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The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in New York City. It is located on the east side of Manhattan at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Chrysler Building is 319 m (1,047 ft) high. For a brief period, it was the world's tallest building before it was overtaken by the Empire State Building in 1931. However, the Chrysler Building remains the world's tallest brick building. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it is again the second tallest building in New York City. The Chrysler Building is considered by contemporary architects as a masterpiece of Art Deco architecture, and by many as the finest building in New York City. The ornamentation of the building is in fact based on features on Chrysler automobiles. The eagle gargoyles on the 61st floor are replicas of the 1929 Chrysler hood ornaments. On the 31st floor, the corner ornamentation are replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps. The building is constructed of masonry, with a steel frame, and metal cladding. The Chrysler Building was designed by architect William Van Alen to house the Chrysler Corporation headquarters. At the time of the ground breaking, on September 19, 1928, New York City was on a skyscraper building fever, with several buildings trying to out-do the other as the tallest in the world. As with the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building was constructed at a frantic pace - an average of four floors were added per week - no workers died during its construction. Before it was completed, the Chrysler Building was the same height as another rival project, 40 Wall Street, designed by H. Craig Severance. Severance increased the height of his building and then publicly claimed his to be the tallest habitable building in the world (not counting towers such as the Eiffel Tower). In response, Van Alen secretly erected a 125 foot (58.4 meters) tall spire inside the frame of the building. On October 23, 1929, the spire was hoisted onto the top of the building in just 90 minutes. With the addition of the spire, the Chrysler Building surpassed 40 Wall street for the title of world tallest building, while the Eiffel Tower remains the world's tallest structure. It was also the first man-made structure to surpass the 1,000 feet mark. Van Alen's glee however was muted when Walter Chryslter refused to pay the balance of his fee. Nevertheless, the triumph of Chrysler Building was shortlived. Less than a year after it opened on 27 May, 1930, the Empire State Building surpassed it in height. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. How to reach the Chrysler BuildingTake the 7 train to the Grand Central Station subway station. You can see the Chrysler Building as you emerge from the subway.Location Map of the Chrysler BuildingView Chrysler Building in a larger map Find a hotel
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Local Tours of New York City
Check out some of the Local Tours of New York City that you may want to pre-book for your trip.Explore other sights in Lower Midtown.
Return to Manhattan Travel Guide,
New York City Travel Guide,
or to United States Travel Guide
Find lowest price for your Hotel RoomBefore booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
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Return to EarthDocumentary World Budget Travel GuideMy message introducing God to all the world: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TIM  EarthDocumentary and globe logo are trademark and service mark of Timothy Tye. |
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 EarthDocumentary logo © copyright Timothy Tye 2007-2010. Content and articles in EarthDocumentary are provided in goodwill and are believed to be correct at time of writing. While every reasonable care is taken to check and verify the information shared, EarthDocumentary disclaims responsibility for its use. Text in EarthDocumentary is available under Creative Commons Attribution/ShareAlike License meaning you are free to copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make derivative works, as long as you attribute your resulting work and apply it under the same, similar or a compatible license. You may use the information on this website on your blog or website so long as you place a link back to the page in AsiaExplorers where it appears. Wikipedia and Wikitravel are cited as among the sources of references. Photographs appearing in EarthDocumentary are available according to the licensing terms specified in its caption. Photographs supplied by Panoramio are governed by the Panoramio API terms & condition, are for display only, and may not be downloaded for use. Photographs belonging to the author are the copyright of Timothy Tye and may not be reused without prior written permission from the author. Contact the author for permission and licensing of the photos. |
