The Chrysler Building’s grand Art Deco lobby—with its red Moroccan marble and massive ceiling mural by Edward Trumbull—evokes nostalgia and glamour. Since its opening in 1930, the building has remained an architectural marvel recognizable even to people who have never been to New York.with its terraced crown and countless pop culture references.
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But in more recent years—between ownership changes, the rise of bright, contemporary open-plan offices and the arrival of a new breed of tourist-friendly skyscraper—the Chrysler, the jewel of the City’s skyline, has largely lost of its radiance.
In interviews, employees who have worked in the building complained about poor cell reception, a lack of natural sunlight, problems with elevators, cloudy water coming out of drinking fountains and pest infestations.
In 2019, the 77-story building was sold for around $150 million to co-owners Signa, an Austrian real estate company, and RFR, a New York-based development company.. By comparison, about a decade earlier, a 90 percent stake in the building was sold to the Government of Abu Dhabi for $800 million. Late last year, after Signa filed for bankruptcy, an Austrian court ruled that it would have to sell its share of the building, putting Chrysler’s future in doubt.
The Chrysler Building stood in glorious, flashy fashion as part of New York’s skyscraper boom in the 1920s. Walter P. Chrysler, founder of the Chrysler automobile company, referred to it as a “monument to me.” .
In 1940, Chrysler died and his monument began to crumble. The new owners did not maintain the interior, tenants abandoned it, and in the 1970s it faced foreclosure.
In the late 1990s, Tishman Speyer Properties acquired the building and restored many of its Art Deco features. Office tenants returned and their occupancy rate increased to 95 percent. But it wouldn’t be long before new owners once again entered through the revolving doors in the lobby.
Today those doors usually get stuck. Parts of the lobby ceiling have deteriorated; some of its cracks are covered with what appears to be silver tape. A closed Amazon Go store sits on the ground floor, and tourists are restricted to that level—the Chrysler lacks an observation deck, unlike the Empire State Building or the newly built One Vanderbilt.
For some New Yorkers, having an office in the Chrysler Building remains a deep-seated aspiration. Mo Elyas, 52, founder of a framing company called Big Apple Art Gallery and Framing, moved into the building during the pandemic.
“It’s cool to say, ‘Hey, meet me at the Chrysler Building,’” Elyas said.
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