Tuesday, June 26, 2007

NYC: A Few Pics

One of the most photographed skyscrapers in New York is the art deco Chrysler Building. Built in 1928-29, it is once again the second tallest building in NYC after 9/11. The Empire State Building regained its title as number one.


Here is the southern side of Grand Central Terminal facing 42nd Street. (Tip: For those taking a cab, make sure you specify Grand Central Terminal, not Station, or you may end up at Penn Station as I once did and almost missed my train in so doing.) Nearly as amazing as the building on top is what lies beneath. There are 44 platforms and 67 tracks on multiple levels with most going North/South and some East/West.

The United Nations headquarters was built on an 18 acre site in NYC purchased with a donation to the UN by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Although it is in New York City, the land occupied by the UN HQs is international territory. The complex is between First Avenue and the East River; 42nd to 48th Streets. FDR Drive passes underneath the Conference Building.

The photo below shows the aging 38 story Secretariat Tower. The UN is negotiating to build a temporary HQ on First Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets for use while the current area is expanded. The renovation will start in 2008 and cost upwards of $2B over 10 years. The sculpture in the foreground is at 47th Street. I didn't investigate because I erroneously thought that it would be easy to find what it was with a simple web search. I gave up after searching for an hour — and it would have taken me only 2 minutes had I just walked over there and read the darn plaque!

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2 comments:

michael sean morris said...

Yeah. What is that thing? I've checked Google Earth and all my books and there's no mention of it.

Gavin said...

And you thought I was joking when I said I'd spent an hour trying to figure it out!