New York City’s stature as a global metropolis of culture, diplomacy, and diversity that shines across the world is unrivaled. In fact, a recent global survey ranked NYC as the most globally significant city, a place of outsized international prestige and influence.
Nowhere is this cosmopolitan character more evident than in Midtown Manhattan, which is often described as New York City’s “hard-beating heart, both centrally located and constantly pumping.” Bustling Midtown encapsulates the city’s international spirit: neon-lit streets where every cuisine on the planet can be found and languages from all continents intermingle amid iconic skyscrapers. It’s no coincidence that the United Nations Headquarters — a quintessential cultural attraction in Midtown Manhattan — stands just blocks away. From international consulates to Fortune 500 offices, Midtown doesn’t just reflect diversity; it facilitates the dialogue, exchange, and energy that make New York a truly global city.
It’s here in the heart of Midtown that SUMMIT One Vanderbilt rises above the skyline — not just as another tall building, but as a unique vantage point and immersive space that invites visitors and locals alike to reflect on New York’s global identity. Perched 1,401 feet above 42nd Street, SUMMIT offers a panoramic stage where the city’s worldly influences come into focus.
From this lofty vantage point in the clouds, guests can easily see how New York connects to the world and how the world converges in New York. In the following journey, we explore how standing at SUMMIT One Vanderbilt reveals NYC’s international significance: from gazing toward centers of global diplomacy to experiencing art and architecture that unite cultures.
Optimistic in outlook and sophisticated in design, SUMMIT serves as a modern mirror for our city’s global soul, inviting you — whether as a visitor or a lifelong New Yorker — to see our home with fresh, worldly eyes.
At its core, Midtown’s skyline is a symbol of international cooperation. Just a few blocks east of SUMMIT sits the United Nations Headquarters, one of the ultimate emblems of global diplomacy. During UN General Assembly Week, this normally commercial neighborhood transforms into a secure crossroads of nations, with over 140 world leaders converging on Manhattan.
From high atop SUMMIT’s glass walls, guests can survey the very streets where motorcades from every corner of the earth crawl through gridlock and world-changing speeches echo by the East River. In one sweep of the eye, you can spot the UN complex anchoring the skyline, a constant reminder that New York City is a capital of world affairs, not merely an American city.
That sense of global presence extends beyond the UN itself. Midtown is also home to numerous consulates representing countries from every continent — an indication of New York’s everyday role in international affairs. These include the Consulate General of Finland, the Consulate General of China, the Consulate General of Italy, and the Consulate General of Switzerland. Other consulates in the neighborhood represent Canada, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, India, Israel, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, and the Republic of Korea, among others. While Washington, D.C. hosts embassies, New York’s consulates serve as vital bridges between foreign governments and the city’s diverse communities, helping facilitate everything from cultural exchanges to economic partnerships.
The presence of these consulates and the United Nations in Midtown has long cemented NYC’s role as a city of diplomacy. Many New Yorkers take pride in knowing their hometown plays host to ambassadors and delegates from nearly 200 countries year-round. Standing at SUMMIT, it’s easy to reflect on this when you gaze toward the distinctive green-marble façade of the UN Headquarters down on 1st Avenue. On a clear day, one might imagine the invisible lines from this spire connecting to world capitals — Washington, Beijing, London — all from our Midtown vantage.
What’s more, SUMMIT encourages visitors to contemplate these connections. Many guests find themselves discussing global issues as readily as pointing out landmarks. After all, New York’s role in world affairs is unmistakable from here. Some travelers even choose to pair their sky-high experience with a ground-level dose of diplomacy. It’s not uncommon to follow a trip to SUMMIT with a visit to United Nations Headquarters NYC, taking a guided tour of the General Assembly Hall to see global cooperation in action.
By juxtaposing stunning city views with symbols of world governance, SUMMIT One Vanderbilt turns a simple lookout into a meditation on New York’s place in the international community. Whether you arrive during the UN’s frenetic high-level week or on a quieter day, the sense that “the world meets here” is tangible. For New Yorkers specifically, seeing the UN from SUMMIT can reignite local pride — a reminder that our city’s skyline stands for peace and progress worldwide.
