four years. As part of 53 West 53's construction, the Museum of Modern Art closed for renovation from June to October 2019 so the exhibit space at the skyscraper's base could be completed. The first model residence within the building, designed by Andre Fu Studio, became publicly available in mid-2019. All construction on 53 West 53 was completed in February 2020. The first purchases for units at 53 West 53 were finalized in early 2020, with one unit selling in February 2020 for $12.8 million. By that June, fifty-five of the condos had been sold. Despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020, units in the building continued to be sold. For example, a two-bedroom unit was sold for about $8.8 million that July and a unit on floor 72 was sold for nearly $30 million that September. Douglas Elliman took over marketing at 53 West 53 in April 2021. Critical reception When Tower Verre was first announced, Nicolai Ouroussoff of The New York Times called the project "one of the most exciting additions to New York's skyline in a generation". After the tower was reduced to 1,050 feet, Ourousoff described it as disappointing for Manhattan's "future as a great metropolis", while Justin Davidson of New York magazine said: "The inspiring arrogance of Nouvel’s tower should never have been quashed by timorous bureaucrats." When 53 West 53 was being completed, a writer for the Financial Times said that the building contrasted with "intense skinniness" and "the dim, expressionless glass curtain walls of corporate extrusion" across the rest of the city. New York Times architectural critic Michael Kimmelman said that 53 West 53, along with 111 West 57th Street, "promise to help tip the scales back toward an older ideal of the sophisticated, attenuated tower", in contrast to what he perceived as "decades of plug-and-play boxes". The tower also garnered criticism, including the controversies over its original height and the American Folk Art Museum's demolition. In 2015, when the tower was still in development, a neighborhood group protested the fact that 53 West 53 and other Billionaires' Row towers would cast long shadows over Central Park. Some critics also said 53 West 53 was a symbol of wealth inequality within New York City. See also List of tallest buildings in New York City References Notes Citations Sources External links 2019 establishments in New York City 2010s