Why New York's Skyscrapers Keep Changing Shape 

You just can't beat B1M writing and production quality. Amazing video as always!

I never really appreciated the Chrysler Building due to the fact I worked mostly Downtown and the Westside. Then I had an interview over on 42nd & Park. I had time to kill and wandered towards the CB. It is so impressive from the outside, but the lobby is absolutely incredible. A true Art Deco beauty and a marvelous structure. It’s a miracle that it survived pretty much intact in a city that’s constantly changing.

If you ever get the chance to visit NYC, don't just look at the Chrysler Building from the outside, be brave and go into the reception area. It's stunning and makes you wonder what the rest of the building is like.

FunFact: The reason why Manhattan is able to support such tall buildings is because of the breakup of Pangaea. You see, where Manhattan is now, there was once a rift-valley. And with continental rifting comes magma upwelling. The cliffs of the Palisades, on the west side of the Hudson, are the cooled, crystalized remains of an ancient magma chamber. Likewise, Manhattan Island is underlaid by ancient basalt. And not all that far below the surface, either. [Thank you, Laurentide Ice Sheet!] That's a very, very stable base to anchor the supports of a skyscraper into, and you can go quite deep without ever hitting the end of that volcanic rock. The last thing that helps NYC with such tall skyscrapers is that (1) It's on a passive continental margin that hasn't been geologically-active in a good 100 million years; (2) It's on the coast, away from the tornado-forming-interior of North America; (3) It's far enough north that getting hit by hurricanes is [well, was] a fairly rare occurrence.

Both the Chrysler and Empire State buildings made me fall in love with skyscrapers as a young boy. I was amazed by their outstanding appearance and their defiance over the New York City skyline. I’m not sure how I as a young boy would react to the Twin Towers had 9/11 never happened (I was born in 1998), if anything I would’ve at first thought they looked pretty weird because of their appearance, but as time would go on, I would fall in love with them, and they would be my favorite part of the city, along with Grand Central and Times Square. The Chrysler building is still one of my favorite skyscrapers, mostly because of its history and its awesome appearance, but I will be a bit sad to see it literally overshadowed by taller buildings, if anything it almost reminds me of that book I read as a kid called “The Little Skyscraper”.

As a New Yorker, I’d love to hear about your predictions for development in areas of Queens and Brooklyn. I imagine that zoning laws will change giving way to more skyscrapers.

I love this view of architectural design through the decades. Please do make more, this is fascinating.

2030 might be the triplet towers

I went to New York for the first time just a few weeks ago, the Chrysler Building is undoubtedly the most beautiful building I've ever seen.

I'm surprised that people used to think the Chrysler building ugly; I've always thought it beautiful. I loved to see it on my approach home; it was always comforting, somehow. It's a symbol of old NYC when working class people like me were allowed to live here.

A huge thing about Midtown East in the next few years is the fact that the East Side Access is being added to Grand Central, which will make it much easier for millions to access that area from Long Island. Edit for context: I think you may have covered this massive project in the past. In the past, millions of people per day were forced to go to Penn Station to go to Midtown East, adding at least 20-30 min to each commute. With Midtown East’s expansion, I also think it deserves a better name. Someone help me with this part 😅

To me, as a NewYorker, the city is like a person a character a personality that grows and changes as it goes thru time. It indulges fads, trends, priorities and also painful times. Every scar, crack, pothole and yes building has a story attached.

Once buildings get older they will be liked or even cherished. This is a common theme. New things are seen as bad, but as they age they are seen as more valuable. I think this has to do with people's memories when they are young. Younger people when they grow older will cherish these new buildings and its architecture. I know things built when I was little were hated and now they are valued as years go on, giving a memory of nostalgia.

When you watch a video like this, slick, professional, and very informative, it comes as no surprise that television is losing its grip. A fascinating topic, well presented.

As a young Englishman when i moved to NYC in '98, I lived in the shadow of the WTC Twin Towers, and walked through there every day. I left NYC in '06 and returned last year. That area holds a lot of memories for me, and I'm still emotional watching this video. I think this is one of the most informative, and sympathetic explanations of the WTC I've seen, succinct but comprehensive, and not just a rehashing of the myriad stories already out there. The rest of the video of course is up to your normal excellent standards, if not exceeding them. great video, great channel!

I worked in the World Trade Center North in the late 90s (fortunately before 911). It was a pain in the butt to work in usually being on the 80th floor. It could take you 10 minutes many times to just get to your office once you entered the building. Our office was already highly outdated and the small windows didn't help.

