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#7, #4, #5, #6 or #S train to Grand Central Station.

Occupying the block between Lexington and Third avenues, the Chrysler Building dates from an era (1930, though renovated in 2000 by Philip Johnson) when architects carried off prestige with grace and style. The building was for a fleeting moment the world's tallest - until it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931 - and, since the rediscovery of Art Deco a decade or so ago, has become easily Manhattan's best loved. Its car-motif friezes, a spire resembling a car radiator grill and hood-ornament gargoyles jutting from the setbacks all recall the golden age of motoring. The lobby , once a car showroom, has opulently inlaid elevators, walls covered in African marble and on the ceiling a realistic, if rather faded, study showing airplanes, machines and the brawny builders who worked on the tower, which, unfortunately, is not open to the public.

Chrysler Building

• Chrysler Building

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