New Yorkers Can Control Two Skyscrapers' Lights with Mobile App

EXCLUSIVE: Developer Douglas Durst is letting New Yorkers have controls to the lights atop two midtown skyscrapers — 1 Bryant Park and 4 Times Square. Using a mobile phone, users can manipulate the lights on the spire and antennae, and even add sparkles or pulses of light to the iconic midtown buildings.

BY Annie Karni

Thursday, August 21, 2014, 2:30 AM

Want to transform the color of the city's skyline? There's an app for that.

Developer Douglas Durst is letting New Yorkers have controls to the lights atop two midtown skyscrapers — 1 Bryant Park and 4 Times Square.

Using a mobile phone, users can manipulate the lights on the spire and antennae, and even add sparkles or pulses of light to the iconic midtown buildings.

The project, “Spireworks,” is the brainchild of Mark Domino, Durst’s son-in-law.

He pitched the idea as a playful alternative to the lighting of the Empire State Building, which often changes to commemorate holidays and special events.

Online, he has described it as “a democratic and philanthropic call to action on the New York City skyline.”

The project is still in development, and users can join only if they receive an invite from a current user.

There are currently a few hundred users, Domino said, and an average of about five New Yorkers play with the lights every night.

A street performer in Times Square, who received an invite from a former Bank of America executive, now uses the app to manipulate the building’s lights as part of a trick, Domino said.

“People don’t believe you can do this,” Domino said.

The company is still figuring out how many users it can accommodate without crashing the sytsem.

For now, Durst quipped, there’s one sure-fire way to get an invitation: “Rent a lot of space from us.”