Courtesy Queens Museum of Art

The Chrysler building and its environs on the Queens Museum of Art's Panorama of the City of New York

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This week the institution unveiled its new Adopt-A Building program, which allows people to "own" an apartment, house, or building on the 9,335-square-foot scale model of New York City that is the Queens museum's centerpiece. The Panorama of the City of New York, which replicates the streets, bridges, and buildings of the city, was originally built for the 1964 World's Fair.

For $50, an apartment can be purchased; a single-family house can be bought for $250. For $500, a school, library, or firehouse can be named, and for $10,000, real estate companies can own landmark buildings or update the existing model. Buyers will even be awarded deeds.

The panorama has not been touched since 1992, when 60,000 structures were updated to reflect the changing city. Otherwise, the model remains unchanged: the World Trade Center still stands, for example, while high-rise condo buildings that have gone up in Brooklyn and Queens are not included.

The New York Mets were the first to support the new endeavor, leading to the replacement of Shea Stadium with the new Citi Field. Queens borough president Helen M. Marshall has donated $250 to adopt her house.

All new models will be built by City College architecture students.

The money raised from the project will help maintain the panorama and support the educational programs that are based around it. Part of the donations will also go toward the Kresge Challenge Grant for the museum's capital and endowment campaign.