NYC Supertalls: Where Size Does Matter!

Status: Completed

Upon completion in 2014, this Lower Manhattan tower took the title of New York City’s tallest building. With its spire, the structure reaches a symbolic (ugh) height of 1,776 feet; without, it’s a mere 1,368 feet.

Status: Under construction

One WTC will still technically be taller than Extell’s Central Park Tower (formerly known as the Nordstrom Tower), but if you’re looking at parapet height alone, this 57th Street building will come out on top: after losing its own spire, it will now stand at 1,550 feet tall.

Status: Proposed
There has been speculation about a supertall tower planned for 80 South Street, and last summer, the site sold to China Oceanwide Holdings. The sale was contingent upon the original owner, the Howard Hughes Corporation, transferring over 300,000 square feet of air rights after initially getting over 100,000 square feet of air rights for the site. The development potential for the site now stands at 817,784 square feet, and a proposed building could rise to 1,436 feet. Of that, just over half will be residential and the rest will be for office, retail or a hotel.

Status: Under construction
SHoP’s supertall 57th Street tower may not be New York City’s tallest, but it will be the skinniest, which is its own sort of engineering marvel. The residential structure will reach a height of 1,438 feet once it’s completed.

Status: Under construction

SL Green’s 1,401-foot-tall tower is currently under construction, and will tower over the rest of Midtown East upon completion. It’ll bring new subway entrances, public plazas, and an observation deck soaring 1,020 feet in the air with it upon completion in 2020.

Status: Completed

New York City’s tallest residential building topped out at its full 1,396-foot height in October 2014. The Rafael Viñoly-designed structure has been controversial from the start, thanks to its height and, um, distinctive facade, which was inspired by a trash can (no, really).

Status: Proposed

In 2015, Bjarke Ingels Group signed on to design this 1,340-foot tower, replacing original architects Foster + Partners. But in an unexpected twist, the assumed anchor tenant, News Corp., decided not to move downtown, leaving the fate of the tower—and Ingels’s design—up in the air. If and when it moves forward, it could rise to 1,340 feet.

Status: Under Construction

Hudson Yards’s tallest building will rise 1,287 feet over Midtown. It will also be home to the city’s tallest—and most mind-bogglingly terrifying—observation deck, located on the building’s 75th floor and jutting out more than 1,000 feet above the city.

Status: Completed

When this iconic building was completed in 1931, it snagged the title of the tallest building in the world—at least until the Twin Towers topped out in the 1970s. At 1,250 feet high, the Art Deco structure may be dwarfed by newer construction, but it remains more beloved than the towers along Billionaire’s Row.

Status: Completed

Also known as One Bryant Park, this 1,200-foot tower overlooks Bryant Park and Times Square. It has the distinction of being the first building to achieve Platinum LEED certification.