The Sky Race: The Chrysler Building Opens
On May 27, 1930, the Chrysler Building opened to the public at 1,046 feet, winning New York's race to the sky with a secret spire hoisted in 90 minutes.
In the fall of 1929, New York was gripped by a race to the sky — and one architect was cheating beautifully.
Two teams were building towers at the same time, both desperate to claim the title of the world's tallest building. Walter P. Chrysler, the automobile magnate, had hired architect William Van Alen to design a monument to himself and his car company. His rival was Van Alen's own former business partner, H. Craig Severance, designing the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building at 40 Wall Street. Each kept his final height a closely guarded secret, each revising his plans upward to top the other.
Van Alen had an ace nobody knew about: a 185-foot stainless-steel spire, fabricated in sections, smuggled into the building, and secretly assembled inside its domed crown. When Severance's tower topped out and claimed the record at 927 feet, Van Alen gave the signal. In about 90 minutes, workmen hoisted the spire up through the top of the dome and bolted it into place — while Walter Chrysler watched from across the street. The Chrysler Building suddenly stood 1,046 feet tall: past 40 Wall Street, past the Eiffel Tower, the first structure in history to break 1,000 feet.
On May 27, 1930, the building officially opened to the public: 77 stories of gleaming Art Deco, its crown clad in Nirosta stainless steel, its corners guarded by eagle gargoyles modeled on Chrysler hood ornaments, its walls decorated with hubcaps and radiator caps. It was a car company's cathedral, rising at a furious pace — and it opened seven months after the stock market crash that ended the Roaring Twenties.
The triumph was brief. Less than a year later, on May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building surpassed it. But the Chrysler Building never lost its crown in the public's heart. On opening day, representatives of the 42nd Street Merchants Association presented Walter Chrysler with a plaque honoring the achievement — it still hangs in the lobby. Within its first year the tower was 65 percent occupied, a commercial triumph in a city sliding into economic ruin.
Why it matters: the Chrysler Building is a reminder that ambition and artistry can share the same steel. It rose from a petty rivalry and a brilliant trick, yet it became one of the most beloved buildings on Earth — the tower every other skyscraper is still measured against for sheer style.
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, public domain (via Wikimedia Commons).
