The Chrysler Building was vying with 40 Wall Street for tallest in the City. It was the end o the gilded age in 1929. Overnight the architect added the needle, which was assembled in five separate sections in only ninety minutes, adding a over hundred feet to the building’s height. It was the city’s tallest building and stood proud at 1050 feet, the first in the world to be over 1000.
The next day the Stock Market crashed. For less than a year after completion it stood as the world’s tallest building. Then the Empire State building was finished. Poor Chrysler Building; it never got its due.
Today the Bank of America building is the second tallest building in the city. In 2007 they made the New York Times Building the exact same height as the Chrysler Building.
This is just one of the many Tales of the Metropolis. Cat, Gio and I know a few others we’re going to read tomorrow at Brooklyn Fire Proof East, starting at 6. It’s my first public prose reading and it won’t be my last. It’d be good to see you there.
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