Springtime in New York (Chrysler Buidling)

Ahhhh...Springtime.  Maybe I appreciate it so much because I find winters so difficult.  The sun and fresh air are like medicine to me.

I thought it would be an ideal time to walk up to the Chrysler Building and check out the lobby.  I knew the observation deck had closed years ago, but I heard the lobby was special.  Living only about 8 blocks from the building, I had walked by 135 42nd Street many times but never ducked in.

I read in a Frommer's Guide that,

Working at a furious pace in the last days of construction, the workers assembled in secrecy the elegant pointy top - and then raised it right through what people had assumed was going to be the roof.

Finished in 1930 (wow - a year after the crash), the Chrysler Building was the world's tallest building for a few months but it was surpassed by the Empire State Building.  Walter Chrysler lived in the building at one time and it served as the Chrysler Headquarters.  Chrysler has long moved out but it left the city a fabulous parting gift.

I read at this website that the gargoyles are intended to resemble hood ornaments.  It also said that Chrysler radiator caps were added to the design and there are racing cars on the 31st floor.  (I didn't notice either.)  I read somewhere else that there were items to resemble hubcaps.  I did see these as the photo below shows.  (They look  like winged hubcaps.)

The elevators in the building are made of several varieties of wood.  They are stunning. 

The mural on the ceiling is interesting, too. I loved the colors.  According to the sign in the lobby, this mural by Edward Trumbull was done on canvas and then cemented to the ceiling.  It's reportedly one of the largest paintings in the world.  Named Transport and Human Endeavor, it depicts scenes from Chrysler's assembly line and shows planes and buildings.  Amusingly, one building is the Chrysler building.

  

After spending time visiting this great building, I made my way out and back into the Springtime.