Simply do this disregard the market opinions and projections. I'd suggest buying shares of reputable firms and holding them for long that's exactly why investing in stock now will be the best and favourable decision

Love this kind of episode. Can you do these for other cities too!?? Amsterdam is going through a fascinating development this decade after for a long time banning ‘sky scrapers’ (yeah I know the stuff here technically doesn’t qualify as skyscraper). Especially the A’dam tower is awesome.

I always wanted to visit New York City and you practically took me on a tour. The fact a city can be known just by its skyscrapers is great!!! Thanks B1M. Keep up the good work.

Spent 37 years of my life as a rigger on megaprojects in Australia and this hands down is my favourite channel on RU-vid. And it just keeps getting better! Great work as always B1M

For someone who never seen a building taller than 2 floors... This is absolutely fantastic! Thanks!

I’m surprised there aren’t height restrictions around the Chrysler Building like there is around the Space Needle in Seattle, which are there to stop other buildings from blocking everyone's view of the landmark.

The quality of these mini-documentaries is astonishing. Great work B1M team!

Living in NYC for the pass 23 years I’ve come to appreciate the history of my city… thanks for your unique perspective on the historical significance of skyscrapers throughout the decades and changing landscape of NYC… great content as usual…

Fun fact: the tube within a tube design used in the WTC design was first implemented in the building now known as the Cook County Administration Building in Chicago. A rather unassuming uninteresting building that had a MASSIVE role in the evolution of towers

Many years ago the company I worked for wanted to move their head office into the Chrysler Building and waited for a long time while renting in the IBM Building. Finally, I think it was in the 70's, their desired floor in the Chrysler Building became vacant and they moved into the 61st floor, which had a balcony and the gargoyles at each corner. I only visited the head office 5 or 6 times times, but the experience of entering the building, even getting into the elevator was surreal. Everything was exquisitely art-decor from elevator doors to marble walls, inlaid brass fittings, and on and on, but the experience of standing on the balcony looking over NY was an experience I will never forget. Such a privileged experience for an art-decor lover, great memories

Change is inevitable. I know that with every fiber of my being. And even though I live on the other side of the continent from NY City, the thought of some monstrosity overshadowing the Chrysler Building still rankles. The B1M is one of the slickest, most interesting channels on RU-vid. Keep up the good work.

Very interesting video, thanks! New York's skyscraper boom started before the 1920s however - there was the Flatiron (1902), Singer (1908), Metropolitan Life (1909), and Woolworth (1913), each working out what the world's tallest building should look like.

It's strange to say the start of the worlds tallest office building competition began with the Chrysler Building. In NYC the race for worlds tallest building had been in earnest since at least the 1880's with such as the Park Row building and New York World Building. Also interesting that before 1880, the tallest buildings were all cathedrals. Like NY traded one god for another.

Having worked in NYC most of my life, plenty of memories of these buildings. I worked in 40 Wall Street for about a year, for instance. I also narrowly missed the bombing of the garage of the World Trade Center (1993) as well. Drove a delivery van then, and was down there all the time.

“New York is never finished.” I love the double meaning there. A city that is ever evolving and a place you can never count out.

Don’t we all love a daily dose of watching The B1M?❤️

“Beauty perishes in life, but is immortal in art” - Leonardo da Vinci . eventually the next generation would build somethings bigger, better, weird, awesome but we cant forget the pass and is just that, life keep moving also keep repeating itself at some degree but at the moment i do enjoy the iconic Chrysler Building, cheers my friend you have done it again such well done video feels like a documentary :)

Fred, your work and that of your entire team at the B1M is simply OUTSTANDING .. you all keep up the truly great work, the videos are immensely enjoyable and educational ✌️

As an architect working and living in New York City this amount of rich history and the feeling put into it is so impactful. It really puts into perspective the work that goes into giving this city a life or identity. Or sometimes reflecting on the current identity. I’m proud to live here. Please keep doing more of this.

You just have to love this Channel.

As per usual, a wonderful segment from B1M!

Amazingly crafted and great production value! Can't miss

The Chrysler is still the best-looking skyscraper in the city. Such an iconic design

Damn B1M, you’ve been my favorite YT channel for years but this has to be my favorite piece up until now. Absolutely love the historic and socio-economic angles. Great to see you guys always keep improving your production value, very much appreciated!

18:21 that shit was hard as fuck

This is your best episode yet. Combining culture, art, and history.

Absolutely incredible B1M Team! I was hoping for another holiday season long-form.

Very interesting. I am a construction manager myself and find these developments fascinating. Keep up the good work.

I absolutely love the quality of your videos. Keep on doing that :)

Thank you for keeping footage of the 9/11 attacks out of this story. Your line about moving on yet never forgetting is beautiful.

