- The new ride opened today and runs until January 31
- It was inspired by a famous 1932 photo of eleven ironworkers
- Tickets for a ride on The Beam cost $34-$40 per person
For a limited time, tourists and native New Yorkers can reach new heights with an all-new attraction called The Beam.
The Beam Experience, located in Rockefeller Center, opens today for visitors who want to recreate an iconic New York photo of 11 ironworkers taken in the same building 91 years ago.
The 1932 black and white photo shows all the men on their lunch break sitting on a steel beam, 69 stories high, with a spectacular view of Central Park in the background.
The lucky visitors who try this new ride at the Top of the Rock are guaranteed a photo while sitting on a steel beam that raises them 10 feet above the observation deck.
Individuals who want to ride The Beam can do so now through January 31 by purchasing tickets online starting at $34 per person.
The Beam opens to the public today at the Top of the Rock in Rockefeller Center and runs now through January 31
The Beam is inspired by the legendary photo Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, taken in the same building in 1932
Tishman Speyer Properties first proposed the Beam ride idea in 2021 as a way to recreate the famous photo formally called Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.
The company, which has led the redevelopment of Rockefeller Center since 1996, envisioned the ride as a safe rotating bar for riders looking for a great photo opportunity in New York City.
Tishman Speyer director EB Kelly discussed the proposal at a Manhattan Community Board 5 meeting in August 2021 in hopes of implementing The Beam and other ideas the company had to improve Rockefeller Plaza.
“We want to tell the story of Rockefeller Center in a new way so people can discover what Rockefeller Center symbolizes,” she said during the meeting via New York Post.
She went on to say that Rockefeller Center “represents a beacon in the city, a place of incredible history, a place that belongs to the city, and that offers this beautiful and unique perspective of this city.”
The photo, published in October 1932 by The New York Herald-Tribune, is one of 'the most recognizable photos of the 20th century.'
Information about the photo had been a mystery for years, with people initially thinking it was near the Empire State Building and not on Park Avenue
Some social media users on
In fact, many tweets are from people who are absolutely terrified of the new ride.
'No! The fear of heights thing starts just by looking at this,” one person tweeted.
Another person tweeted: 'No! Are they tied to the beam? I would also need to see all certificates and permits proving the ride is safe!!!'
“No, just because with my dumb luck the beam I'm sitting on was going to spin out of control and throw me over the edge,” another X user wrote.
Social media users also recalled how they “fainted on the deck” and another even tweeted that she “hated it” and “desperately crawled back to the nearest stairs.”
Other X users thought the idea of the ride was cool, with one person even writing that it looked like “something out of Super Mario.”
Social media users are excited and terrified of this new ride, many users think The Beam is not safe
A Beam Experience ticket guarantees visitor time entry, worry-free weather, ticket rescheduling, and sunset access.
The most available times for people wanting to ride The Beam are between 9am and 11:10pm.
The ride is open to those hoping for an excellent photo op on Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.