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt is an immersive space where art, technology, and architecture intertwine to create a cultural experience in the sky. The very design of SUMMIT serves as a metaphor for global interconnectedness. Upon stepping out of the high-speed elevator Rise onto the 91st floor, you’re enveloped in mirrors and floor-to-ceiling glass. Instantly, you see not only the city’s famous towers surrounding you, but also your own reflection multiplied infinitely alongside those of strangers. It’s as if people from every corner of the world are brought together in one boundless, luminous room. The space itself melds art, architecture, and technology into an immersive experience — a description that could just as easily apply to New York City’s cultural melting pot.
The art installations inside SUMMIT make this metaphor tangible. Take Air, the transcendent, multi-floor environment conceived by artist Kenzo Digital, which includes distinct experiences like Transcendence, Affinity, and Unity. In Unity, an interactive installation on the 92nd floor, visitors literally see themselves woven into an evolving piece of art. A 50-foot digital wall projects a floating cloudscape that incorporates each guest’s face in real time.
Stand in front of it, and you’ll watch as your own likeness drifts among digital clouds alongside those of other visitors, all of them different yet all part of the same sky. In Unity’s cloud-mural of faces, you might spot a child from Tokyo next to a grandmother from São Paulo next to your own reflection.
Other installations further celebrate this shared humanity. In the Affinity room, hundreds of reflective silver orbs float and bounce gently, inviting visitors to touch and play. Each orb captures countless reflections, suggesting that every individual’s movement has a ripple effect in this communal space.
A visiting blogger from Spain marveled at how SUMMIT’s three floors combine “one of the best 360-degree views over Manhattan” with “an immersive art installation full of mirrors and a room full of helium balloons where children have a great time.” In other words, SUMMIT manages to be both a sophisticated art encounter and a playful cultural crossroads. Families from abroad, local New Yorkers, and solo travelers can all find themselves equally engrossed, whether gazing out at the skyline or batting shiny balloons across a mirror-polished floor.
Walk through SUMMIT One Vanderbilt on any given day, and you’ll be surrounded by the sounds of the world — a symphony of languages like Spanish, Mandarin, French, Arabic, and dozens more echoing through the space as guests from across the globe take in the view. New York City has always drawn global travelers (around 64 million visitors in 2024 alone, 12.9 million of whom were international tourists), and SUMMIT has quickly become a magnet for this international crowd.
Since opening, SUMMIT has welcomed guests from over 200 countries and territories. If you can find a nation on a map, chances are someone from there has set foot into this sky-high cultural attraction in Midtown Manhattan. By the end of its first year, 1.4 million guests had visited, representing 142 of the 193 United Nations-recognized countries. Today, that number continues to grow toward a full global roster.
This global diversity was part of SUMMIT’s mission from the start. Planners envisioned SUMMIT as a place that embraces cultural diversity in NYC, ensuring every visitor would feel welcome and included. From multilingual signage and staff to the choice of universally resonant art motifs, inclusivity was built into the experience. The result is that any person can walk into SUMMIT and see aspects of their own culture and identity mirrored back at them.
A New Yorker might share an Après café table with a family from Dubai, or a student from Sydney might exchange photo-taking duties with a tourist from Nairobi. Such chance interactions are common, and they are exactly what make New York special.
Walking through SUMMIT, you truly get a sense that New York City is a global city not just in theory, but in person. There’s a certain joy in hearing a dozen different accents exclaim “Wow!” in unison as the skyline comes into view. It reminds us that the love of a beautiful view transcends language.
It’s also worth noting that Midtown Manhattan sites like SUMMIT sit at the crossroads of this global tourism flow for good reason. Midtown is home to icons like Times Square, Broadway theaters, Grand Central Terminal, and more iconic landmarks that draw international travelers year-round.
