Top 10 Tallest Buildings In New York City As of 2023

Skyscrapers have long been one of mankind’s most prolific triumphs to society.

There are over 6,400 high-rise buildings in NYC.

Though other boroughs have some high-rise buildings (like the Hub in Downtown Brooklyn or YIMBY in Queens), Manhattan has constructed some of the world’s tallest buildings since 1890.

The majority are located in Midtown and Lower Manhattan due to the area’s solid surface bedrock and its ability to provide structural integrity for these buildings.

Most of the tallest buildings include business, residential and commercial centers. Here is the top ten list of the tallest buildings in the country’s most populated city:

1. One World Trade Center

Height: 1,776 ft. (541.3 m)

Location: Financial District, Lower Manhattan

Located in the Financial District, this 104-story ‘Freedom Tower’ is deemed not only the tallest building in New York City but in the entire western hemisphere.

The additional height is owed to its 408-foot spire, which holds essential communications equipment and projects a beacon of light at night.

Fun Fact: The height (1,776 ft.) is symbolic for the year the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed.

2. Central Park Tower

Height: 1,550 ft. (472.5 m)

Location: Midtown, Manhattan

This colossal luxury residential skyscraper has surpassed 432 Park Tower, making it the tallest residential building in the western hemisphere.

Central Park Tower, or 225 West 57th Street, stands at its planned 1,550 ft. Central Park Tower is the other super skyscraper pencil tower project under Extell's belt, the first being One57.

Fun Fact: Condos generally start around the $6 million mark and can span well into double-digit millions.

3. 111 West 57th Street

Height: 1,428 ft. (435.2 m)

Location: Midtown, Manhattan

This 86-story, slender building, also called the Steinway Tower, is the skinniest in the world, with a ratio of 1:24. It's just one block away from Central Park Tower.

The tower was designed by SHoP Architects and developed by JDS Development.

Fun Fact: Also known as the Steinway Tower, 14 of the building's units were designed in the 1920s by the same designer that designed Grand Central Terminal.

4. One Vanderbilt

Height: 1,401 ft. (427 m)

Location: Midtown East, Manhattan

One Vanderbilt is now officially the tallest office building in New York City.

Designed by the renowned architect Kohn Pederson Fox, the building sits right by Grand Central Terminal and provides an underground connection to the transportation hub.

Fun Fact: Unlike the waif-like pencil tower, One Vanderbilt has both height and mass. This building takes up an entire city block.

5. 432 Park Avenue

Height: 1,396 ft. (120.7 m)

Location: Midtown East, Manhattan

This Midtown gem that overlooks Central Park is 84 stories high and sways up to four to five feet and has received much criticism from New Yorkers for the fact that it overshadows Central Park.

432 Park Avenue was the first of its kind--an ultra-skinny mega skyscraper.

Fun Fact: In 2015, 90% of the apartments were sold, with 50% or more being foreign citizens.

6. 270 Park Avenue (JP Morgan Chase World Headquarters)

Height: 1,388 ft. (423 m)

Location: Midtown East, Manhattan

270 Park Avenue is currently under construction and is on the site and same address as the former JP Morgan Chase World Headquarters, once known as the Union Carbide Building--totally demolished in 2021. Once completed, the skyscraper is set to be at 1,388 feet (or 423 meters), twice the height of the former headquarters, and the sixth tallest building in New York City.

Fun Fact: 270 Park Avenue will be the first all-electric building with "net-zero operational emissions." All power will come from a hydroelectric plant in New York State.

7. 30 Hudson Yards

Height: 1,268 ft. (386.4 m)

Location: Hudson Yards, Manhattan

Located on the west side of Manhattan, 30 Hudson Yards is the portion of the largest private real estate development in United States history.

In the residential portion of Hudson Yards ‘city within a city’, 30 Hudson Yards is devoted primarily to office space and is the second tallest office tower in New York.

Fun Fact: It has the fifth-tallest observation deck in the world and the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. 30 Hudson Yards also features City Climb, where visitors can scale the exterior of the building from over 1,200 feet up to the tower's highest point.

8. Empire State Building

Height: 1,250 ft. (381 m)

Location: Midtown, Manhattan

Finished in 1931, the Empire State Building was built in just 14 months during The Great Depression and, to this day, stands as one of New York City's most iconic buildings. It's also a standout and prime example of an Art Deco-style skyscraper and one of the most visited monuments in New York City.

Fun Fact: After the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, the empire regained the title of the tallest building in the city.

9. Bank of America Tower

Height: 1,200 ft. (365.7 m)

Location: Midtown West, Manhattan

The Bank of America Tower (BOAT) stands 58 stories high opposite Bryant Park between 42nd and 43rd Streets. Bank of America occupies 75% of its interior, while the rest is left to other corporate entities.

Fun Fact: It is considered a worldwide model for green architecture in skyscrapers. It is the first skyscraper designed to attain a Platinum LEED Certification, complete with waterless urinals, two honeybee hives on the building, and made mainly of recyclable materials.

10. 3 World Trade Center

Height: 1,079 ft. (328.8 m)

Location: Financial District, Lower Manhattan

Located on the eastern side of the World Trade Center, this eighty-story skyscraper began being constructed in 2010, was delayed until 2014 due to no anchor tenant, and finished in 2018.

Fun Fact: One big perk is the complex’s commercial core which includes five indoor floors of retail – two below ground, one ground floor, and two above ground.

Other Noteworthy Towers

While not nearly as daunting in height, let's not overlook the up-and-coming neighbors in both Brooklyn and Queens.

Brooklyn's tallest skyscrapers are all concentrated in the Downtown Brooklyn area, with a few newcomers in Williamsburg as well.

Although not as ambitious as Brooklyn's endeavors, Queens touts Long Island City as its skyscraper and new development headquarters.

Brooklyn's Tallest

The Brooklyn Tower, or 9 Dekalb, was built atop the landmarked Dime Savings Bank and is Brooklyn's first exercise in a mega skyscraper.

The tower reaches heights over 1,000 feet--1,066 feet to be exact. The luxury mixed-use building features condos, rentals, and commercial retail space.

After completion, 9 Dekalb is the tallest building outside of Manhattan.

Currently, Brooklyn Point, located at 1 City Point, topped out at 720 feet, is the second tallest in Brooklyn after 9 Dekalb topped out.

Another Extell project, the building will feature luxury condos and the city's highest outdoor rooftop pool, as well as choice high-end amenities.

A recently built 1 Willoughby Square building, currently Brooklyn's tallest office building.

Queens' Tallest

The Skyline Tower, completed in 2021, located at 23-15 44th Drive in Long Island City, is Queens' highest. The tower stands at 778 feet and 67 stories.

Queens Plaza Park, or 27-29 Queens Plaza North, also under construction, will top out as the second tallest at 755 feet and also 67 stories.

Developed by the Durst Organization, the building supplies 958 residential units with choice amenities such as a library, fitness center, co-working space, and children's space.

Previously, the tallest completed skyscraper was Tower 28, located at 42-12 28th Street, which boasts 647 feet and 58 stories. All 407 units are luxury rentals.