The Race to the Sky

From left to right: 40 Wall Street, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building

Before there were the tall building of New York City the tallest structure in the world was The Eiffel Tower since 1886 standing at 1,063 feet tall. 

It is not until the Art Deco period of the 1930s does New York architecture surpass the tower of France. 

During my tour it is not uncommon for me to ask my groups if they know which of the three buildings, 40 Wall Street, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, is the first one to surpass the Parisian edifice and in what order?

Do you think you know the answer? 

While researching this bit of history, there are varying versions as it is known to some as ‘The Race to the Sky.’ I enjoyed the novel by Neal Bascomb called ‘Higher’ I found it so interesting as it was the height of the Great Depression when these buildings begin to become icons of this great city and the United States.

The competition was between the egos of the developers, Walter Chrysler, engineer and automobile manufacture hence the Chrysler Building and The Manhattan Company, headquarters for the Bank of Manhattan Trust Company, known by its address, 40 Wall Street. 

Walter Chrysler joined forces with architect William Van Alen and 40 Wall Street, the architect Craig Severance. Van Alen and Severance had been partners for about ten years and they were getting critical acclaim for their work; however, the articles more times than not would begin “William Van Alen and Craig Severance,” yet Van Alen was getting the credit as a contemporary designer where as Severance more of a classicist. It caused a rift between they two and they severed their professional relationship by 1924. This fuels the fire for contemporary technology in architecture and the egos involved. 

The Empire State Building jumped into the race backed by General Motors, a direct competitor to the Chrysler Corporation. Cars, cars, cars, and money drives the skyline of this city. 

It is an epic story, it plays out in the court system, the newspapers, and the public as they witness these building climb higher, and higher a mantra by egos and fists beating table tops to go HIGHER. 

Join me at One Token Tours to get the rest of the story. Stay tuned to learn which building is the first one. 

Hidden Gems - Community Gardens

There are many people that think of NYC as a ‘concrete jungle.’ 

Well, that is until people visit Central Park, particular north of the Bethesda Terrace which feels very Victorian in design to me. Central Park is a project won by Culvert Vaux & Frederick Olmsted in the 1850s. It is considered The City’s backyard. 

Bethesda Terrace, Central Park 

Once you get into the area known as The Ramble, you get a feeling of being in the woods, maybe not the woods but an idea of the natural terrain of the island before it had all of the tall buildings; one of the concepts of the design of the park. 

Fast forward to the plight of the 1970s. New York City was in decline. There were burned out buildings. My neighborhood, became in large part a ‘squatters village and tent city.’ Particularly in and around Tompkins Square Park, in Alphabet City.  

Out of this comes a movement of community gardens within empty, abandoned lots peppered throughout neighborhoods like the East Village. 

These community gardens were for many individuals a places to plant flowers, or small box gardens, goldfish ponds, sculptures and a variety of trees to relieve the stress of the hard times.

Once The City began to rebound, developers became interested and these small community areas became territorial battlegrounds. 

Liz Christy, a leader of this grassroots (pun not intended) movement to solve some of the issues of urban decay. Banded together with a group that became known as the Green Guerillas: To get people working together to stabilize their city blocks. 

Today, these are little hidden gems in neighborhoods around The City that provide respite from the busy streets, a place of solitude, and meditation - supplies a place for creativity. 

Left photo, Miracle Community Garden, Top, Garden on Bleeker St., Bottom, Marble Cemetery

When people say that they are looking for a guide, they say that they want to see where the ‘New Yorkers’ hangout. Here, One Token Tours we can customize just for you.

Flatiron Building

The Fuller building is a result of the past merging with the present. 

It became known as the Flatiron Building. 

Working with kids, I often ask if they know what a flatiron is, and the answer I get from a fourteen year old is, “it is what I used to straighten my hair.” 

I have to explain, “a flatiron is a triangle cast iron, iron, used when New York City was the center of the garment district.” 

The Fuller Building sits on the crossroads of 5th Avenue and 23rd Street. Within the concept of the Grid Plan of 1811. Broadway does not conform to the grid because it follows the Native American Indian trial familiar to everyone at the time. It cuts a rectangle into a triangle. 

Technology was booming in 1901 and the Fuller Building becomes the tallest building in New York City at 23rd Street. 

The past dictated the reality of this building. It is one of my favorite stories to tell. 

I can’t wait to see you in New York City and share more of this story. 

I Heart NYC

I 💗NY

Missing the kids, the teachers and the chaperones.. This is student tour season here in NYC sadly, we are experiencing a pandemic. My heart is not broken but it is a little empty right now. One of the things I share at the end of my student tours is ‘show your gratitude’ because travel is one of the best forms of education there is. This world is huge, diverse and we all need to experience how people live. 

