10 Secrets of the Chrysler Building in NYC

The Chrysler Building is one of the most beloved of New York City’s skyscrapers, an architectural manifestation of both the Art Deco era and the automobile age. Famous as it may be, the Chrysler Building holds many fascinating secrets, compounded by the fact that it is difficult to visit and doesn’t offer tours, unlike the Woolworth Building and the Empire State Building.

Here are 10 lesser-known facts about the Chrysler Building, many derived from a Q&A with David Stravitz, the author of The Chrysler Building: Creating a New York Icon Day by Day, with The New York Times in 2009.

1. There used to be a three-level members club and speakeasy near the top

Once located on the 66th to 68th floors of the Chrysler Building, The Cloud Club once sat atop one of the city’s most distinctive skyscrapers. The New York Times called The Cloud Club “the inspiration for many of the others.” It was initially designed for Texaco, the American oil company that occupied 14 floors of the Chrysler Building, and used as a restaurant for executives.

The Cloud Club had an eclectic mix of designs, ranging from Futurist in the main dining room, Tudor for the lounge, and Old English for the grill room. Perhaps because of its decor, or its original function, it never became hip and stylish like Rockefeller Center‘s Rainbow Room but it did have amenities like a barber shop and locker rooms that were used to hide alcohol during Prohibition. After the club closed in the late 1970s, the spaces was gutted for office tenants.

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2. There were a couple of apartments hidden inside the Chrysler Building

LIFE photographer Margaret Bourke-White, well-known for her images of skyscrapers in the 1920s and 1930s, lived in an apartment on the 61st floor. It was on this floor that Bourke-White herself was photographed atop one of the gargoyles in 1934. The apartment’s lease was co-signed by Time, Inc. because the building would not rent the apartment to a woman despite her wealth and fame. She paid $387.92 per month to live there.

According to The New York Times, Bourke-White hired “her good friend, John Vassos, an industrial designer, to create an Art Moderne stylish interior, with extensive built-ins, subdued palette, woods, and metals. There was a main sitting area, an alcove for her desk, and stairs that went out to the terrace.” Walter P. Chrysler owned another private apartment on the top floor. From there, he was said to boast that he had the highest toilet in Manhattan.

3. A water bottling plant once existed in the basement

One spot that didn’t make it into the book The Chrysler Building: Creating a New York Icon Day by Day was the water bottling plant, labeled in an old film negative as the “hydrozone water bottling” unit. After the water was filtered and bottled, it would be sent up to higher floors throughout the Chrysler Building.

Author David Stravitz wrote, “Tap water was filtered through an intricate system and then bottled for water coolers to be distributed to tenants in the building. The large room was magnificent, with fabulous tiling throughout. Quite exotic for a space most people never saw.”

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4. A public observatory on the 71st Floor is no longer accessible to the public

In 1931 when the Chrysler Building opened, anyone willing to pay $0.50 could visit the 71st-floor observatory and take in views of the city from all four sides. The celestial-themed observation deck that was located in the building’s spire closed in 1945. According to Moses Gates in his book Hidden Cities, the deck is now occupied by a private firm.

Rumblings of a new skydeck for the Chrysler Building surfaced in 2022, according to Curbed New York. The observation deck, which some estimate will cost up to $40 to enter, would allow access to the currently private building. Though there are no finalized construction plans for the Chrysler Building’s new observation deck, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved its construction in 2020.

5. Cooper Union owns the land below the Chrysler Building

Cooper Union has owned the land the Chrysler Building sits on since 1902. As a result, not a single dollar in taxes from the Chrysler Building has ever gone to New York City. The land is an endowment for the college. Instead of paying the state, Chrysler Building owners pay Cooper Union, which is tax-exempt. In early 2025, the college won a legal battle with real estate company R&S Chrysler LLC and will now serve as the building's landlord.

The land the Chrysler Building sits on has another hidden fact: it is slanted. The property existed before the 1811 grid was created, resulting in the slant that the Chrysler Building sits on today. Before the building was erected, the property ran against the old Boston Post Road.

6. The Chrysler Building used to host an auto showroom