Top of David M. Dinkins Bldg. to Become Viewing Deck by June

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that the top of the David M. Dinkins Municipal Building—otherwise known as its cupola—will be open to the public this summer, for the first time ever.

It will essentially function as a viewing deck. Unlike its pricier rivals uptown, this one will be free.

The mayor unveiled the news at the cupola itself on the bitterly cold afternoon of Feb. 2, where he also provided updates on a lingering cold snap that has now killed sixteen city residents.

Come June, however, city officials hope that local residents will be able to enjoy the weather on top of the 40-story tower at 1 Centre St.

They say that the opening of the cupola to public tours will be made possible with a $6 million improvement project, which will involve installing glass barriers to prevent people from getting too close to the tower’s edges. It will also reportedly contain new ceiling netting and other exterior and interior renovations.

Mamdani noted that he was making the announcement on the second day of Black History Month, in order to pay tribute to the building’s current namesake and one of his predecessors as mayor; David Dinkins led the city between 1990 and 1993, with the building—formerly just known as the Manhattan Municipal Building—named after him in 2015. The building itself dates back to 1924.

Dinkins “uplifted at-risk youth, invested in the physical infrastructure of our city and worked to unify a city that remained in many ways divided along racial lines,” Mamdani said at the Feb. 2 presser. “He spoke famously of the ‘gorgeous mosaic that is New York.’”

Mamdani then elaborated that this “mosaic” of New York City has since been “closed off to the very people that should be seeing it” for “too long,” which he said would change with the opening of the cupola, which will offer 360-degree views of the surrounding cityscape.

The $6 million overhaul of the cupola will be overseen by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. DCA Commissioner Yume Kitsei, who was on hand for the Feb. 2 presser, promised that it would be a big deal.

“We’re gonna make it an iconic building, a must-see bucket item for all New Yorkers,” he said.

NYC Comptroller Mark Levine, who used to work out of the building during his recent tenure as Manhattan Borough President, also attended the presser as did Manhattan borough president Brad Hoylman-Sigal who is still decorating the office he took over from Levine last month. Levine pointed out that former Mayor Dinkins loved to look out at the Brooklyn Bridge from the municipal building, as well as shower there after tennis practice.

“This building is one of the great symbols of the city...it was built to have a public observation deck,” Levine said. “That’s how they did it back then. The Woolworth building had a public observation deck. The Singer building had one. The MetLife building had one. It was this incredible public spirit that New Yorkers should be able to take in these views.”

Hammering his point home, Levine added that other countries and cities—and not just past NYC skyscrapers—have towers with observation decks: “Madrid has a free public observation tower. Tokyo has one. London has two. Guys, you know Albany has one, right?”