"...A gentle permission." That's tactfully brilliant. I always love the eye candy and backstories you present here but I want to give kudos on your scripts. Very, very well written. Engaging and thoughtful. Just the right measure of detail sprinkled with random trivia all explaining a clear overview of the topic. So yeah, props to the writer(s). I❤NY

This guy does such an excellent job covering New York. He clearly loves our city.

The quality of your videos is outstanding. Excellent work!

I’m loving the longer format videos you have been putting out lately. Would be interested to see similar videos for other historic cities.

Not sure I'll ever think of the skinny super-talls as nice looking and regardless of the newer builds, the Chrysler Building will always stand out to me. It's timelessly unique looking.

I love the Art Deco skyscrapers. They’re iconic. The trump tower is so tacky. I have mixed feelings about the newer generation of skyscrapers. I feel like many of them look like they could exist anywhere- they’re not uniquely New York. The architect and urban planner Vishaan Chakrabarti referred to it as the "creeping sameness" that is besetting the planet.

I still miss the previous World Trade Center One and Two. And there were the others lower buildings there with them as well. I live in New York back in the early 1970s and had summers trips there as well.

I love how you explain how the buildings of different time periods in New York City's history reflect the ethos' of their ages. It's what makes architecture such a fascinating subject to study! As cliché as it is, buildings truly are a reflection of the ages in which they were built, in engineering and materials and also socioeconomic and political trends.

The recent long form videos on this channel have been epic. Well done. The cinematography, writing and production value rivals anything made by the BBC or other major networks. Can’t wait to see more!

The way you told the city's history through its buildings is more than amazing! It was very emotional watching your video and makes me want to go there again and enjoy how the city looks knowing all what you said now... :)

Ok, first video of this channel Ive seen and I am blown away by the quality! Thanks for this superb work and not rushing it like most other youtubers think they would have to do. Great cinematography, graphics and presentation!

I can’t believe this video is free. Always stunned by the incredible production quality. Bravo B1M!

Cool relevant story: summer of 2019, I got a complete, behind the scenes tour of the Chrysler building. Still one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Stood on the “ledge” of the floor that houses the iconic gargoyle eagles.

Thank you for doing proper video captioning. I watch videos a lot when I’m in noisy places, so I use captions frequently. It’s always refreshing to see when care has been taken to convey the content of the video, not just slap on automated captions and call it good. I’m sure Deaf viewers appreciate it too. Well done!

Keep up the good work and keep the team. B1M is one of my fav YT channels for years now.

What a fantastic way to end the year. My love for the B1M will never fade away 😂🥰 Thank you Fred mills and the entire B1M team for giving us so much 🙌🏾This is by far the best treat of the year 😊

I lived in Manhattan from 1966 to 2016 and as a middle class person, I certainly was blessed. First, at 20 a 45-year old lady I was introduced to gave me succession rights to her rent-controlled studio on East 51st Street, along with her furniture and she loaned me the security on the apartment. My first rent in Manhattan in midtown was $98 a month! Her generosity led me to "pay it forward" many times since. When my first landlord moved me to a one bedroom apartment (still rent-controlled) on East 33rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, for the first 12 years or more I had a view of the Chrysler Building from my bedroom windows until The Dumont Plaza Hotel was built and blocked that view -- my first rent in that apartment was $113 a month and I stayed there for the next 24 years. In the early 90's I moved to Kips Bay Towers, designed by famous architect I. M. Pei where I lived in the East 33rd Street building on the 16th floor facing the United Nations, the East River, and the 59th Street Bridge, along with the entire city skyline facing north that could be seen from my wall-to-wall windows. I wrote Mr. Pei about what it was like to live in this beautiful environment with a 7.5 acre private park between the buildings and he wrote me back the day he received my letter. I share all this because Manhattan exceeded my expectations on all counts!!! Moving to Manhattan was THE best decision I made in my life and I believe it is unique among large cities in the United States and will always find ways to recreate itself BECAUSE it attracts the best and the brightest AND the bravest. One caveat: If a young person has been coddled growing up most likely they will find Manhattan too tough an environment in which to survive -- I was raised in such a tough environment that nothing in Manhattan ever came close to that so I could master each challenge as it arose. If you want to visit NYC consider checking with its free visitor service: BIGAPPLEGREETER.ORG You have to register FIVE WEEKS ahead of your visit as each month there are thousands of requests for a Greeter and only around 300 volunteer Greeters -- I worked as a Greeter for the last two years I lived in Manhattan taking visitors from all over the world and the United States to see the hidden treasures around their interests -- it is THE way to see Manhattan (as well as the boroughs.)

This is better than most documentaries on Netflix.

Absolutely amazing video as always!!

