Is it hot at Rockefeller Center?

Rockefeller Center: deep street shade between the towers in a Manhattan summer

Skyscrapers make their own shade, and that works in your favor at Rockefeller Center. The complex fills a stretch of midtown Manhattan with tall towers on every side, so the plazas and streets between them spend much of the day in deep, moving shadow. As an urban attraction, the shade here is a matter of which building is between you and the sun, and there is usually one. New York summers get warm, with July afternoons near 89°F, but the canyon of buildings gives you far more relief than an open landmark would.

Shadow in the canyon

The streets and the sunken central plaza are hemmed in by high towers, and those towers throw long, deep shadows that shift through the day. At 3 PM in high summer the sun sits about 58 degrees high on a west-southwest bearing near 241 degrees, and even at that height the surrounding buildings keep much of the ground in shade. The open central plaza catches direct sun near midday, when the sun is highest and clears the rooftops, then falls back into shadow as the afternoon advances and the light drops toward the west. Cross to the shaded side of a street or step into the plaza's lower level and you are out of the sun quickly, the built environment does the work here.

Timing your visit

With sunrise near 5:37 AM and sunset around 8:25 PM, midtown gets a long day, but the tall buildings mean the ground rarely sees the full length of it.

• Early and late in the day, the low sun is blocked almost entirely by the towers, leaving the streets shaded.
• Midday is when the sun is high enough to reach the open plaza directly, the sunniest window down at ground level.
• On a hot afternoon, the shaded side of the avenues and the plaza's lower concourse are your easy escapes.

Because July peaks near 89°F, a little heat sense helps, carry water on a humid afternoon, but the shade is so reliable in the canyon that it rarely becomes a survival exercise. The shoulder seasons are pleasant, with May near 70°F and September around 78°F, and the same building shade applies year-round.

The open plaza

The sunken central plaza is the one spot that opens to the sky, and at midday it takes direct sun before the towers reclaim it. That is the place to plan around the clock: come in the morning or later afternoon for shade, or accept the brief midday sun for the open view. Everywhere else in Rockefeller Center, the towers keep you covered more often than not.

To see how the towers cast their shadows across the plaza and streets at your planned hour, open the satellite shadow view before you go.