Buildings in New York
New York City is home of some of the world's most iconic architecture, which explains why so many visitors spend most of their time looking straight up while they travel around the city! We'll take you to some of the best-known buildings, historic structures, new construction sites, and everything in between because, after all, it's more enjoyable when you know what you're looking at!
No single architecture movement so greatly influenced modern New York as the Art Deco movement. It's an inescapable part of New York's mythos as well: much of the city's dark alter-ego, Gotham City, is styled in Art Deco. A prevalent feature of style in the 1920s and '30s, Art Deco informed everything from luncheonettes to apartments to subway station tiles and, of course, the Empire State and Chrysler buildings.
One of the grander styles of architecture to come out of the last two hundred years of human civilization, Beaux-Arts is a neoclassical style of design, which is itself a gussied-up way of saying "modernized classical architecture." The stations of the old Pennsylvania railroad were all Beaux-Arts buildings, from Union Station in Washington DC to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to our very own Grand Central Station. In fact, the demolition of the breathtaking Beaux-Arts Pennsylvania Station in 1963 led directly to the formation of the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission. The style remains one of the most beautiful—hence the "Beaux"—and regal styles of architecture to be found in New York City.
New York has hundreds of buildings that can be termed historic—whether due to their age, architectural style, and/or events that took place on the spot. Read all about them.
New York's skyline is constantly evolving, so fast, in fact, that the city government has an entire commission devoted to making sure that the beautiful things aren't demolished and replaced with newer, shinier buildings. John Jay Chapman once said that "the present in New York is so powerful that the past is lost." True, but with a caveat: it's not so much lost as it is hidden behind a newer, taller building.
Stay informed about the latest developments at the World Trade Center site. NYC.com has lots of information about the original twin towers, the events of 9/11, the current construction projects, forthcoming museum and Ground Zero memorial.
