I have been intrigued on this visit, as on my last, by the appearance of a pencil-thin, tall skyscraper which has emerged in the skyline on 59th. Street, at least as high as the Empire State Building and, to my eyes, as different to the aesthetic of the classic skyscraper as the AT&T Building was in 1984. I was struck that no-one mentions it, no-one comments, no-one looks up as they walk past on the street below. The answer is that it is the new tallest building in the western world, designed by Rafael Viñoly, and required no planning permission because it breaches no planning laws, just rising one storey at a time for 84 stories, changing the skyline of New York forever:-
Thanks for the very timely explanation. I too was intrigued by this building when I saw it this afternoon while riding to Manhattan from JFK. Seems to me a very spotty system of zoning that allows a building this large to be built without any kind of design review. But then I rather liked the old Park Avenue lined with buildings all of more or less uniform height.
Dear Bruce, I actually don’t mind it, might even like it, but am intrigued that a building of such momentous scale can pop up without consideration of its character and consequences. Charles
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2793242/a-95million-view-inside-new-york-luxury-skyscraper-tallest-condo-western-hemisphere-1-396-feet.html