Views

This Saturday, the lovely weather and friends in town lured me to finally go through the trouble and the lines and go up the Empire State Building. We had a nice view and great visibility of beyond 25 miles. We agreed that the Chrysler Building still is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. This 1930 Art Deco masterpiece by architect William Van Alen is considered a 'classic beauty' and - not for nothing - was recently named the city's #1 Architecture sight by TONY (Time Out New York Oct 11-17, 2007). It measures 1,048 feet (= 319 m) including its 27 m high shiny rooftop, a "stainless steel spire representing a series of overlapping hubcaps". The roof's amazing and distinctive illumination at night are simple neon lights attached to the window frames. Initially build for the Chrysler Company with the founder's appartment located on the 67th floor, the building today houses simple offices that do not show any indication of the Art Deco style we admire at its exterior, the lobby, and the elevators. The building is not accessible to the public with the exception of its lobby.
It held the title of world's tallest building for only a few months before the Empire State Building surpassed it.

In it's background, we'll see the black Trump World building which in the same TONY ranking was names #5 Blight with the comment that "those who live inside this ginormous black slab of metal and glass are the lucky ones - they don't have to loo at it. The ominous structure, which brahsly violates the ruling against constructions taller than the nearby U.N. Secretariat building, thrusts into the skyline like a flipped bird."

Southward, we enjoy the sight of the Flatiron building (also: Fuller building), another New York landmark (ranked #4 in TONY). "At 20 stories, this triangular wonder was the city's first skyscaper upon its completion in 1902 (!)."

And further south, the financial district becomes blurred in the haze of the afternoon...

To finish the day of views, we had dinner at the Rainbow Room on Rockefeller Plaza's 65th floor. From our table at the window we had another great perspective onto the city ("priceless panoramic views"). While the food was excellent ("quality Venetian cuisine") - maybe with the exception of the unspectacular Vanilla Meringue desert that suffert from lack of vanilla - the service did not live up to the expectations promised by ZAGAT: "smooth formal service". Overall, we however agree that it is "a monumental splurge (and) everyone should go at least once". We did - and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening with my great company.