More than 5.7 million TikTokers hate 432 Park Ave.
A 16-year-old Canadian teen, Louisa Whitmore, first discovered 432 Park Ave. in 2018 when she visited Manhattan with her family. But it wasn’t until last month that she started airing her views about the Western Hemisphere’s tallest residential building on TikTok — sizing it up as “so skinny” and “so ugly,” just for starters.
Since then, her account has garnered more than 228,000 followers and 5.7 million likes.
In her first TikTok post on Feb. 12, she said she felt vindicated in guessing that the nauseatingly tall, 1,396-foot tower was “the worst building in the world” which she said at the time was “based on absolutely nothing.” Since then, however, numerous reports have cited actual safety hazards and other complaints in the building.
So why is this New York City building getting so much hate? Primarily because it stands out from the skyline so much.
The narrow structure is not the tallest building in New York City, but it is 15 times as high as it is wide, which seems to stretch the 21st century’s understanding of physics. Its proportions make it unmistakable on the New York City skyline, affronting those who were accustomed to NYC’s traditional skyline.
“This skinniness makes it look like a toothpick or a Lego skyscraper that a 4-year-old would make,” she said in a TikTok, noting that the Empire State Building — which is slightly taller if you include its spire — is only four times as high as it is wide, making it more visually appealing.
One Vanderbilt and One World Trade Center both exceed 432 Park Ave.’s height, but they are also wider than this condominium.
Adding to the building’s unusual facade, the 96-floor building has two open, unenclosed floors every 12th floor, creating a Jenga-like look. The open sections allow air currents to pass through the building, decreasing wind resistance so it doesn’t knock the building over or cause damage.
One of Whitmore’s top complaints is that the tower sways “a lot more [than other tall buildings] to prevent earthquake damage.” The Post previously reported that visitors said they were “nauseated” and “freaked out” by the swaying.
“It just seems, like, too big of a sacrifice to me, personally, to make it sway that much just so it can be that tall,” she said in a TikTok video.
She also hates it because it’s one of the city’s many luxury condominium buildings where owners can conceal their identities through shell companies.
Nine units are currently listed for sale, ranging in price from $5.2 million for a 38th-floor two-bedroom to $90 million for an 82nd-floor five-bedroom. Rentals go for about $35,000 a month, down from the $49,000 average they used to get, according to StreetEasy.
Whitmore said that money could be used for better purposes, like to build 600 Habitat for Humanity homes or to just “construct your own apartment building,” she said.
“This is a level of rich I don’t even understand, and the building caters to that, which is a perfectly valid reason to hate it,” she said in a TikTok. She also said it was “very insane” that the four-minute “short film” created to sell apartments in 432 Park Ave. had a $1 million budget. The video can only be viewed inside the property’s sales office.
For all the money it cost them, residents have complained of floods from the 83rd to 86th floors, rising restaurant costs and elevator malfunctions (elevators go 1,600-feet-per-minute, according to a brochure), multiple reports have confirmed.
She also complained that the building’s address is deceptive. It’s not really on Park Avenue, she said, but 53rd Street, near Fifth Avenue. They’re able to get the “fancy address and fun title” because of a shop attached to the building that is on Park Avenue.
Representatives for 432 Park Ave. did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. Whitmore also did not respond to a request for comment.
Inside the Western Hemisphere’s tallest residential tower
The condominium just below Central Park cost $1.25 billion to build in 2015 and exceeded $2 billion in sales by 2018, according to a press release. The 584,500-square-foot building has 125 units across 96 stories, 85 of which are residential.
Units have solid oak flooring, high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. Kitchens have marble floors and countertops, seamless white-lacquer and oak cabinetry, and top-of-the-line Miele appliances including a double oven, a double sink, a wine cooler and double dishwashers. Some even have a built-in espresso maker, according to the 432 Park Ave. website.
In addition to its sprawling condominiums, the building offers studio suites for guests, housekeepers, personal assistants or au pairs. Accessory suites — which can be used as offices, playrooms, fitness studios or “a personal relaxation lounge” — are also available, according to a marketing brochure.
Top sales in the building came from an anonymous buyer in 2019 who purchased three units on the 92nd and 93rd floors for $91.12 million, The Post previously reported.
And the building again made headlines when Jennifer Lopez and Aaron Rodriguez — whose relationship is reportedly on the rocks — sold their 4,000-square-foot pad in the Midtown tower for $15.75 million in 2019, almost $2 million under the asking price.
Other international super-tall buildings include Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world at 2,717 feet, and the Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre, which tops out at 1,739 feet.