Where is your Favorite NYC 'Scraper?

[NyC MaNiAc]

Where in Manhattan is Your Most Beloved New York Skyscraper?
Tell us Why.

My Favorite Changes Daily, but a building that I've loved for a while has been the W.R. Grace Building which is currently living in Midtown Manhattan. While It's White and Black Facade is nothing to write home about, It's curved lower walls gives it incredible presence when viewed up close.
http://www.wirednewyork.com/images/grace_conde_nast.jpg

http://www.wirednewyork.com/images/grace.jpg

http://members.aol.com/smurphynyc/mid/11146th.jpg

[Fabb]

I'm like you : my favourite changes regularly.
Currenly GE@Rockefeller Center.
Midtown offers a much wider choice.

[ZippyTheChimp]

When I was eight years old, my parents took us into the city, which was always magical, but this time they didn't say where. When we got near 5 Ave, my father said to me, Look up, that's where we're going." What I saw was...

http://www.pbase.com/image/14957909.jpg

An emotional choice, it has been my favorite building ever since. It doesn't matter what else has been or will be built. All these years later, I still remember that day. That photo is on my pbase homepage.

[NyC MaNiAc]

Touching Story, and Amazing Picture.


Yes, Fabb Midtown has a wider choice, but Downtown is No Slouch. Hopefully, 7 WTC and the Freedom Tower will get more Modern Towers Built.

But for Now, I am more then happy with the Canyons of Wall Street-Still Growing, and Still Unbelieveable.

[DominicanoNYC]

Well my top three favorites are:
Bear Stearns
Chrysler
Trump International

[Jack Ryan]

Has to be the old Cities Service building at 70 Pine Street. What a beauty. When the building opened in 1932 the owners also had a building across the street that faced Wall Street. Since that building had a Wall Street address, they decided to build a bridge high over Pine Street to connect the two and then named 70 Pine Street the '60 Wall Tower'. Figured they would get alot more tenants at a Wall Street address... Even though the building was on Pine Street.

[NyC MaNiAc]

70 Pine is a beauty, I agree.

Other of my Personal Favs Downtown Are:

40 Wall

J.P Morgan Headquarters

The City Bank Farmers Trust Co. Building

The World Financial Center Complex

Woolworth Building

17 State

Municipal Building


Too many to list in Midtown.

[BrooklynRider]

70 Pine is a beauty, I agree.

Other of my Personal Favs Downtown Are:

40 Wall

J.P Morgan Headquarters

The City Bank Farmers Trust Co. Building

The World Financial Center Complex

Woolworth Building

17 State

Municipal Building


Too many to list in Midtown.

I agree with all of those, with the e xception of the JP Morgan building - I'm assuming you're talking about the Roche/Dinkeloo monstrosity. I'm not a fan of it.

If I had to choose one building overall, it would be the Chrysler Bldg.

[Eugenius]

My current favorite is the old GE building at 570 Lex.

As for the Grace building, personally, I prefer its Solow twin at 9 W.57 St.

[zepplin100]

I have to go with Yamasaki's WTC as numbero uno all time. Everything else is only close second although I can't wait until the Hurst tower is completed. WR Grace building is great too, the phantom square illusion it has going on is a great touch.

[NyC MaNiAc]

The new WTC will have, on last count I thought it was, 5 Huge Towers.

I also heard, that the towers might have competly different looks.

That should add to the selection, as would the East Side Plan...

Construction seems to be starting up Downtown... And it looks good.

P.S. I think my post count just went down about 100 posts...Any one else notice a change with their count?

[zepplin100]

Five towers yes, the question whether they are huge is arguable. I'm pretty disappointed with the heights personally and I highly doubt that they will go any taller ... not with boneheads like Silverstein at the helm of the operation.

[NyC MaNiAc]

True...

But, I think one of those towers will be the World's Tallest, and A couple others will pass 1,000 Feet.

