I normally save the ridiculous topics for the weekend but (a) it’s Friday, (b), I’m out of town, and (c) this topic has some connection to actual building issues.
The back (east) side of the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway has a nice view of the top of the Bankers Trust tower:
That stepped pyramid is one of the weirder and more memorable building crowns in New York, which frankly is saying something.
In 1912, when the building opened, it was certainly not part of some Aztec-inspired trend…which leads to the main topic. A lot of skyscrapers in New York have had their moments in the spotlight of movie stardom. The most memorable is the Empire State Building in the original King Kong, although the old World Trade Center had its chance with the remake. More recently, Chrysler and Pan Am were seen in the Avengers. Well, Bankers Trust had its movie, too: Q, The Winged Serpent.
It’s hard to fully convey how bad this movie is. The short version of the plot: the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl – presumably the movie was called Q because no one involved knew how to spell or pronounce the full name – in the form of a dragon-like winged lizard, is living in the crown of the Chrysler Building and eating New Yorkers off rooftops. During the climactic battle, he lands momentarily on Bankers Trust, presumably because it reminded him of home, before he’s killed.
The movie had a $1,100,000 budget and raked in $255,000, of which five bucks came from me. Do not make the mistake of watching this movie.
The tops of tall buildings occupy their own little world. They look quite different close up than they do from the street, but most people never see many of them close-up. My photo up at the top of the page shows the stepped pyramid in all its glory, which is not so easy to see clearly from the street…but would, of course, be clear as day to a flying monster.
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