We are losing it: how modern New York is no longer 'fantastic'

The 50-story Met Life tower was once the tallest building in the world, and the bridge connecting it to the neighboring building seemed to be the logical element of the city of skyscrapers. But today everything is changing. Writes about this blog author levik.blog on the site LiveJournal.

Every city must find a balance between heritage preservation and development to stay modern. But it's still a shame when some of the details that make New York so unique disappear, the author writes.

For example, the pedestrian crossing in the Met Life tower.

“I mean the bridge between buildings. After all, there are very few of them left in our city, and the loss of each is another step away from the fantastic New York, which the dreamers of the twentieth century imagined. After all, there was a time when such bridges in the sky captured the imagination of those who tried to predict what the cities of the future would look like, ”the author explained.

From the 1910s to the 1990s, such "bridges in the sky" connecting the upper floors of buildings seemed to be a logical element of the city of skyscrapers.

“And at some time there really were a lot of them. As a rule, the company bought two buildings on opposite sides of the street, and received permission from the city authorities to connect them without any problems. As a rule, such passages appeared on the third or fourth floors, ”the author specified.

But there were also bridges located much higher. For example, the bridge in the Met Life tower. It is located on the eighth floor. But recently, work began to dismantle it.

By the way, this bridge has a rather curious story. Before, he connected two unique buildings in the Big Apple.

“Met Life has long owned real estate in Manhattan, off 23rd Street, near Madison Square. At the beginning of the twentieth century, they managed to buy a large number of private houses on one block, and build a new headquarters here. When it was completed in 1909, the 50-story Met Life tower became the tallest building in the world (note that this was before the fashion for useless spiers). The record lasted four years, ”the author writes.

However, as time went on, the business developed, and it soon became clear that the company would need more space. Businessmen gradually bought out the property across the road, and set about plans for a new grandiose skyscraper. The project was presented in 1929. According to him, the building was supposed to rise to the sky by 100 floors, and return the lost height record to Met Life.

On the subject: 13th Avenue: the story of a disappeared street in New York

But then something happened that no one could have predicted - the stock market crash. This led to the Great Depression.

“There was no time for new record-breaking skyscrapers, and the architects were quick to hurry up, turning their grandiose 100-story project into an ordinary 28-story building. Now, if you look at this building, to the left of the original Met Life Tower, it is easy to imagine that the authors simply carefully erased the upper 72 floors with an eraser. "And so, between these two buildings, at the height of the eighth floor, an overhead passage was built."

The bridge was built in the popular Art Deco style at that time. It allowed company employees to move from one building to another, eliminating the need to go out.

By the way, both of these buildings were included in the list of the architectural heritage of New York. “But for some reason the bridge was not registered,” the author noted.

Later, Met Life moved out of these buildings in Manhattan. Later, she sold this property to developers altogether.

“Recently, they received permission from the city authorities for a superstructure to one of the buildings, which will greatly increase the area for leased premises in the complex. One of the conditions of this permit was that the distance between the building wall and the roadway must be increased. This will allow the street to become brighter and more spacious. Unfortunately, this very bridge became a victim of this change. After the wall of the tower has been “moved”, it will have nothing to join from the southern end. Therefore, they decided to dismantle it, ”the author writes.

Today, only a small part of the transition between buildings remains.

“And very soon there will be no more ... It is sad that such curious architectural elements disappear. It is understandable, understandable, but still sad, ”the author summed up.