I've grown up since the attacks two years ago. I'm no longer complaining. Let's stop whining. It's obviously getting us nowhere.

[Qtrainat1251]

Yeah 1251 Ave of the Americas (former Exxon building) is my favorite building in the city. I know its in a row of towering monoliths, but its perhaps the only place I could get a similar feeling of what the WTC was like. I love long narrow windows and floorspace free of columns. Its what is often referred to as "International style".
Before 9/11/01 my fav building was WTC. As I've said before, the best design for rebuilding is the original design of the WTC.

[Qtrainat1251]

Some photos of my favorite building in the city, 1251 Ave of the Americas

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p61c69ae31264e916f14c921c0539cc85/fb3bb71d.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/pd4d60868f143d8ccf37ba61e1e1b4383/fb3bb6bf.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p66fbbd7443a6a720b59a00f95d10d0b3/fb3bb6af.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p37dbd268494ee409ad51ab8cecd2f0c0/fb3bb686.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p70ae0154551fb682e75ffbf4f9acd5cd/fb3bb676.jpg

[TLOZ Link5]

I always thought that 1251 AotA, along with the rest of the XYZ Buildings, could use a good scrubbing. They're all extremely dingy.

[dnice215]

i would personally have to go with conde naste as my favorite skyscraper. It its like the perfect example of postmodernism. Its extremely different facades gives it a sort of cut and paste effect which is unique. I think besides the empire state building it has the best location in the city, and now with the new antenna and billboards coming its even better :lol:

[NYatKNIGHT]

I'm going with downtown.....today anyway.

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/NYatKNIGHT/WoolworthGroup.sized.jpg

http://galleries.soaringtowers.org/albums/NYatKNIGHT/DT_1.sized.jpg

[NyC MaNiAc]

Downtown needs some new babies...

The only "new" scraper that is unique and good looking is Shiny Mr. 17, on the edge of the island.

Bring on new construction!

[DominicanoNYC]

Downtown needs some new babies...

The only "new" scraper that is unique and good looking is Shiny Mr. 17, on the edge of the island.

Bring on new construction!

Yeah. I haven't heard much of the really major construction in downtown NYC.

[NyC MaNiAc]

Yeah Dominicano, but I think they are turning around just about now.

This Last Decade has been pretty sad though, but construction of the new WTC will bring around more new, innovative, skyline changing,big buildings.

Unfortunatly, we had to lose 2 of our greatest buildings just for some new construction. :roll:

Funny how things work.

[DominicanoNYC]

Yeah. It's not the best way to make way for newer buildings.

[Merry]

All of the many Art Deco buildings, of course, but specifically I've settled for 20 Exchange Place (City Bank Farmers Trust) as my favourite skyscraper and the Barclay-Vesey (Verizon) as my favourite low(er)-rise.

I also really like the Lincoln Building and all of the Lefcourt buildings.

I'm not a big fan of the modern stuff, but I do like 450 Lexington and all of Frank Williams' apartment buildings.

I don't think you can beat Downtown for its wonderful cluster of pre-WWII buildings, despite being somewhat spoilt IMO by monster boxes like 55 Water Street, et al.

[ZippyTheChimp]

20 Exchgange
http://www.pbase.com/image/15425429.jpg

[NyC MaNiAc]

I love that second pic NyatKnight.

It really showcases what Downtown is all about, IMO.

Mixing the Old (70 Pine, 40 Wall, City Bank Farmer's Trust) With the New (J.P. Morgan Building)

[Liz L]

The Chrysler and Empire State are tied for first place on my list of NYC faves, and they're even more amazing in person - two of the most beautiful skyscrapers yet built and the true stadt-kronen (city-crowns) of the skyline.

The Empire State simply rockets skyward - shes' all soaring, shining grace and power, and the mooring mast is the perfect finishing touch of art deco razz-a-ma-tazz.

