VOA常速英语:New York Residential Building Tops in Height, Price

It’s the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere, soaring 264 meters above New York’s East River.  Designed by world famous architect Frank Gehry, the new high-rise adds a modern twist to lower Manhattan.

America’s most famous skyline has a new architectural icon - New York by Gehry.  This gleaming 76-floor residential skyscraper is dramatic.  So is the cost to live there.   

A penthouse costs $65,000 a month to rent.   Most units range from $3,000 to $12,000 a month…and there’s no shortage of renters, says marketer Clifford Finn.

“There never have been a lot of rental buildings that spoke to the high end.  And, most of that product was always condominium.  So there was a pent-up demand from people that were always looking to rent, not purchase, for various reasons," Finn said.

The building is named for its famed architect, Frank Gehry - and inspired by 17th century Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Theresa.  The artwork’s great folds are reflected in the building’s undulating façade.

In his new tower, Gehry resurrected the “bay window” seen in many old New York buildings.

“But, if there is a bay window, you walk two more feet forward and you are in outer space - so that the window surrounds you, and that experience on the 40th, 50th,60th floor is unique.  There is nothing like it in New York City,” he said.

On  the top floor they’re constructing three penthouses.  From this height you can see the Statue of Liberty, to the new World Trade Center Tower, to the Empire State building and to the city’s great bridges.  

Finn says Gehry also designed the interiors.   Generous bedrooms, open floor plans and modern kitchens define the units.  

There are extraordinary amenities too.  A fitness studio.  A gameroom with pool tables and even virtual golf.  Plus a movie theater and an indoor-outdoor pool.  

And it’s not only Americans who are inspired to move in.

”We’ve had members of royal families from various countries visit and rent in the building.  We have had international students in the building.  We have had captains of industry, people in finance,” Finn said.  

The New York Times newspaper calls the shimmering metallic tower “the finest skyscraper to rise in New York in the last 46 years.”