Early skyscrapers in 1931 The history of
skyscrapers in New York City began with the construction of the
Equitable Life,
Western Union, and
Tribune buildings in the early 1870s. These relatively short
early skyscrapers, sometimes referred to as "preskyscrapers" or "protoskyscrapers", featured steel frames and elevators—then-new innovations later adopted in the city's skyscrapers. Modern skyscraper construction began with the completion of the
World Building in 1890; the structure rose to a pinnacle of . Though not the city's first
high-rise, it was the first building to surpass the spire of
Trinity Church. The
New York World Building, which stood as the tallest in the city until 1899, was
demolished in 1955 to allow for the construction of an expanded entrance to the
Brooklyn Bridge. The
Park Row Building, at , was the city's tallest building from 1899 to 1908, and the world's tallest office building during the same time span. By 1900, fifteen skyscrapers in New York City exceeded in height. New York City went through a very early high-rise construction boom from the 1890s through the 1910s. Notable skyscrapers completed during the first boom include the
Singer Building, which was briefly the tallest building in the world at when completed in 1908; it was the first skyscraper in New York to exceed in height. It was surpassed in 1909 by the
Met Life Tower, the earliest skyscraper to reach that still stands in New York City. After a lull in skyscraper construction in the mid-1910s, a second boom occurred from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s. The Chrysler Building was completed in 1930, one year after the onset of the
Great Depression; at a height of , it became the world's first
supertall skyscraper. The Empire State Building was completed one year later. In total, during the early 20th century, 44 skyscrapers over were built. Many of the buildings during the second boom were built in the
Art Deco style.
1930s–1950s After the early 1930s, skyscraper construction came to a halt for over 20 years owing to economic pressures during the Depression and
World War II. Many office skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan had large amounts of vacant space years after completion. A notable exception to the hiatus was the early modernist
75 Rockefeller Plaza, built as a northern extension to the
Rockefeller Center in 1947. Gradually, skyscraper development resumed in the 1950s. Many new skyscrapers eschewed the Art Deco of the early 20th century and were built adhering to the modernist
International Style. This style emphasized function over form, often involving fewer or no setbacks, and glass
curtain walls. Notable buildings to go up in the 1960s include the octagonal
MetLife Building and the
General Motors Building. Some early skyscrapers, such as the Singer Building and the
City Investing Building, were demolished to make way for new developments. In 1966, construction began on the
World Trade Center complex, including twin supertall skyscrapers measuring and in height. Known as the Twin Towers, they reshaped the Lower Manhattan skyline when they topped out in 1970, and over time, became an iconic symbol of New York City. Midtown Manhattan saw increasingly tall skyscrapers like the
Citigroup Center and
One Penn Plaza in the 1970s; during this decade, the city surpassed 100 skyscrapers above in height. Another construction surge in the late 1980s increasingly embraced more
postmodernist designs, such as
CitySpire and
1 Worldwide Plaza.
1990s–present After the early 1990s, skyscraper development slowed down once more, with the most significant new skyscraper during this lull being
4 Times Square. The 2000s saw the resumption of office skyscraper development, alongside a growing number of residential skyscrapers. The
Bank of America Tower and the
New York Times Building became the first supertall skyscrapers to be built in the city since the original Twin Towers. The mid-2010s saw a massive surge in construction, with office and residential buildings reaching new heights. While New York City had only two supertall buildings in 2010, that figure has grown to 18 by 2025.
WTC redevelopment In 2001, the
September 11 attacks led to the collapse of the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings ever to have been destroyed. Plans to rebuild the site were soon proposed, and a design for a
new World Trade Center complex was approved in 2004. The centerpiece of the redevelopment,
One World Trade Center, was completed in 2014 at a height of 1,776 ft (541.3 m), a symbolic reference to the year of the signing of the
United States Declaration of Independence. Upon topping out, the building became the tallest building in the city and the United States. and
4 World Trade Center, a skyscraper completed in 2013. The site for a proposed supertall at
2 World Trade Center has been repeatedly delayed, with three designs having been commissioned as of 2025: two from
Norman Foster and one from
Bjarke Ingels of
Bjarke Ingels Group.
Supertall boom and Hudson Yards . From
Central Park Tower,
One57,
111 West 57th Street, and
53W53 ,
520 Fifth Avenue, Empire State,
1 Bryant Park,
4 Times Square A boom in the development of supertall residential skyscrapers began with
One57, developed during the early 2010s, and
432 Park Avenue, which surpassed the height of the Empire State Building to become the tallest building in Midtown Manhattan in 2015. This trend culminated with the completion of
111 West 57th Street and
Central Park Tower in the early 2020s, both surpassing in height. Two significant commercial supertall skyscrapers, both exceeding , have topped out in the 2020s:
One Vanderbilt, forming a new peak in the skyline around
Grand Central Terminal; and
270 Park Avenue, which serves as the new headquarters of
JPMorgan Chase. The western skyline of Midtown Manhattan was also massively transformed by the
Hudson Yards development. Built on the eastern side of
West Side Yard, Phase I of the development began construction in 2012 and was completed in 2019. Within the development are three supertall skyscrapers:
35 Hudson Yards,
30 Hudson Yards, and
The Spiral, alongside several other skyscrapers. Additionally,
One Manhattan West, another supertall skyscraper located near Hudson Yards, was completed in 2019. Phase II of Hudson Yards is in planning and could include more supertall buildings and a casino. Taller residential skyscrapers also arrived at the
Upper East Side and
Upper West Side areas of Manhattan.
520 Park Avenue became the tallest building on the Upper East Side in 2018, while 200 Amsterdam became the tallest on the
Upper West Side in 2021; it was then supplanted by
50 West 66th Street, which was completed in 2025.
Beyond Manhattan In the 21st century, skyscrapers became more common in boroughs outside Manhattan. After the completion of the
Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower in Brooklyn in 1929, the building remained the tallest building in the borough for 80 years. However, since the late 2000s, a growing number of residential high-rises have been built in
Downtown Brooklyn, which has since formed a significant high-rise skyline of its own. As of 2025, Brooklyn is home to
17 skyscrapers taller than. The tallest, the
Brooklyn Tower, was completed in 2022 at ; it is the first and only supertall skyscraper in the city outside of Manhattan. The neighborhood of
Long Island City (LIC), in
Queens, also developed a skyline during the 2010s.
One Court Square, an office building built in 1990, was the only skyscraper in Queens for over a decade, until the addition of residential high-rises in the late 2000s; the borough now has 14 skyscrapers taller than . The tallest,
The Orchard, has been topped out and completed in 2025. Residential skyscrapers have also been built on the waterfront of
East River in Brooklyn and Queens since the late 2010s, particularly in the
Williamsburg,
Greenpoint, and
Hunters Point neighborhoods. On a lesser scale, high-rises developments have become more common in the areas of
Flushing,
Gowanus,
Jamaica, and
South Bronx. Although not located in New York City, the neighborhood of
Exchange Place in Jersey City has seen a similar boom in tall buildings since the 2000s. More recently, in the 2020s, the area of
Journal Square has also seen an influx in skyscrapers. == Cityscape ==