The 10 best skyscrapers in New York City

As the home of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) since construction completed in 1933, no other skyscraper has been more associated with show business. Whether you're passing through its storied halls on the way to see Saturday Night Live, looking at sites like the Empire State Building and Central Park from the open-air observation deck or appreciating the austere Art Deco design as it reflects the lights from the annual Rockefeller Center christmas tree, it’s hard to imagine New York without it.

Though still under construction, the nearly complete tower has captured the city’s attention with its Jenga-like appearance. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the 60-story apartment building is the tallest in Tribeca and breaks away from the uniform-sleek towers that dominate the city’s recent additions with the zigzaggy pattern that appears to place each apartment unit individually on top of the other. Many of the apartments have already been purchased, so if you have some money—okay, a lot of money—better buy one while you still can.

Though it may have only held the title for tallest in the world for a mere 11 months (from May 1930 until the Empire State Building was completed in April 1931), its Art Deco design has kept the city’s attention. For generations New Yorkers and visitors have loved the distinctly American gargoyles—replicas of radiator caps from a 1920’s Chrysler on the 31st floor and steel eagle gargoyles on the 61st floor—but the real show stopper is the terraced crown with it’s stainless-steel arches that look like sunbursts when the building is lit at night.

Sure, at 22-stories high, it’s not the tallest on this list, but the historic landmark looms large in Gotham all the same. Before construction was completed in 1902, people feared that a building so thin would topple over, but the wedge-shaped structure not only has withstood more than a century of use, a name change (it was originally called the Fuller Building) and critical disdain from the New York Times and the Municipal Art Society, but is so well known and beloved that its neighborhood is now known as the Flatiron District.

Print may be dying, but the esteemed newspaper's headquarters is alive with a bright future. Designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop and completed in 2007, this modern giant—the fifth tallest in the city—is trumpeted for its environmentally conscious features. The biggest innovation is the high-rise curtain walls with ceramic sunscreen, which uses a system of special glass and ceramic tubes to control the amount of light hitting the walls and coming inside.