They Say Only Tourists in New York Look Up. Prove Them Wrong.

One of my favorite spots in New York City has always been the glass-tiled floor of the Brooklyn Museum. During the museum’s First Saturdays, I would often flop onto one of the frosted squares in the museum’s Beaux-Arts court to stare up at the glorious skylight. (The court is closing July 19 — still time to catch it! — and will reopen in September with the museum’s Christian Dior retrospective.)

Some of New York’s best ceilings are already famous — like Grand Central Terminal’s celestial vaulted ceiling (fun fact: There are some inaccuracies; bring a star map and see if you can spot them) and the dreamy paintings above the New York Public Library’s Rose Main Reading Room (which reopened Tuesday and can be explored on free tours) — but there are others tucked away in lesser-known spots.

The Museum at Eldridge Street, a restored synagogue in Chinatown, has ornate 50-foot ceilings above gorgeous stained glass. The Morgan Library & Museum also has elaborately detailed ceilings in the library — my favorites are in the East Room and the Rotunda.

Village East Cinema, one of the last of New York’s buildings that originated as a Yiddish theater, also has a stunning ceiling in the upstairs theater, if you’re heading there to catch a screening. (Kings Theater in Brooklyn has a ceiling that’s ogle-worthy as well; reopening is planned for the end of August.)

The Guastavino tile ceilings of Old City Hall are a bit more exclusive and can be seen only on member tours of the Transit Museum.

Looking for something open-air? Elsewhere, the concert venue and party space in Bushwick, Brooklyn, also has a fantastic rooftop with food and drinks if you’re interested in catching live music this summer.

For park lovers in Brooklyn, Prospect Park’s recently restored Concert Grove Pavilion has a colorful star-shaped stained glass skylight, and the ceiling of the Bethesda Terrace Arcade in Central Park is covered in tiles that were originally used on the floors of European cathedrals.

The High Line, on the West Side of Manhattan, also offers free tours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in the summer if you’re curious about the park’s history and design.

And though New York isn’t the best place to see the stars (thanks a lot, light pollution!), the Hayden Planetarium offers showings of “Worlds Beyond Earth” every hour on the half-hour. I also love taking a blanket deep into the fields of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, hoping to spy a planet or the occasional shooting star.

What do you want to hear from us this summer? Are there events or venues we should know about? Send us a note at [email protected], or let us know in the comments.