Midtown: Race for the Sky
The skyline you recognize was built in nineteen months by three rivals, and then a Depression killed the race forever.
Start
New York Public Library: The World Before the Race
New York Public Library: The World Before the Race
The Schwarzman Building, opened May 1911. Beaux-Arts horizontal mass. The civic monument the skyline would soon look over.
Grand Central Terminal: The Scale Anchor
Opened 1913. Beaux-Arts horizontal, the building everyone was looking over when they looked up.
Chrysler Building: The First Claim
1,046 feet. William Van Alen, 1930. The Art Deco crown, and a hidden spire hoisted in ninety minutes.
Daily News Building: The Race Becomes a Style
Raymond Hood, 1930. Vertical brick striping. The first modernist skyscraper without applied historicist ornament.
Lever House: The Turn
Gordon Bunshaft, SOM, 1952. Park Avenue's first all-glass curtain wall. The race had ended.
Seagram Building: The New Grammar Locked In
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1958. 100-foot plaza setback, bronze tower. The post-race language made canonical.
Empire State Building: The Pattern Breaks
1,250 feet. 102 floors. Opened May 1, 1931. Held the title for forty-one years.
Looking North: Two Rivals in One Frame
Same corner, looking uptown along Fifth Avenue at the Chrysler crown. The race in one line of sight.
Best Time to Visit
Mid-morning to early afternoon. Crowds are lighter on 42nd Street before 11am, and the light on the Chrysler crown and the Empire State facade is at its strongest between 10am and 1pm.
Pro Tips
- •Wear comfortable walking shoes. The Daily News dogleg east on 42nd Street adds about 700 meters of round-trip walking
- •The Daily News Building lobby is publicly accessible during business hours if you want a 30-second peek at the rotating globe
- •Buy Empire State Building observatory tickets via the official app or website in advance to skip the lines, if you decide to go up
- •Lever House plaza is publicly walkable, day or night. Step under the tower for the strongest sense of the curtain wall
- •Seagram plaza is one of the most famous public spaces in New York. Sit on the granite ledges, do not rush past
- •For the strongest Chrysler-spire view from the start of the tour, step back to the northwest corner of 42nd and Lexington and look up at the crown against the sky
Safety & Precautions
- 42nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Third Avenue carries heavy pedestrian traffic on weekdays. Stand against the buildings, not in the flow, when you stop to listen
- The walk north up Park Avenue from the Daily News Building to Lever House is roughly a kilometer. Pace yourself if the day is hot
- The final stretch from Seagram down to the Empire State Building is roughly 1.7 kilometers. Plan a water stop on Park Avenue before you start south
Gallery
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