Get Ready For A New Skyline

Renderings of 1 World Trade Center, 15 Penn Plaza, and the Beekman Tower during construction in June.

Anthony Malkin may have spent most of last week bitching about the City Council-approved 15 Penn Plaza project, but as he said in an ad taken out in the New York Times last week, "There will be taller buildings in New York City than the Empire State Building." And while 1 World Trade Center is the only planned building that will reach higher than the Empire State Building's 1,454 feet, a number of other projects are aiming to drastically change the city's skyline, for better or worse.

The Wall Street Journal (paywall) looks at the transformation taking place over the next 10 years, starting with the rise of Frank Gehry's Beekman Tower and 1 World Trade Center, which has reached its 36th floor. The residential tower at 34th Street and 11th Avenue could also be completed as early as 2016, and would be 1,060 feet tall. No word yet on whether or not Malkin considers that too close to the ESB for comfort. And the development is sending the message that New Yorkers are ready for change. Carol Willis, director of the Skyscraper Museum, said of the City Council's 15 Penn Plaza approval, "They were saying New York needs new buildings. Before that, I would've said that New Yorkers like their city just fine the way it looks right now."

Some argue with the idea that New Yorkers will accept the new developments. In a Malkin-commissioned poll, 71% of New Yorkers said 15 Penn Plaza would detract from the character of the skyline. And in our own poll, 55% of readers say the tower shouldn't be built so close to the iconic Empire State Building. But developers and city officials say the buildings aren't about the skyline, but about jobs. Mark Weprin, chairman of the City Council's subcommittee on zoning and franchises, said before the City Council vote, "We need new, modern buildings to accommodate the new business model that's out there today all over the world."

Thomas Hanrahan, dean of the School of Architecture at the Pratt Institute, also said that even if the ESB gets eclipsed, it wouldn't be any less grand a building. He said it would become "something like the Woolworth Building. It wouldn't diminish or make the Empire State Building any less extraordinary than it already is." But like it or not, New Yorkers can at least rest with the knowledge that the city's adaptability to change remains constant.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jaya Saxena in News on August 30, 2010 11:54 AM

Comments [rss]

Ed

jaycjay, I worked in the World Trade Center and never liked the buildings. Looked at from across either river, yes, the Twin Towers complemented the skyline. But there was something cold and inhuman about the complex up close.

And I agree that the new buildings are just plain ugly, though I guess I could live with the misnamed Freedom Tower. I assume that structure on the roof is where the zeppelins will dock.

John L

I agree with your comments about the WTC. They were pretty to look at from afar but up close they made that entire area kind of dark and gloomy. I use have to go a block away for work and no matter the weather or time of day it was always looked like it was about to start raining.

Wza

I wanna see "The Fifth Element" type of skyscrapers.

Come on developers, you're slackin'.

jaycjay

Lost in the mists of time: there was strong and vocal opposition to the construction of the Twin Towers, and architecture critics almost universally panned the design.

Mordicai

Eclectic architectural design is part of makes cities neat. You might prefer art deco oh faux gothic, but that is because it come around. Glass Jetsons buildings are cool, too. New York City is not a dead place. It isn't a museum. You should be excited they are building new skyscrapers. I am.

ed_Extinct

I'm excited "they'll" be creating jobs for union-only people that mainly sit around and inflate costs that eventually get passed onto the taxpayers.

the rest of you can sit around looking for work the old fashioned way; big pimpin'.

kevd

God, I hope so.

How many people on here would complain if supply continued to outstrip demand for a bit, and prices continued to gradually come down.

Of course most of this is office space. But more office space will be helpful as lots of current office square footage is being converted to residential.

Though more and better transportation infrastructure is needed. Like East side access, the 2nd Hudson river tunnel, 2nd avenue subway, Moynihan station....the 34th st. busway - and about 10 other busways that haven't been planned yet - including ones that cross bridges and tunnels. Those busways will actually be affordable while more subway likely will not.

kevd

intended reply to com123

"There going to be so many new apartments and offices that the chances of a complete NYC real estate collapse will be pretty sizable. It's really stupid for the city to allow these building cooperation to flood the market to this extent."

Kelles

Fer gawd's sake, just design one with two giant domes at the base already if that's what you're getting at

kevd

what shape, other than tall and thin makes sense for a sky-scrapper?

Yes they're phallic. But show me a way to make a tall building on a small footprint that isn't a bit phallic.

JayNYC

WHY does every new skyscraper have to be a bland glass or chrome tower accented only by whatever architectually 'artsy' shape they want to do on top to make it look sophisticated?

I love the fact the city's growing and modernizing, but I also think withinn 20 years, Manhattan will look like Tokyo; nothing but tall glass towers, over-crowding, trapping dust and dirt on city streets and all the character of pre-war Manhattan knocked down and lost forever.

THANKS BLOOMBERG!

BillyShears

The area in the high 20s and low 30s just east of Herald Sq., with the exception of the ESB is, for the lack of a better word, a pile. A friend was at the Ace Hotel recently for some kind of PR event and was absolutely struck at the complete, well, nothing in the vicinity. So 15 Penn might actually be needed, I just wish they weren't sacrificing the freakin' nice (if in need of some work) hotel for it. Can't they level the Manhattan Mall instead? It's always been a completely useless POS. Any store you can find in there has another, better location someplace else in Manhattan.

lexicondevil

Yeah, just keep jamming more and more people into Manhattan without addressing the inadequate and dilapidated infrastructure.

ocm123

There going to be so many new apartments and offices that the chances of a complete NYC real estate collapse will be pretty sizable. It's really stupid for the city to allow these building cooperation to flood the market to this extent.

Sketto

Actually, I don't think it matters if the market gets flooded. NYC is quickly becoming a playground for the ultra-rich without room for affordable housing. The kind of people who buy into such skyscrapers don't care if the market tanks, since their place here would be their fourth home anyway.

Kojak

It would be unprofitable for them to flood the market. Its difficult to plan large developments to coincide with upturns in the office/housing market. You have to take a long term approach in these things to determine success.

kazubes

I dont even care about a building being taller than the ESB so close, but I wish architects would move away from these featureless glass and metal buildings and really complement the gothic style buildings in midtown.

i2hellfire

i don't even care about a building being taller than the ESB, but i wish people would start wearing crinolines, dusters, breeches, and top hats again. wait...what, we're not stuck in the victorian age and have indeed moved onto the 21st century? well fuck that...why should fashion move on while architecture clearly needs to stay static and unchanging? or maybe, peoples arguments about how architecture should look a certain way when we've clearly moved on decades...sometimes centuries past their relevance...is fairly stupid. understand that architecture, like everything else in your life, advances. unless you prefer to rock a phonograph instead of your iphone.