Page 175 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New York City

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q Waldorf-Astoria many Modernist buildings
of the 1950s, consists of two
301 Park Ave. Map 13 A5. Tel (212)
355-3000. q Lexington Ave, 53rd St. rectangles of bronze and glass
See Where to Stay p289. that let the light pour in.
∑ waldorfnewyork.com Between 1959 and 2016,
the exclusive Four Seasons
This Art Deco classic, which Restaurant was here, a landmark
covers an entire city block, was in its own right. Designer Philip
designed by Schultze & Weaver Johnson created a remark able
in 1931. The original Hotel at space, with the centerpiece of
34th Street was demolished to one room a pool, and another
make way for the Empire State a bar topped by a quivering
Building. Still deservedly one Richard Lippold sculpture.
of New York’s most prestigious
hotels, the Waldorf-Astoria
serves, too, as a reminder of
a more glamorous era in the Lever House on Park Avenue
city’s history. The 625-ft (190-m)
twin towers, where General stacked to stand tall above it,
MacArthur, Cole Porter, Frank to allow light in from every side.
Sinatra, and Marilyn Monroe The crisp, bright design was
lived, have hosted numerous in tended to symbolize the
celebrities, including every Lever Brothers’ products –
US president since 1931. The they were known for soap
giant lobby clock, executed production and, in 1930, Lever
for the Chicago World’s Fair merged to form Unilever.
of 1893, is from the original Revolutionary though it was
hotel, and the piano in the in 1952, Lever House is now
Peacock Alley cocktail lounge dwarfed by its many imitators, Office workers at lunch in the spacious
belonged to Cole Porter when but its importance as an Citigroup Center atrium
he was a resident. architectural pacesetter remains
undiminished. The Casa Lever r Citigroup Center
restaurant is a VIP scene.
153 E 53rd St. Map 13 A4. q 53rd St-
Lexington Ave. Open 7am–11pm
e Seagram daily. 0 = St. Peter’s Lutheran
Church 619 Lexington Ave. Tel (212)
Building 935-2200. Open 9am–9pm daily.
5 12:15pm Mon–Fri, 6pm Wed,
375 Park Ave. Map 13 A4. 8:45am & 11am Sun. Jazz vespers 5pm
q 5th Ave-53rd St. Sun. Concerts noon Wed. York Theater
Open 9am–5pm Mon–Fri. at St. Peter’s; Tel (212) 935-5820.
∑ saintpeters.org
Winston Churchill and New York Samuel Bronfman, the late
philanthropist Grover Whalen at the head of Seagram distillers, was An aluminum-clad tower
Waldorf-Astoria in 1946 prepared to put up an ordinary built on ten-story stilts and
commercial building until his with a 45-degree angled roof,
architect daughter, Phyllis the Citigroup Center caused a
w Lever House Lambert, intervened and sensation when it was com-
persuaded him to go to the pleted in 1978. The slanting
390 Park Ave. Map 13 A4.
q 5th Ave-53rd St. Lobby and best – Mies van der Rohe. top never functioned as a solar
building: Closed to the public. 0 The result, which is widely panel as intended, but it is an
considered the finest of the unmistakable landmark on
Imagine a Park Avenue lined the skyline.
with sturdy, residential buildings The unusual base design
– and then imagine the sensation accommodates St. Peter’s
when they were suddenly Lutheran Church, which sits
reflected here in the first of the underneath the northwest
city’s glass-walled skyscrapers, corner of the building. Step
one of the most influential inside to see the striking interior
buildings of the modern era. The and the Erol Beker Chapel by
design, by Skidmore, Owings & sculptor Louise Nevelson. The
Merrill, is simply two rectangular church is well-known for its
slabs of stainless steel and glass, The elegant Pool Room in the organ concerts, jazz vespers,
one laid horizontally, the other Seagram Building and theater presentations.

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