Cloud Club closed in the evening. Many famous executives based in the tower had lunch in the club. The club was only for men for several decades. In the 1950s and 1960s newer clubs opened, causing the attendance at the Cloud Club to decrease. In 1971 180 corporations supplied 300 members of the club. The club declined more as competition from other clubs increased and as companies moved offices to suburban areas. Texaco moved its employees to Westchester, New York in 1977, and the club closed in 1979. Tishman Speyer, which took over the Chrysler Building in 1998 and refurbished it, leased
New Era Building (New York City) eight floors toward the rear, or Mercer Street side, of the building. The fire began among some crates in the company's basement shipping room. The collapse was caused when three unprotected 14-inch diameter hollow cast iron support columns buckled because of excessive heat, bring down the eight stories above. Fire-resistant insulation might have prevented the collapse. As of 2011, tenants included a clothing retailer, fashion consultants, a publisher, a golf and fitness club, a retail drug store, and the Swiss Institute. The Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York occupied the third floor loft from 1994 until 2011. In September 2011