The Chrysler, with her wonderful spire and gargoyles (art deco razz-a-ma-tazz to spare) is so joyuous she looks like she'll dance right off the sidewalk...

The ESB and Chrysler are two of the only three 'scrapers, BTW, that I refer to as "she", as a token of special fondness. The other is the Woolworth Building.

[Liz L]

My favorite skyscrapers are in midtown...

The Chrysler and Empire State are tied for first place on my list of NYC faves, and they're even more amazing in person - two of the most beautiful skyscrapers yet built and the true stadt-kronen (city-crowns) of the skyline. Sometimes buildings do become more than just buildings..

The Empire State simply rockets skyward - shes' all soaring, shining grace and power, and the mooring mast is the perfect finishing touch of art deco razz-a-ma-tazz. Zippy, your picture captures that grace & power so well...

The Chrysler, with her wonderful spire and gargoyles (art deco razz-a-ma-tazz to spare) is so joyuous she looks like she'll dance right off the sidewalk...

The ESB and Chrysler are two of the only three 'scrapers, BTW, that I refer to as "she", as a token of special fondness. The other is the Woolworth Building.

[TLOZ Link5]

Okay, I'll bite.

Top 15 favorites:

1. Chrysler

2. 70 Pine

3. ESB

4. MetLife Insurance Company Tower

5. Flatiron

6. Citicorp Center

7. Condé Nast

8. 40 Wall

9. Rock Center

10. Carnegie Hall Tower

11. Woolworth

12. Municipal Building

13. 17 State Street

14. TWT

15. Cityspire

[Eugenius]

I'd probably reverse City Spire and Carnegie Hall Tower on that list of yours, TLOZ, and call it mine.

[Kris]

570 Lexington:

http://www.nycsnapshots.com/images/architecture/570lexington/main/570lexington_main1.jpg
http://www.nycsnapshots.com/images/architecture/570lexington/main/570lexington_main2.jpg
http://www.nycsnapshots.com/images/architecture/570lexington/main/570lexington_main3.jpg

1 Wall Street:

http://www.nycsnapshots.com/images/architecture/1wallstreet/main/1wallstreet_main1.jpg

They're relatively modest in size but exude fiery energy. I also particularly like the ESB, Chrysler, Citicorp, GE... The list goes on but a few stand out.

[Gulcrapek]

17 State Street
http://web.mit.edu/bic/www/7-13-02-%2017%20State%20Street%201.jpg

Chase Manhattan Plaza
http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/829.jpg

Broad Financial Center
http://web.mit.edu/bic/www/7-13-02-%20Broad%20Financial%20Center.jpg

[NyC MaNiAc]

Those are some great downtown 'scrapers.

17 State is totally under-rated.

Also, You can diss Chase Manhattan, but it's So IMPOSING and cool seeing it in person. It's not your regular box.

And Broad is all nice and shiney! :D Yay for Downtown.

[emmeka]

I'm assuming you're talking about the Roche/Dinkeloo monstrocity

I strongly disagree it is not at all , in my opinion, a monstrocity.

It happens to be one of my many downtown favorites. I like so much about it and it has the most exentric lobby ive seen!

[DominicanoNYC]

The thing is that Midtown has a lot of great buildings too.

[NyC MaNiAc]

Yes, Midtown has LOADS of great buildings too!

I just like noting that Downtown has just as many greats as well, because the area, as a whole, is overlooked in my opinion.

[DominicanoNYC]

Yes. If I would choose Downtown as my favorite though, it would be for it's classic buildings. My fovarite down town is the Woolworth building.

[SUPREMO]

Definitely, Midtown Manhattan! That's the heart of NYC! Even when the WTC was still there I still say midtown.

[Alex]

I have to go with Yamasaki's WTC as numbero uno all time.
Then you might like this site:
http://www.theopinion.com/newyorkcityskyline/cgi-bin/yabb/yabb.pl

[ZippyTheChimp]

It's infantile.

[NyC MaNiAc]

It's time to move on, guys...

