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The Perfect Walking Tour of NYC, According to a Data Scientist

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New York City is chock full of cultural and historical landmarks, some of which not even the most seasoned New Yorkers have visited. So how is it that tourists, who are in the city for a fraction of the time, whittle down their list of must-sees? Well here's some good news for the eager sightseer (who's totally okay ignoring every borough that isn't Manhattan): the same data scientist behind the optimal U.S. road trip has applied his Where's Waldo? algorithm to New York City to produce an optimized walking tour of the city's most popular tourist destinations (h/t BBH).

The walking tour stretches 14.5 miles and encompasses 27 stops in all, including things like Central Park, the Empire State Building, the High Line, and the Tenement Museum, and theoretically takes 5 hours—that is, without stopping. The list also works conversely as a directory of places for New Yorkers to avoid like the plague if able.


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And the list in full:
· American Museum of Natural History
· Central Park West, New York, NY
· The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10028
· The Frick Collection, East 70th Street, New York, NY
· Central Park, New York, NY
· The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), West 53rd Street, New York, NY
· St. Patrick's Cathedral, 5th Avenue, New York, NY
· Rockefeller Center, 45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111
· Radio City Music Hall, Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY
· Theater District, New York, NY
· Times Square, New York, NY
· Bryant Park, New York, NY
· New York Public Library, New York, NY
· Chrysler Building, Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
· Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY
· The Morgan Library & Museum, Madison Avenue, New York, NY
· Empire State Building Observation Deck, 5th Avenue, New York, NY
· Madison Square Garden, Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY
· The High Line, New York, NY 10011
· Chelsea Market, 9th Avenue, New York, NY
· Ground Zero Museum Workshop, West 14th Street, New York, NY
· Greenwich Village, New York, NY
· Washington Square Park, New York, NY
· SoHo, New York, NY
· Tenement Museum, Orchard Street, New York, NY
· St. Paul's Chapel, Broadway, New York, NY
· The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, New York, NY 10006
· Statue of Liberty

· See 27 attractions in under 5 hours on the ultimate NYC walking tour [BBH]
· Optimized Walking Tours of New York City and Philadelphia [official]
· The Ultimate U.S. Road Trip, According to a Data Scientist [Curbed]