Checking In On New York City’s 2020 Skyline

NYC Skyline ~2022, by Thomas Koloski, original image by Eric via FlickrNYC Skyline ~2022, by Thomas Koloski, original image by Eric via Flickr

YIMBY has brought you several composite renderings of what the skyline will look like over the next few years. Now we have a fresh image of what the city’s future holds, thanks to YIMBY Forums user Thomas Koloski, which illustrates the major changes soon coming to Jersey City, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Most of the projects added to the image are either already under construction or imminently rising, and their collective impact on the cityscape will push the New York City skyline to new, Coruscantian heights.

While Manhattan will gain the most bulk — with at least a dozen new towers of 1,000 feet or more planned or under construction at this point — Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Queens are also set to receive their first supertalls (or near-supertalls in Jersey City’s case).

NYC Skyline ~2022, by Thomas Koloski, original image by Eric via Flickr

NYC Skyline ~2022, by Thomas Koloski, original image by Eric via Flickr

Downtown Brooklyn’s 9 DeKalb Avenue will become the new focal point for the entire borough, towering over everything nearby. The changes to Brooklyn are rounded out by expected towers at 280 Cadman Plaza, 205 Montague Street, CityPoint (aka 138 Willoughby), and 420 Albee Square, none of which have broken ground just yet (though 9 DeKalb, 280 Cadman, and 138 Willoughby have already started pulling permits with the Department of Buildings).

Jersey City’s peaks won’t be quite as prominent, but 99 Hudson Street will still stand a wide margin above the city’s current tallest, at 900 feet.  Exchange, aka the Goldman Sachs Tower. The remaining two Urban Ready Living towers will also help round out the skyline, clocking in at 70 and 65 floors apiece.

As for Manhattan, the coming years will more than double the island’s number of supertalls. Two World Trade Center will (hopefully) soon stand as an equal to One World Trade Center, at least sans spire. Three World Trade Center will also be complete. But the most impactful changes to the Downtown skyline will come from elsewhere in the Financial District, with residential supertalls planned at 125 Greenwich (~1,000′), 45 Broad (1,127′), and 80 South Street (1,436′). The latter is planned to surpass One WTC’s roof height of 1,368 feet, and its position on the eastern side of the Financial District will help balance out the completed WTC.

Changes to Midtown will be much more dispersed, but the sheer height added will be incomparable, perhaps even on a global scale.

On the very edge of the island, Hudson Yards is now rising quickly. With 35 Hudson Yards (1,005′) and 30 Hudson Yards (1,297′) already under construction, and the near-supertall 15 HY (895′) also rising, a new focal point is quickly forming on the Hudson River. Nearby, the first Manhattan West office tower (995′) is also under construction, soon to be joined by a sibling of equal or slightly greater height.

Moving north — and east — One Vanderbilt also makes an appearance. Although the exact height of the pinnacle appears to be undergoing continued revisions, it will be over 1,500 feet tall, easily eclipsing the Empire State Building to become the most prominent tower between the Financial District and the 57th Street corridor. To the left of One Vanderbilt, the future supertalls of 111 West 57th Street and 217 West 57th Street complete the backdrop.

NYC skyline today, Image from Flickr user Eric

NYC skyline today, Image by Flickr user Eric

Collectively, the gains will push the city’s skyline to unparalleled heights. While Dubai and Shanghai may have government-backed trophy towers that surpass the 2,000-foot mark, New York’s boom is purely driven by the free market. Most importantly, the newfound abundance of supertalls — and increasing efficiency when it comes to building so high — means that as towers continue growing taller, their relative affordability is also increasing, and if local politicians (and Albany) can relax their chokehold on the city’s growth, that means the housing crisis may finally have an end in sight.

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13 Comments on "Checking In On New York City’s 2020 Skyline"

  1. Sit down on helicopter to view supertall in the future, great growing of new landmark. (very exciting)

  2. This is still missing stuff, just on a cursory glance. For example, all the development in Journal Square is missing.

  3. Sorry, but the housing “crisis” will not end no matter how many supertalls get built. It is not in the interest of big real estate — the REBNY crowd that you so admire — to create that much housing that the cost of housing would truly come down. Plus, whatever housing is created in the supertalls is aimed at international oligarchs looking to park their money somewhere and in something they consider safe.

    • How right you are Klaus.
      My heart simply bleeds for all those millionaires
      – whose housing plight would be remedied
      by a forest of NYC super-talls. Not.

  4. Kara -Ornato-Quvus | August 26, 2016 at 8:01 am |

    Oh G-d just enjoy the damn beauty and worry about your own money .these pics are gorgeous . Respectfully from the East Village

  5. Don’t forget about Journal Square in Jersey City as well. Kabr just got a 79 story and 46 story tower approved by the planning board. A new wrap was just put around the site fence as well possibly indicating that groundbreaking could be soon. With the height of these buildings already being 200ft up on the Palisades in JSQ, these buildings along with first tower of Journal Squared will dominate the skyline.

    http://jerseydigs.com/one-journal-square-30-journal-square-approved/

  6. Please build world trade center 2 as soon as possible either the diamond shaped top or the step shaped model and please build the buiding at least 1000 feet high like the twin towers where thanks

  7. It has been 15 years since the twin towers fell and does not take 15 years to build another skyscaper so please make your mind up and build another 1000 foot building there i am a architect and i have designed serveral buildings and resorts in the world the best design of architecture for the world trade center 2 would be the step building the one with different levels that have court yards over looking the city . The second choice would be the diamond shaped top of the building one thanks

  8. Rene Hernandez | September 22, 2016 at 5:16 pm |

    WE want another twin towers but at least 2,000 ft tall. The one world trade center building looks to boring.

  9. Donald Baker | October 14, 2016 at 5:20 pm |

    what is the slanty building in the picture to the right of 1WTC? none of your links refer to a building with that profile. And it is too far south to be part of Hudson Yards.

    • That is the rending of WTC 2 created by Bjork Ingels. It’s what others in this blog have been talking about when they reference “step shaped model” and “World Trade Center 2 would be the step building the one with different levels that have court yards over looking the city.” Google WTC 2 Bjork Ingles. Hopefully this helps

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