Al these Twin Tower (For lack of a better word) "lovers" are starting to aggravate me. Move on. I understand where you're coming from, but...

Reality Check. The Towers are gone. And they won't be coming back. Accept it.

[TonyO]

NY Times
September 1, 2005

In City of Skyscrapers, Which Is the Mightiest of the High?

By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Happy 75th birthday, Chrysler Building. New Yorkers in the know think you're the best.

One hundred architects, brokers, builders, critics, developers, engineers, historians, lawyers, officials, owners, planners and scholars were asked this summer by the Skyscraper Museum in Lower Manhattan to choose their 10 favorites among 25 existing towers, from the Park Row Building (1899) to the Time Warner Center (2004).

Ninety of them named William Van Alen's Chrysler Building of 1930, which may come as close as any - despite or because of its ebullient eccentricity - to expressing New York's cloud-piercing ambitions.

The surprising runner-up was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building of 1958, which is the antithesis of Chrysler: cool, tranquil, rectangular and restrained. What they have in common is that both express the spirit of their times, Chrysler playing a jazz-age flapper to Seagram's man in the gray flannel suit.

"These are irreconcilable choices if you try to evaluate them by one single system," said Carol Willis, the director of the Skyscraper Museum. Rather, she said, the voting showed that people judge some skyscrapers emotionally, others rationally.

Ms. Willis's own favorite, the Empire State Building, tied with Lever House, behind the Flatiron and Woolworth Buildings. The most recently built of the Top 10 was Eero Saarinen's CBS Building of 1964.

An exhibition including the results, "Favorites," opened yesterday at the museum, 39 Battery Place, in Battery Park City. The rankings are posted at www.skyscraper.org.

Neither the survey nor the answers were strictly scientific. Respondents tended to gravitate toward towers with which they are personally involved.

For instance, the RCA Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza (now the G.E. Building), was the No. 1 choice of Jerry Speyer of Tishman Speyer Properties, which co-owns Rockefeller Center; Samuel H. Lindenbaum, a land-use lawyer who represents the center; Howard J. Rubenstein, a public-relations executive whose firm promotes the center; and Daniel Okrent, the former public editor of The New York Times, whose 2003 book, "Great Fortune," chronicled the history of the center.

Donald J. Trump checked off none of the buildings proposed by the museum but instead nominated Trump Tower, Trump World Tower, Trump International Hotel and Tower and 40 Wall Street. Yes, that would be the Trump Building.

There were some exceptions to self involvement. I. M. Pei did not chose 88 Pine Street, which his firm designed and where it has its office. But the building was among those picked by Robert B. Tierney, the chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Perhaps there is a designation in its future, though Mr. Tierney characterized the choice as one of personal affection and cautioned, "Nothing 'official' should be inferred."

The World Trade Center was not on the list and did not appear as a write-in on anyone's ballot. Leslie E. Robertson, a chief engineer of the twin towers, chose the Woolworth Building as his personal favorite. It, too, was once the tallest building in the world, 40 years before the topping out of 1 World Trade Center.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/08/31/nyregion/20050901_skyscraper.gif

[redhot00]

Like many others, mine changes frequently. I love 40 w. 40th, Raymond Hood's American Radiator Building.

Lever House, Exxon, Grace, 70 Pine, I love 'em all, but if pressed to pick one absolute favorite? Van Allen's masterpiece, the crown jewel of the skyline.

[Fabrizio]

There are 2 skyscrapers that make my heart beat faster: The Seagrams and the CBS building. It´s very strange because they add little to the skyline ( or the street for that matter). I´m attracted to their late 50´s/early 60´s idea of "good" design and rigorous elegance....yet they are timeless. And they both have incredible workmanship. They say power and wealth like no others. After those two, I´d take the Empire State Building. The Chrysler is lovely, it´s a nostalgic antique....and I wish there were more buidings like that gracing the skyline.... but it´s not good design.

