I visited with my wife and 3 kids on our last day in NYC. Never got to see the view - security could not deal with a pacemaker / implanted defib. It was a huge disappointment to me and my family and marred our trip to be discriminated against in this way.
Their policy is you have to be searched with a security wand - medical guidance is that this carries a risk of interference with an implanted defib or pacemaker. Small risk perhaps but not remote and ultimately something that lives depend on. I was happy to be patted down, happy to take my top off and be wanded from the waist down. I was literally wearing a t-shirt - very straight forward to take a common sense approach that I was not concealing a weapon or posing any risk.
In over 20 years with a device, I have never had issues with security - having been accommodated through countless airports and even in the last 5 days in NYC visiting the Empire State, Statue of Liberty, Summit One, The Edge and the Knicks game at MSG - no problem whatsoever. The Rockefeller is out of line.
We waited for the senior security official, Christian, and whilst calm and pleasant enough, they were not prepared to take a common sense approach unlike every other place I visited in NYC. They tried to convince me everything was fine but could provide no documentary evidence and I suspect because no manufacturer will guarantee it. It really upset my children and they were scared by the inflexibility of the Rockefeller security.
So whilst this is a personal story that won’t apply to everyone, if you do have an implanted cardiac device please be wary of visiting. The Rockefeller needs to review and update its policies and moreover, empower its senior employees to make appropriate risk based judgments where the risk to me was potentially small but lethal and the risk I posed to the building and other visitors non-existant.
PS - Still trying to arrange a refund as our tickets were through a NY pass.