SUMMIT, located right next to Grand Central, has naturally joined that list of must-visit destinations. Its location and reputation make it a melting pot every single day. One moment, you’re standing next to a fashion blogger from Seoul livestreaming the mirrors; the next, you’re in an elevator with a soccer team from Argentina on a celebratory trip.
Midtown Manhattan brings people together, and SUMMIT amplifies that unity by design. By the time you descend back to city streets, you might realize you’ve not only seen New York from new heights, but you’ve also glimpsed a bit of the whole globe in a single New York moment.
The impact of SUMMIT One Vanderbilt’s experience has radiated far beyond New York, capturing the imagination of people around the planet through media and word of mouth. From the day SUMMIT opened, images of its surreal mirrored rooms and sky-high thrills spread like wildfire on international social media.
Instagram posts from travel influencers in Europe, YouTube vlogs in languages from Italian to Japanese, all marveling at this new, other-dimensional space. Major travel publications and news outlets across continents have also taken notice. SUMMIT strikes a chord worldwide, resonating with audiences who might be 3,000 miles away but can instantly grasp the magic of what’s on offer here.
Lonely Planet described SUMMIT as a multi-sensory journey that “lets visitors do more than just gaze across the spires of the city’s tallest buildings,” highlighting how the experience engages you actively in its art and thrills. Yet perhaps most rewardingly, many outlets emphasize the cultural and emotional impact. A ForumDaily New York review noted that “SUMMIT is New York City’s newest observatory, [boasting] many unique features and stunning views,” specifically calling out the glass skyboxes and glass elevators that allow you to “step out” into the city. Each time, those stories carry a piece of SUMMIT (and New York) to new audiences abroad.
The visual power of SUMMIT’s design has been a key reason why it’s so widely shared. Photographs of visitors suspended in mid-air over Manhattan, reflections creating fantastical illusions, or the sunset turning the space into a golden dreamscape have appeared on countless feeds and news sites. In an age where images speak louder than words, SUMMIT’s imagery has become a worldwide ambassador for New York’s innovative spirit.
Interestingly, SUMMIT’s international resonance also aligns with New York’s broader appeal as a city where the world converges. Just as visitors might seek out the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of freedom or book a United Nations New York tour to appreciate diplomacy, they are drawn to SUMMIT as a symbol of the city’s forward-looking, inclusive energy.
New York City never ceases to reinvent how it shares itself with the world, and that innovation and diversity can literally shine at 1,100 feet. As coverage continues, SUMMIT One Vanderbilt stands as proof that a modern New York landmark can capture global imagination, strengthening the city’s reputation as a place where anything is possible and everyone is welcome.
As we descend from our lofty journey, one thing is clear: SUMMIT One Vanderbilt is a reflection of New York City’s global identity. In this singular space, the towering ambition of Midtown Manhattan meets the collective dreams of millions who visit from around the world.
We’ve looked at diplomacy shimmering on the skyline, art installations that unite strangers in wonder, the incredible diversity of SUMMIT’s guests, and the echo of its impact in media worldwide. The sum of these parts is a story of a city proudly embracing its role as host to the world.
For those of us who call New York home, SUMMIT deepens our appreciation for what the city represents. We see our familiar skyline anew, with fresh eyes, recognizing that the iconic landmarks we see each day are symbols loved the world over. Watching visitors beam with NYC pride, even if it’s their first time here, fills us with pride, too.
SUMMIT has become a point of connection between New Yorkers and the international community we welcome every day. In that sense, SUMMIT affirms something essential about New York: that it truly belongs to everyone. By design, we’ve created a destination where the whole world can feel uplifted, both literally and figuratively.
As you step back onto solid ground, we hope you carry with you a sense of the immense global community that converges in New York City. Whether you’re a curious local or an intrepid visitor, SUMMIT invites you to celebrate that spirit. Come for the views, come for the art, come to stand atop the world within Midtown.
When you do, you’ll find that New York’s global heartbeat is alive and well at 1,100 feet, and we are all part of its story. In the end, SUMMIT reflects not just the city around it, but the world within it — a world we are immensely proud to share with you.
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45 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017
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