[redhot00]

And the Seagram Building has the plaza to beat all plazas.

[sfenn1117]

Am I the only one who sees othing special in the Seagram Building? I mean I'll take it over the XYZ buildings, 55 Water, and other boxes, but it in no way (imo) tops the art-deco greats. I like Chase Manhattan Plaza better. Speaking of which I've always said that CMP makes Metlife, built during the same period, look like total crap.

But Chrysler is definitely my favorite too. That's why I put midtown months and months ago.

[TomAuch]

Seagram is one of the decent modern boxes of the period (the others being the former WTC, UN Building, and Lever building.) but how the hell did it get more votes than the ESB in this NYT survey?

[Bob]

If I gave this more thought tomorrow, the list might be different, but not by much. Here goes:

1. Chrysler
2. Empire State
3. Twin Towers (Let's be honest, don't we ALL miss them?)
4. GE (30 Rock)
5. 20 Exchange Place (Gotham City, indeed!)
6. 70 Pine/60 Wall/Cities Service
7. Pan Am (working on a groovy thing, baby)
8. Trump World Tower
9. 40 Wall
10. (former) Union Carbide on Park Ave. (see #7, above, for reference)

[TonyO]

"Donald J. Trump checked off none of the buildings proposed by the museum but instead nominated Trump Tower, Trump World Tower, Trump International Hotel and Tower and 40 Wall Street. Yes, that would be the Trump Building."

This cracked me up.

[Clarknt67]

ESB, closely followed by the Chrysler. I know, common choices, but they're just beautiful.

[Jake]

Without a doubt, 70 Pine Str

For some reason this building always reminds me of Superman, I don't know why.
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/532/4aib03.jpg

[sfenn1117]

Now that you mention it......(Re: Superman)

70 Pine is a fine building, I just hate the parts without windows. Makes the building look spooky and abandoned. I think it would make a phenomenal city tallest in Hartford, Boston, Baltimore, etc.

[TonyO]

Without a doubt, 70 Pine Str

For some reason this building always reminds me of Superman, I don't know why.
http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/532/4aib03.jpg

I love the American International Building too...although I never heard of it called 70 Pine.

[lofter1]

1 Wall Street (aka 52 Broadway, The Bank of New York; b. 1929 - 1932 for The Irving Trust Corp.) is a deco masterpiece, both from afar ...

http://greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/648.jpg

and close-up...

http://greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/527.jpg


http://greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/520.jpg

And it has the most incredible LOBBY in town.

[Alonzo-ny]

I love 70 pine wish it was somewhere more unobstructed. I feel its almost always overlooked.

[Bob]

Imagine what a terrific building 70 Pine would make, were it rebuilt elsewhere in the city on a contemporary scale, with today's floor space needs. Same proportions. Bigger and taller. Wowee.

[lofter1]

Set-back regulations that were in effect in the 20s / 30s led architects to come up with some amazingly beautiful buildings.

Of course talent & an artistic eye helped, too.

[Swede]

It used to be the Chrylser by quite a margin, but after visiting NYC for a week last November 70 Pine has topped that. The non-square crosssection and gradual set-backs are awesome.
Favourite unbilt tower is probably the MetLife North Tower in all its original ESB-like height.

[Dagrecco82]

I must say that 570 Lexington ranks up there as being one of my favorite skyscapers. The building just screams 'Art Deco'. I have some incredilble pictures i would love to share, unfortunately, I have no idea how to upload pics larger than 800X800. Any help would be appreciated. Hope you enjoy the ones I did upload for you.

[Dagrecco82]

So here's the orginal pics I wanted to post. Thanks again for your help Law


http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/4233/570lex5id.jpghttp://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5677/570lextop6qb.jpghttp://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3793/570lexclock5ro.jpg

[Dagrecco82]

I actually don't. I have tons of other pics that i've either taken or been given by friends. But just 5 of this particular building.