The 55 buildings in New York City you need to see in your lifetime

It's said that New York City is a concrete jungle (where dreams are made of), but there's a lot to love about the concrete (and glass, and steel, and brick) that makes up the city. 

The five boroughs are jam-packed with scores of iconic buildings and architectural landmarks. New York was home to the World's Tallest Building from 1899 until 1974, but the city is filled with notable structures closer to the ground as well.

Some of these buildings are architectural marvels. Some are obscure, historical oddities that represent a different era in the Big Apple's rich past. A couple of them are actually terrible, awful buildings that nonetheless are an important part of what makes New York New York. 

Here are the 55 buildings in New York City that you need to see in your lifetime. 

CITIGROUP CENTER: This Manhattan Skyscraper stands on pillars that stem from the middle of the building rather than the corners. Initially, the novel design was structurally unsound, but three months of secret overnight repairs fixed the engineering crisis.

153 East 53rd Street, Manhattan.

SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: Some artists feared that the museum building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, would overshadow the artwork inside when it opened in 1959.

1071 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan.

THE DAKOTA: The popular story is that this Upper West Side apartment building was called "The Dakota" when it was built because at the time it was so far north and so far west that it might as well have been in the Midwestern states, though that's probably not true. John Lennon lived here when he was shot.

1 West 72nd Street, Manhattan.