Developers of the Upper West Side’s tallest building, 200 Amsterdam Avenue, were dealt an unprecedented blow last week when a State Supreme Court Judge ruled that 20 or more floors may have to be lopped from the residential skyscraper. Developers SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America are in the process of appealing the decision, which is the latest in a string of community-led attacks on development throughout the city.
For more than 40 years, the Empire State Building‘s observatory reigned as the loftiest manmade place on Earth. Though no longer the pinnacle of New York, the Art Deco masterpiece’s Olympian mass still cuts an uncontested figure in the popular imagination as a symbol of the city and is an enduring emblem of human might and ingenuity. Today, as the supertall enters its tenth decade, it welcomes visitors with a fresh new face, the product of a four-year, $165 million renovation to improve the experience for the 10,000-odd guests that stream through its doors each day.