The CHRYSLER BUILDING was designed by WILLIAM VAN ALEN for Walter P.
Chrysler, the automobile mogul. It was completed in 1930 and
became the tallest building in the world
for a brief period of time until the Empire State Building opened in
1931. A favorite building of both architects
and New Yorkers, the
The lobby
(below) has a Belgian black granite entrance and Moroccan marble walls and yellow
The original building had a dining room, The
Cloud Club, and a visitors’ center and observation deck on the 71st floor. All observation decks at NYC buildings were closed during World War II; the Chrysler Building's observation deck never reopened.
Sadly, Brooklyn
native William Van Alen, the architect of this skyscraper, was never paid for
his services. Chrysler accused Van Alen
of accepting bribes and other improprieties and Van Alen’s reputation was
forever ruined. As the Chrysler Building was being constructed, an associate of Van Alen's, H. Craig Severance, was striving to build the tallest building in the world in lower Manhattan, the Bank of Manhattan Company at 40 Wall Street. The architects soon were competing to see which building would become the tallest. Severance added a flagpole to the Bank of Manhattan Company building to increase its height. Then Van Alen build the vertex spire atop the Chrysler Building -- adding 1,046 feet -- assuring that it would become the taller building.
In 2006 the Chrysler Building was voted as New Yorkers favorite building in a poll done by the Skyscraper Museum.
In July 2008 it was announced that an investment fund based in the United Arab Emirates, has purchased a majority stake in the Chrysler Building for over $800 million from the German company, Tishman Speyer Properities, which retains controlling interest of the landmark building and will continue to manage it. The purchase continues a recent trend of foreign investors purchasing New York City property.