Iconic New York City, the most populated city in the nation and the birthplace of over 6,000 high-rise buildings. It’s arguably the most recognizable skyline in the world with a sea of concrete trees squeezed onto a tiny island. Builders face a constant battle of heights as new building after new building shoots up into the New York sky. This skyline climbs higher up into the clouds as the years pass forcing its once tallest buildings further and further down the list, pushing out those bragging rights with them.
Chrysler Building
One of the symbols of that climb from early in the 20th century is the frequently photographed Chrysler Building that carried the “tallest building in the world” torch from 1930 to 1931. It stands at 77 floors and is 1,050 ft tall at the tip of its spire.
Empire State Building
For those of you familiar with our lovely skyline, these days the Chrysler Building almost looks tiny in comparison to the Empire State Building, the building with New York State’s namesake that stands 102-stories and 1,250 ft tall. It was considered the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years until the World Trade Center’s North Tower was completed in late 1970. The Empire State Building is currently the 5th highest building in the United States, and 29th highest in the world.
World Trade Center / Freedom Tower
The originally 110-story World Trade Center briefly held the world’s tallest title until the completion of the Sears Tower in Chicago in 1974. When both World Trade Center towers were destroyed in 2001, the Empire State Building regained its title as tallest building in the city until One World Trade Center went up in 2012. Freedom Tower, as it is also called, has now staked its claim as the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the sixth highest in the world. It stands 1,776 ft tall and has 104 floors. Not too bad for this piece of New York pride.
Crossing over the Williamsburg Bridge or taking a spin around the East River on the ferry, it’s almost hard to grasp the sheer magnitude of skyscrapers on our precious little island. As of 2016, New York City has 241 buildings that are at least 500 feet tall, which is more than any other city in the United States. We’re pretty lucky as New Yorkers, and tourists will usually agree when they aren’t bumping into you in Midtown with their eyes to the sky.
432 Park Avenue
For those of you looking to wake up with your head in the clouds… literally… NYC has brought you 432 Park Avenue. At 88 floors and 1,400 ft, it’s currently second in NYC only to One World Trade Center and it has bragging rights as the largest residential building in the entire world. That’s some prime New York real estate right there – even higher than the Empire State Building.
Things aren’t slowing down any time soon in the Big Apple. As of April 2016, there were 494 high rises either under construction or in the planning and proposal phases. So for those of you that love to lay in the grass in Central Park and admire the glistening windows and shiny metal of New York’s iconic sky scrapers, the city will continue to grow with vines of concrete in this crazy jungle of ours.
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