TOUR: Downtown Art Deco (Itinerary No. 1)

Reservations required. Sponsored by the Municipal Art Society. Information and registration: 212-935-3960 or click here.

Towering above the narrow streets of the old Dutch colony of Nieuw Amsterdam are some of the country’s finest zigzag and streamlined delights, glittering pinnacles of Wall Street prosperity, monuments to the high-flying corporations of 1920s banking, oil, and telecommunications. Unrivaled skyscraper designs include Ralph Walker’s Gothic Modern fantasy of the Irving Trust tower and the Art Deco–encrusted Cities Service headquarters, plus some lesser-known jewels in the insurance district on John Street.