"Urban explorer" Moses Gates took Opie of radio duo Opie and Anthony on a harrowing trek many have dared to imagine but few have had the chutzpah to undertake?they climbed to the very tippy top of the Chrysler Building. Documenting the uphill journey in a three-minute video posted yesterday, Gates and co. had to climb a series of narrow ladders, maneuver around cross beams dripping with concrete, and dodge other industrial-looking obstacles to get to the apex of beauteous spire. (Spoiler alert: the inside of the pinnacle?basically a crawl space?isn't even one-sixteenth as pretty as the outside, but it's pretty darn cool.) Though a handful of others have ascended this iconic building's unglamorous belly, both in real life and in the movies, Moses and Opie do it with a mix of humor, awe, and caustic commentary.
"The craziest thing though, is that you think of the Chrysler Building as Art Deco, shiny, chrome, metal, you know, metal everywhere," Gates huffs. "And you're inside and it's all reinforced concrete, and you never would have thought it. I expected, like, shiny silver beams holding up the spire in here, too." Reaction upon going as high as they could go: "Made it to the top of the Chrysler Building! It is so hot in here... Unbelievable." On the bright side, the views are awesome, if kind of obscured by the grubby windows. In a separate video, Gates ventures out onto the heads of the eagles that jut out from the exterior of the 61st floor. In the end, excitement (perhaps altitude-induced) does win over the skyscraper-scaling duo. Gates says: "Honestly, I think everybody should be allowed to see this and do this. I mean, we're in the spire of the fucking Chrysler Building, man. There's nothing more iconic."
· Take a Secret Peek Inside the Spire of the Chrysler Building [Atlantic Cities]
· Moses Gates: Official Site [mosesgates.com]
· Chrysler Building coverage [Curbed]
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