Until two years ago, New York had “only” five towers taller than 305 meters (1,000 feet). Currently, that number of skyscrapers with at least that height are already under construction along one street. In addition, more than twenty buildings are on the drawing board, some of which are even close to the height of One World Trade Center – at 541 meters currently the tallest building in New York.
Previously, the expanding financial world – in its constant search for office space – was the driving force behind the construction of skyscrapers in New York. It provided the city with the Empire State Building and the World Trade Centers. Now it is mainly about residential towers and they have trendy names such as Park Avenue (426 meters, opened this year and tallest residential tower in the US), 111 57th Street (438 meters, finished in 2018) or Central Park Tower (472 meters, finished in 2018). 2019). They all exude luxury, mainly intended to seduce the wealthy tenant.
Billionares’ Row
The reason for the construction fever in New York is a growing number of super rich who are looking for a place in the metropolis. Building is practically possible thanks to technological developments in the construction industry, which make it profitable to cram all those buildings into the small, crammed Manhattan.
The new skyscrapers have in common that they are thin and are built with a super strong type of concrete, combined with new aerodynamic insights. The slender skyscrapers can therefore withstand the often strong winds at high altitudes.
The relatively few square meters that the buildings occupy is a contrast to the large piece of land that, for example, occupies the Empire State Building, which opened in 1931 at 381 meters as the tallest building in the world. “New York has fallen asleep at the wheel for the past 30 years when it comes to developing its skyline,” David Williams, a director at a real estate company with two projects in Billionares’ Row, told The New York Times. “Now I can’t think of a city in the world where so much is built on a single boulevard.”
I can see for miles
The epicenter of all the construction boom is the area in New York that has become known as ‘Billionaires’ Row’ – the area immediately south of Central Park. The site is sought after by developers because of its view of the world-famous park and at the same time the view of the skyscrapers on the other side of the city.
The New York Times does have a caveat about all those high-rise buildings in such a small area; in the end everyone looks at each other’s building. Real estate advisor Jonathan Miller compares it in the newspaper to a song by The Who: I Can See For Miles. “You can peer for miles into the distance, until you look into the neighbor’s window.”
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