Economy
Charting the Booms and Busts of NYC's Skyscraper History
Follow the fluctuations of the city’s skyscraper construction—which mirror the ups and downs of the U.S. economy.
At 612 feet tall and 47 stories high, the Singer Tower was once the tallest building—not only in New York City, but in the world. That was back in 1908. Before the building was demolished in 1968, Harper’s magazine hailed it as “the romance of the future.”
Indeed, over the past century, architects gradually filled the city skyline with skyscrapers, often pushing the limit on just how tall buildings can get. The Singer Tower would have paled in comparison to the city’s current tallest building: The recently completed One World trade Center, which stands almost 1,775 feet high.