Things are looking up in New York and so are New Yorkers, and if the experts are right, they’ll continue to do so for years to come.
New York has a well-earned reputation for having an amazing skyline – the nicest in America and one of the most impressive in the world. Years ago, New York was the clear leader in this race, but since then other cities have joined “The
Breathtaking Skyline Club” and are now challenging it for the lead. Some of those are in China and other parts of Asia. But staying ahead of New York will not be easy.
Despite all the reports about people and businesses leaving the city, there is an incredible amount of construction going on here, and parts of the city have become ultra-modern and a role model for others.
Currently there are nearly 300 skyscrapers in New York, says city-
sightseeing.com, and many more are on the way. Five massive structures in particular stand out, and if construction proceeds as planned, they will be completed by 2030. And these are in addition to many others that will be finished before that.
The city needs them. An article on Bloomberg quotes urbanists who believe American cities needs more skyscrapers. “Tall towers,” they argue, “could help cure steep housing costs in cities like New York and San Francisco.” And they add that “dense concentrations of tall buildings could help make urban centers greener and more energy efficient than sprawling suburbs.”
A few towers in particular stand out; among these are One Vanderbilt, 270 Park Avenue, and The Brooklyn Tower. When they join the other skyscrapers in Manhattan and other parts of the city, they’ll be among the world’s tallest towers.
Not Just A Rectangle
The latest skyscrapers are not just larger versions of the old fashioned, rectangle-shaped buildings we see everywhere. Every floor is not just a duplicate of the one just under it – they are much more complex, and constructing them and presents different challenges.
The newest ones are also very different than the modern super thin, 100-plus story structures near Central Park, which themselves are relatively new. For example, the newest ones are environmentally friendly, incredibly power-efficient, aesthetically pleasing, include modern gardens, and incorporate the very latest safety features, among their many other modernities. As a group, they will change and enhance the city’s skyline.
And they also incorporate important advances in technology and construction. First and most obvious is the capacity to accommodate many thousands and even tens of thousands of people and businesses in a relatively small footprint. While this would be helpful anywhere, it is particularly important in cities and other densely-populated areas where space is both expensive and at a premium; incidentally, this is also true of many high-rise apartment buildings.
There are also many additional benefits, as they create many thousands of construction jobs and numerous others that are permanent and needed to maintain these structures. When fully occupied, they will generate many tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues to budget-pressed cities and states, amaze and draw tourists from near and far, and enable businesses to connect more easily to other businesses and to people.
Currently, the tallest building in New York City is One World Trade Center (WTC) – also called the Freedom Tower – which has 104 floors. Its 1,776-foot height makes it the tallest building in the entire Western Hemisphere and at this time, the sixth tallest building in the world. Soon it will have company.
Banking On It
Obviously, getting all the systems in a skyscraper to work together is an incredibly complex project, but even when they work as planned other problems can easily arise. The fairly recently opened skyscraper One Vanderbilt had this experience; the design work was completed in 2016 and the structure was opened to fanfare in 2020. Developer SL Green intended this structure to be a showcase of how stylish an office building could be while also being more energy efficient than most new buildings and having other state-of-the-art systems. But, as they say, even the best laid plans of mice and men don’t always work out.
In the four years between design and opening, there were important changes in the city’s efforts to battle climate change, and One Vanderbilt became a “victim” of that plan. The New York Times explains: “One Vanderbilt’s turbines burn natural gas. And while natural gas is cleaner than oil or coal, it is falling out of favor, particularly in New York City, which in recent years has adopted some of the most ambitious climate change laws in the world, including a ban on fossil fuels in new buildings.”
Another massive skyscraper in New York going up is at 270 Park Ave. In 2018, JP Morgan Chase decided to replace its existing headquarters with a new one 1388 feet high. According to Smart Buildings, “this will be the city’s largest all-electric edifice, boasting net-zero operational emissions and relying entirely on energy sources from a hydro electric plant upstate.”
Even Brooklyn, possibly still associated more with the Dodgers than the latest edifices, has also joined the trend to reach higher because of the dwindling availability of prime land as well as the “sky-high” costs. The new Brooklyn Tower will not only add to the city’s skyline but also help Brooklyn establish one of its own. At 93 stories and 1,066 ft. high, it is tall enough to compete with skyscrapers in Manhattan - and anywhere else for that matter.
All of the construction, modernization, and beautification will make New York a more fun place to work, visit, and live. But as singer Al Jolson used to say, “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” because the trend to building more and taller skyscrapers will continue.
Construction Dive estimates that by 2050 there will be an amazing 41,000 new skyscrapers in the city. Of course, most won’t set records, but ultra-modern 60-, 50-, and even 40-story buildings are still nothing to shrug off. And it adds that the tallest one planned will be more than 3,720 feet high – more than 14 city blocks straight up. Moreover, there’s a 9% chance some will be a mile or more in height.
Will New York have the most impressive skyline in the years to come? That depends on the economy, how other cities choose to build, and many other factors. But in this race to the top, the real winners are all the people who will benefit from these towers.
Sources: benchmarketsteel.com; bloomberg.com; constructiondive.com; instagramcom/instalooking4; nytimews.com; s3da-design.com; therealdeal.com. YouTube: NY 2030 is the New Generation of Massive Skyscrapers; Unveiling the World’s Newest Supertall Skyscraper in Brooklyn
Gerald Harris is a financial and feature writer. Gerald can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
