Who Gives A Crap About ‘Top of the Rock’?

by Will

When my subway arrives at the Rockefeller Center stop each morning I hear the train conductor make an announcement something like this “Now arriving Rockefeller Center, transfer to the B,D,F,V; Top of the Rock.”

Top of the Rock?” I know what that is — that’s where you can buy a ticket and go to the top of Rockefeller Center and take in the view of NYC. It is a classic Tall Thing to Climb — great for the many tourists who mill around Rockefeller Center hoping to see Al Roker. But how did they get it so that the MTA is advertising for them? That’s such odd product placement. They don’t mention Central Park, or MoMA, or the Waldorf-Astoria or even the ice rink — just this overly-branded, kinda lame, overly-priced TOP OF THE ROCK. It’s not even the best “Tall Thing” in NYC. Besides the Empire State Building, even the view from the Citibank Building in Long Island City is better.

How much money would it take for me to get the MTA to announce “Will Hines’ house” whenever the L train pulls into Lorimer St?