the 70th floor, delivers gently spinning, unparalleled clear views of the Big Apple and beyond.
Riders enter a roughly 6-foot-tall glass-paneled enclosure that sits upon a stand that plays a colorful LED light show. The enclosure slowly ascends and twirls into the sky on the tiered stand, so it looks like a spyglass telescope opening. The ride lasts 3½ minutes.
Skylift is a $35 add-on to the regular price of admission and a trip to the top costs $75 to $96 when the ride is factored in. It is also included in the attraction’s $190 VIP package. Photos and videos can be purchased for an additional $40.
UK residents Jason and Holly Williams got married in the Big Apple on Tuesday, and the smiling newlyweds were among those online for a ride when Skylift opened.
“We can’t wait,” the tuxedo-clad groom told The Post.
French tourist Nathalie Mary, a loyal Top of the Rock patron who has visited during all six of her trips to New York, lauded the ride for being a one-stop shop of views.
“You just need to go around once to see everything, instead of walking around the different areas of the observation deck,” she told The Post. “All of your photos can be taken on [Skylift] and I love that.”
The Parisian also noticed better views of Central Park when looking north. Rockefeller Center representatives said that Skylift can be seen at ground level from Sheep Meadow in the park too.
Skylift sits one story taller than its 10-month-old sister attraction the Beam, an open-air twisting ride that raises people on a steel girder like that of the iconic 1932 photo “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.”
However, if the Beam is meant to be closer to that of a thrill ride, think of Skylift as more of a merry-go-round that plays pop music.
A head in the clouds
While a smooth ride, Skylift has a smidge of drama — since riders can peer down through its see-through floors during the 900-foot ascension.
There’s some shaking during its spins and wind pushes through separations in glass panels, but it’s nothing to break a sweat over. First-time rider Holcombe Hardin, an 11-year-old from Tennessee, agreed, though he was initially concerned about the height.
“It was pretty cool … and I definitely felt safe up there,” he told The Post.
“It was also really fun to walk around the platform as it moved. You should do it if you get the chance.”
The excited tween’s mother, Elizabeth Hardin, 37, also praised the ride for being a whirlwind experience in the sky.
Having visited the Empire State Building the day before, Top of the Rock had stiff competition.
“At the Empire State Building you can see all the things, but not at the same time,” Hardin told The Post.
“You don’t get an unobstructed view like this very often.”
