CityRealty Insider > Skyline Throwdown: Rival Manhattan Towers Battled for the Title of Tallest

Skyline Throwdown: Rival Manhattan Towers Battled for the Title of Tallest

OCTOBER 14, 2008

Rivalry at the top of the world

The dizzying economic peak of the late 1920s ushered in an unprecedented building boom as the Manhattan skyline shouldered its way to the heights of international regard. A much-documented rivalry was between the architects of the Bank of Manhattan building at 40 Wall Street and the graceful deco gem that is the Chrysler Building in Midtown. Craig Severance, the architect of 40 Wall, was hell-bent to win a heated competition against his former partner, the architect of the Chrysler Building, William Van Alen, to build the world's tallest skyscraper.

The builders of 40 Wall were certain that they'd won when the building officially opened on May 26, 1930. But Van Alen had only pretended to top out his building at 925 feet. Inside the tower, he had secretly been building a 7-story, twenty-seven ton stainless steel spire which was lifted through the roof and bolted into place to give the Chrysler building a total height of 1,046 feet, beating its rival by 119 feet, and making it the world's tallest (at the time) and the world's first building to rise above 1,000 feet.

In true New York fashion. it wasn't top dog for long: The Empire State Building nosed higher less than nine months later.

ALSO IN NEW YORK CITY INSIDER

RLS IDX Data display by CityRealty.com, LLC. This information is not verified for authenticity or accuracy and is not guaranteed and may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. ©2024 The Real Estate Board of New York, Inc., All rights reserved. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers’ personal, non-commercial use and it may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.

All information furnished regarding property for sale, rental or financing is from sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or representation is made as to the accuracy thereof and same is submitted subject to errors, omissions, change of price, rental or other conditions, prior sale, lease or financing or withdrawal without notice. All dimensions are approximate. For exact dimensions, you must hire your own architect or engineer and for no listing shall the number of bedrooms listed be considered a legal conclusion.

All closed sales data has been provided by the New York City Department of Finance via the Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS). No warranty or representation is made as to the accuracy of any data provided by ACRIS or any other sources.

CityRealty is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for individuals with disabilities. We are continuously working to improve the accessibility of our web experience for everyone, and we welcome feedback and accommodation requests. If you wish to report an issue or seek an accommodation, please contact us at accessibility@cityrealty.com.

An equal housing opportunity

{"1":[40.775,-73.94,"East Side","_es"],"2":[40.79,-73.99,"West Side","_ws"],"11":[40.76,-73.98,"Midtown","_m"],"3":[40.736,-73.99,"Downtown","_d"],"13":[40.711309,-74.01,"Financial
District\/BPC","_fd"],"4":[40.682676,-73.973007,"Brooklyn","_b"],"12":[40.8444,-73.9376,"Upper Manhattan","_um"],"5":[40.7477089,-73.930411,"LIC \/ Queens","_qns"],"18":[40.8889782,-73.9025,"The Bronx","_bx"]}