Walking Midtown New York: East 42nd Street

Chrysler Building, New York

After leaving Grand Central Terminal, our walk takes us East on East 49th Street. Our destination is the United Nations headquarters located on the East River, but while you are walking down East 49th Street be sure to look around and enjoy the view.

You should get a good view of the Chrysler Building. The Chrysler Building was completed one year before the Empire State Building and during that year it was the tallest building in the world. Some of the decorations on the side of the building are modeled after hood ornaments that were used on Chrysler cars at the time that the building was erected.

United Nations, New York

At the bottom of East 42th Street, you will see the United Nations complex. This consists of several buildings, located on land donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in December, 1946.

The Secretariat Building opened in 1950 and is the tallest of the buildings in the complex. The Secretariat Building has offices for the more than 7,000 people that work at the United Nations in New York. The building is not open to the public.

While visiting the United Nations, we recommend that you take the one-hour tour available at the General Assembly Building.