The kids ask me, ‘what brought me here to New York City from Alabama?’ My answer is always, ‘I had a dance teacher that brought to NYC when I was 17 years old and it changed my life. I got to be in this glorious city for 2 weeks in 1982 (don’t do the math). I saw 6 Broadway shows: Annie, A Chorus Line, Pirates of Penzance, Amadeus, Tap Dance Kid, and Sugar Babies with Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney. I went to a free Philharmonic concert in Central Park, a jazz concert on The South Street Seaport pier, so many museums and I was hooked. I stood on the top of the Empire State Building at night and felt that all of the stars are below my feet.’ And I said, ‘Okay, this is where life is.” 

None of this has changed.. 

Right now we are ‘social distancing.’ I appreciate everyones support with this and I look forward to enjoying meeting new travelers soon. 

Love letter to the universe... 

Red Light, Green Light, GO!

Red Light, Green Light, GO! 


The pulse of New York City lies within the Subway system. 

Like the veins of this concrete, steel, and glass commune the miles rushed with constant abandon 24/7. 

New York, ‘the City that never sleeps.’

Color coded and calculated over 800 miles of tracks, trains churning, intrepid, pushing the system to capacity. 

Uptown, Downtown, yes, ‘all around the town’ like life’s blood goes local and express. 

Twenty-four hours out of each day, everyday, the Subway system flows. 

The soul of the system organized by colors, numbers, letters a language of its own. 

Red Light, Green Light, GO! 

With all of its complexities it is very simple to learn. 

First things first, entrances with a green globes constant, inviting in the day and in the night. 


Red globes shine in the darkness, gated for your safety and salvation, Yo,

check around the corner you will find a green light.

Tank You Very Much

A question on my tour, “the purpose of the cisterns atop so many buildings?” 

My response, “Water does not naturally run up.” They are meant to equalize the water pressure for building six floors or more so that one can flush ones toilet. This is just one of their purposes.  

Peppered along the skyline throughout The City, these rustic water tanks or cisterns seem a thing of the past but this is not the case. Started by a barrel maker in the 1800s, as building were getting taller, they continue to be manufactured today. 

Built like a barrel, the wood is a natural insulator and fitted together in a tongue and grove fashion so that no nails are used to puncture the shell. Instead, metal tape or cables wraps the exterior, tightly wound at the bottom to top creating a compression system. Water fills the wooden structure making the wood panels swell naturally becoming watertight. 

To me, I find them to be an urban, romantic element of the place I call home and sometimes, when something is technologically sound, change is not necessary. As they say, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” If it leaks, time for a new one. 

Two companies continue to manufacture and maintain over 10,000 to 15,000 tanks throughout the city, Rosenwach Tanks and Isseks Brothers. 

The Name

When starting a business, the name is very important. It is the first clue into understanding the reality of the business. I expected to use my name because it is the most common acknowledgement with every group. I planned to call this business, “Sean Sellers Tours.”
Within this world wide with the web, in 2003 I Googled my name. I shared what I discovered with a friend and my friend said, “use your middle initial.”
First of all, no one knows my middle name and therefore, just putting a ‘W’ in the middle dose not help when searching the world wide web in order to find me.
When I Googled my name, I found a Satin worshiper from Colorado, who robbed a convenience store, and killed his parents.
I am from Alabama and for five Google pages I found that Sean R. Sellers, a fugitive in 1984, was one of the individuals to be ‘wanted’ on the first episode of the nationally syndicated TV show “America’s Most Wanted.”
This guy is a celebrity on the internet.
Trying to make sure that I am conducting business as an upstanding member of the community, I had to come up with the name.
No, I did not change my name, I brainstormed.
New York City in 2003, this city was overwhelmed. The Subway system was transitioning from the ‘coin,’ token to this thing called the MetroCard.
We were not accepting the change.
Riding the Subway, we always needed one token to get through the turnstile so we could get anywhere in town. All it ever took at that time was one token and you could experience everything this city had to offer.
I continued to brainstorm and New York City was in transition. Change is difficult. We were fighting this whole reality that a card will replace heavy pockets full of coins, tokens, that can only be used to enter the Subway.
Really, a card? I was buying tokens like a dime bag on the streets.
It happened, the MTA changed all of the turnstiles so that no longer do we insert one token to get anywhere in New York, we swipe a card. No longer could we fight it, this MetroCard becomes the standard. I don’t want the history to be lost so I named this company, “One Token Tours.”

We make NYC as easy as the Subway system, A, B, C and 1, 2, 3.