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Check out these links to read more about the real places:

AT&T / Sony Building

Stylistic references of the AT&T Building on Galinsky.com

City Review article about changes made when the building became the Sony Building

Bank of America Tower

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat awarded the tower Best Tall Building

July 2013 article in the New Republic disputing the tower's pro-environment credentials

Treehugger responds to the New Republic article

Official websites of One Bryant Park and Stephen Sondheim Theater

Brooklyn Bridge

Facts and a history of the bridge on NYCroads

David McCullough's classic account of the bridge construction: The Great Bridge, and the Ken Burns documentary based on the book: Brooklyn Bridge

The history of con men who sold the Brooklyn Bridge numerous times

Chrysler Building

Great Buildings Online entry for Chrysler Building

Emily Zimmerman's essay Building the Chrysler Building

Another paper model of the Chrysler Building at Paper Toys.com

Higher: A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City, by Neal Bascomb, Doubleday (2003)

The Chrysler Building: Creating a New York Icon Day by Day, by D. Stravitz, Princeton Architectural Press (2002)

Citicorp Center

New Yorker article about engineering flaws in the building secretly repaired in 1978: The Fifty-Nine-Story Crisis

Citicorp Center in The Midtown Book at the City Review

The Station at Citigroup Center, a fabulous miniature railway on display during the holidays

A description of Citigroup Center on greatgridlock.net

 

Cleopatra's Needle

Central Park 2000 description of Cleopatra's Needle

New York Parks historical marker for the obelisk

Nova Online's World of Obelisks

Walden Models features a free download of the matching Cleopatra's Needle obelisk now located in London

The New York Obelisk, by Martina D'Alton, Metropolitan Museum of Art (1993)

Ellis Island Main Immigration Building

Visitors information for Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

Save Ellis Island seeks to preserve the other buildings on the island

A geneological quest to find the descendants of Annie Moore, the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island

The story of immigrants being forced to change their names at Ellis Island is not true

A 1998 Supreme Court decision awared 90% of the island to New Jersey

American Passage: The History of Ellis Island, by Vincent J. Cannato, Harper Perennial (2010)

Empire State Building

The official site of the Empire State Building

Emporis entry for Empire State Building

Great Buildings Online entry for Empire State Building

Lewis Hine photographs of the building construction: at Columbia and NY Public Library

NPR program about the history of the tower

Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark, by John Tauranac, Cornell University Press (2014)

Building the Empire State, by Carol Willis, W.W. Norton (2007)

Federal Hall National Memorial

Federal Hall information from the National Park Service

Lithograph view of the original Federal Hall as it looked when Washington was inaugurated

The original Federal Hall hosted the U.S. Congress from 1787-1790

Wall Street in front of the building is named after the defensive wall built by Dutch settlers

The unsolved 1920 bombing of Wall Street took place just in front of the building, with scars still visible across the street

Flatiron Building

Great Buildings Online entry for Flatiron Building

"The Flatiron Building at 100" on Flatironmag.com

Library of Congress film of a windy day at the Flatiron Building and the possible origin of the phrase "23 Skidoo"

The Flatiron, by Alice Alexiou, Thomas Dunne Books (2010)

Grand Central Terminal

Offical Grand Central Terminal website, with info about trains and shops at the station

Despite its landmark status, the building was nearly demolished in 1978

The station's rooms and hallways contain a great number of secrets and fun trivia

Behind the scenes visit to places normally inaccessible to the public

The upper floors at the south end of the building once housed TV studios for CBS which broadcast from an antenna atop the nearby Chrysler Building

The East Side Access megaproject bringing LIRR trains to new platforms 15 stories below street level should be complete in 2022

The 2011 animated film Hugo, though set in Paris, was inspired by the magical interior of Grand Central

Grant's Tomb

General Grant National Memorial is run by the National Park Service

The Grant Monument Association has plans for its restoration

Groucho Marx popularized the riddle "Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?" on the quiz show "You Bet Your Life".

Hearst Tower

Short history of the building and photos of the interior on Archinomy

Hearst Corporation facts about the tower and history of the building

"How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?" documentary about architect Sir Norman Foster

IRT 1 Train - A Train

Information on the official Metropolitan Transit Authority website

Everything about rapid transit is on nycsubway.org

An animated map showing the growing web of subway lines

Billy Strayhorn wrote the song "Take the A Train" made famous by Duke Ellington

Lever House

Casa Lever, a restaurant in the first floor of the building

The building is also the patron to rotating exhibits in the Lever House Art Collection

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill info about the project

Lever House in The Midtown Book at the City Review

Lipstick Building

Lipstick Building stats on Emporis

Bernard Madoff's investment firm was once located in the Lipstick Building

Some critics think the 1986 building to be one of the least attractive in New York

One Times Square

Times Square Alliance tells the history of New Years Eve at the Square

Antique postcard views of One Times Square

James Lilek's history of Times Square buildings and advertising

One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower)

Time lapse video of the construction of the skyscraper

Inhabitat reviews the numerous changes in design of the tower

"Daniel Libeskind's World Trade Center Change of Heart" New Yorker article

Offical website of One World Trade Center

Battle for Ground Zero: Inside the Political Struggle to Rebuild the World Trade Center, by Elizabeth Greenspan, Palgrave Macmillan (2013)

Seagram Building

Short description of the Seagram Building on Galinsky.com

The famous Four Seasons restaurant, located on the first floor of the building

Arch Daily Classics: the Seagram Building

The fascinating story of how the Mark Rothko murals commissioned for the Seagram Building ended up at London's Tate Modern museum

The Seagram Building: Building Blocks Series, photographs by Ezra Stoller, Princeton Architectural Press (1999)

Statue of Liberty

National Park Service info about the Statue of Liberty

Ten fun facts about the Statue of Liberty

Is Lady Liberty a Jersey Girl? - the battle between New York and New Jersey for Ellis and Liberty Islands

A list of the many replicas of the statue around the world

Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty, by Yasmin Sabina Khan, Cornell University Press (2010)

Liberty's Torch: The Great Adventure to Build the Statue of Liberty, by Elizabeth Mitchell, Atlantic Monthly Press (2014)

Union Carbide Building / 270 Park Ave

A eulogy for the soon-to-be demolished skyscraper

Critics against and for the building's demolition

The skyscraper was built by SOM architects in 1960

The 700-foot tower is the tallest intentionally-demolished building in the world

United Nations Headquarters

You can take a public tour of the UN Building

Early plans and models of the building

The complex was designed by an international committee of architects lead by Wallace Harrison

Artwork at the UN Headquarters

Washington Memorial Arch

Washington Square Arch in paintings and photographs on NY Architecture Images

The fight to 'Save the Square' from a proposed roadway in the 1950s

A history of Washington Square Park

Wikipedia entry about the social history of Washington Square

Woolworth Building

History of the building from the Cass Gilbert Society

Description of the ornate lobby which is no longer open to the public

Curbed NY visits the observation deck

More photos of lobby details and other secrets of the building on Scouting NY

Construction of the building and photos of daredevil workmen

The Skyscraper and the City: The Woolworth Building and the Making of Modern New York, by Gail Fenske, University of Chicago Press (2014)

World Trade Center

Paper model of the World Trade Center available from Fiddlers Green

A Japanese model of the WTC in 1:3000 scale from Paper Craft Maker

Joe Cangero's model of the WTC on cardmodelers.org

Andrew McCauley's model of the WTC

City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center, by James Glanz & Eric Lipton, Times Books (2003)