WEBVTT - What's the World's Skinniest Skyscraper?

0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:07.520
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

0:00:07.560 --> 0:00:13.600
<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogelbaumb here we humans love a superlative. There are

0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:17.640
<v Speaker 1>world records out there for the tallest buildings, both residential

0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:22.680
<v Speaker 1>and unoccupied, for the largest permanent vertical maze, and the

0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:27.200
<v Speaker 1>largest playing card structure. But today we're talking about the

0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:33.400
<v Speaker 1>world's skinniest skyscraper. It's called Steinway Tower, and it's located

0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.400
<v Speaker 1>at one eleven West fifty seventh Street in New York City.

0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:40.680
<v Speaker 1>The building stands one four hundred and twenty eight feet tall.

0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.159
<v Speaker 1>That's four hundred and thirty five meters, but it's no

0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:48.479
<v Speaker 1>more than sixty feet wide. That's eighteen meters, giving it

0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.840
<v Speaker 1>a width ratio of twenty four to one. If you're

0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:56.000
<v Speaker 1>having trouble imagining the width of this building, you could

0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.480
<v Speaker 1>think of it as about one and a half full

0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:02.360
<v Speaker 1>sized school buses long, or just shy of the distance

0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:04.880
<v Speaker 1>from the pitcher's mound to home plate on a Major

0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:10.560
<v Speaker 1>League Baseball pitch. But it is really tall. Only two

0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.920
<v Speaker 1>other skyscrapers in New York City are taller. There's the

0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:16.840
<v Speaker 1>one World Trade Center, which stands at one thousand, seven

0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.520
<v Speaker 1>hundred and seventy six feet that's five hundred and forty

0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:23.520
<v Speaker 1>one meters tall, and Central Park Tower, which is one thousand,

0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.720
<v Speaker 1>five hundred and fifty feet or four hundred and seventy

0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:30.440
<v Speaker 1>two meters tall, but each of those are over three

0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:36.399
<v Speaker 1>times as wide as the Steinway. Steinway Tower was so

0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.839
<v Speaker 1>named because it's built above the famed Steinway and Son's

0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:44.120
<v Speaker 1>Piano company headquarters. It cost two billion dollars to build

0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:46.960
<v Speaker 1>and is in a high rent district smack dab in

0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.120
<v Speaker 1>the middle of the southern end of Central Park. This

0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:54.280
<v Speaker 1>stretch of ultra luxury real estate is aptly nicknamed Billionaire's Row.

0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.080
<v Speaker 1>A Construction on the eighty four floor tower began in

0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:02.000
<v Speaker 1>twenty thirteen, and the building, with sixty condos total, began

0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:06.960
<v Speaker 1>welcoming residents in April of twenty twenty two. The cheapest

0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.640
<v Speaker 1>condo in Steinway Tower will reportedly set you back seven

0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.480
<v Speaker 1>point seventy five million dollars, with prices rising to more

0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.760
<v Speaker 1>than sixty six million for the Penthouse. This is a

0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.800
<v Speaker 1>three story condo connected by an oval staircase, with over

0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.760
<v Speaker 1>seven thousand square feet in its floor plan that's over

0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:28.840
<v Speaker 1>six hundred square meters. It includes four bedrooms, five baths,

0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.600
<v Speaker 1>fourteen foot high ceilings that's about four meters, and a

0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:36.840
<v Speaker 1>private elevator. But if you're interested, sorry, it's off the market.

0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.800
<v Speaker 1>It's sold to an international buyer who only viewed it virtually.

0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:45.200
<v Speaker 1>Most New Yorkers are happy to get a building with

0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:47.840
<v Speaker 1>a washer and dryer in the basement, But as you

0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:51.480
<v Speaker 1>might expect, Steinway Tower offers a few more amenities, including

0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.680
<v Speaker 1>a twenty four hour concierge and door attendant, a twenty

0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.960
<v Speaker 1>five meters swimming pool it's about eighty feet, a fitness center,

0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:03.120
<v Speaker 1>private shops, and a private dining room. There is a

0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:07.240
<v Speaker 1>slight downside to living among the clouds. The dimensions of

0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:10.240
<v Speaker 1>the tower make it highly susceptible to swaying when it's

0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.040
<v Speaker 1>hit by high winds as much as three feet that's

0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.919
<v Speaker 1>almost a full meter. Some visitors have complained of severe

0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:21.040
<v Speaker 1>nausea because of the swaying. A nearby residential building four

0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.600
<v Speaker 1>thirty two Park Avenue has been beset by engineering problems,

0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.840
<v Speaker 1>including sway, and those issues have been difficult to repair

0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:33.200
<v Speaker 1>because of the building's height. Whatever else they may have

0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.280
<v Speaker 1>done in creating Steinway Tower, the building's designers were attempting

0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:41.640
<v Speaker 1>to create something bold and memorable. While not the tallest

0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:44.760
<v Speaker 1>building in the world, it looks like they've fulfilled that mission,

0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.960
<v Speaker 1>though one critic who was not impressed with Steinway Tower's

0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.960
<v Speaker 1>dimensions said, these are not the proportions of a classical column,

0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:57.360
<v Speaker 1>but of a coffee stirer. This less than flattering nickname,

0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:05.320
<v Speaker 1>the coffee Stirer, has stuck. Today's episode is based on

0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:08.080
<v Speaker 1>the article maybe you can be Too Thin Meet the

0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:12.600
<v Speaker 1>World's skinniest skyscraper on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by Patti Resmusen.

0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:15.280
<v Speaker 1>Brainstuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with

0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.160
<v Speaker 1>HowStuffWorks dot Com, and is produced by Tyler Klain. The

0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.360
<v Speaker 1>four more podcasts from my Heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.240
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.