Great video! There's a small mistake in the English subtitles: the unspoken line at 16:43 "As it turns out, the skyscraper wasn't over. It had just been reinvented" should be at 18:00 instead of "The high rise was back, but for a new age."

Going to NYC for the first time this weekend. No one has prepared me to appreciate the architecture as much as you have. Love the B1M!

Love the Neo-Art Deco aesthetic that the planned super-talls are embracing, they highlight a return to the city's iconic structures and history.

How did I find myself watching an entire documentary about sky scrapers in New York from start to finish? Great works guys, thoroughly informative and entertaining!

Fascinating, highly educational and very well made - please keep up the good work

WOW, didn't even realize this was almost 30 mins long. Got to the end drinking my coffee and wanting more. Good job.

LOVED THIS!!! This is my favorite form of architectural study, looking at skyscrapers through the lens of the culture and history of when they were built. I would love to see more of this type of video for other cities. Also I really like your long form videos. I have a cool book called "The Strip: Las Vegas and the Architecture of the American Dream" which does the same thing as this video but looks at casinos specifically. Could be a cool variation on this video idea!

Wow, what a great watch. Very well researched and presented. Please continue to make more videos like this, perhaps on different cities.

The Chrystler is still my favorite. Love that art deco era.

The fact that you can get this type of production quality for free is amazing, ty B1M for being awesome!

I loved this style of episode. I'd love to see more longer videos like this for various cities around the world.

What a fantastic video. Really well put together. Great work

Love the Hearst Tower! Gorgeous inside and out

Driving into Manhattan using the Midtown tunnel you see the Chrysler Building standing in front of the Vanderbilt Building which is twice the size. Incredible.

This is my favorite New York building. Chicago has nothing like it, no matter what Chicagoans say. I once had a dentist whose office was on the 72nd floor. The views! Unbelievable. It's so beautiful inside and out.

The Chrysler building is top-tier architectural design. That is one of the best looking buildings in the U.S. Classic New York! And that's coming from a Chicagoan! 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

I missed this channel, glad it showed up in my recommendations again. I loved all the b-roll of the cool ass skyscrapers.

Chicago wants a word with you about NYC being the home of the skyscraper lol Great episode!

I'm glad you mentioned the Skyscraper Museum. Another thing we are known for here in NYC is our museums, and I've been to most of them. I can tell you if you watched this entire video you would love the Skyscraper Museum. It's one of the tiny museums that most people skip by, but makes up for it's small size by it's charm.

I worked for ten years in maintenance at 45 Park Avenue. One of my favorite things to do was to have my break on the roof--especially at night. To see the Chrysler Building on a clear night was so breathtaking. I was up there so many times that my supervisor knew where I was without even using the walkie-talkie. It is one of the few things I missed on that job.

I keep coming back to watch this amazing video. Well done!!

An expatriate of New Jersey, I took a recent trip back in 2022 and was treated to a view of a Manhattan at night I did not recognize. Thank you for helping me see it all and how it happened in The B1M.

This is the Best video by B1M so far!

Thank you for producing such an interesting documentary. I found the history and the commentary very balanced. Well done.

Great video, one of the more interesting in an already entertaining portfolio of content delivered by B1M

I love this channel and just got back from a trip to New York City, where I kept pointing out all the new supertall buildings to my family and giving them little facts about each of them (whether they wanted to hear them or not). This video is a nice little cap on that trip. And as much as I love to see new landmark skyscrapers and can't believe they're going to cover up the Chrysler Building like that. It makes me sad.

I had to comment which is something I really do on RU-vid videos. This was phenomenal, fantastic, informative and well presented with no hidden agenda. Just a brilliantly put together piece on the history of New York’s architecture and the future and I loved it from start to finish

This video is amazing. I give you the highest rating possible. Thank you for taking the time to do it. It is very much appreciated

"New York is never finished"... As a 20 year resident of Manhattan and a lifelong resident of New York state I have to say that I absolutely love this line. What a perfect ending for a fantastic retrospective.

From a whole beginning You calls for a higher (quality) level in media making and keep rising higher! The result of Your work is near a half of hour (!) video that my eyes can swalow as quickly as a cherry! Perfect experience my friend- a joy for watching! Thank You

hiding the Chrysler building is a serious crime, it truly is the most beautiful thing to look at. More lifeless glass boxes hiding this beauty brings tears to my eyes

I have never watched an episode that I didn't enjoy, but this one is a great one! Congrats! Architectural history is fascinating.

Beautiful documentary as always, much love and appreciation from Kenya

Such a fantastic and in-depth episode, the research and presentation is amazing. Kudos to all the team who worked on this. I want to visit nyc again to appreciate its history

Love the way London (and other cities) are preserving skylines and sight lines to certain significant buildings. Why isn’t NYC doing this?