New York City holds the record for having the most individual, free-standing buildings in the world. New York’s most identifiable and striking feature is the skyline and its skyscrapers.

Because Manhattan was developed on an island with high population density and high real estate values, building upwards has been the most economical option for developers in the city for many decades.

New York’s obsession with tall buildings began towards the end of the 19th century with the construction of the Park Row Building in 1899, which was the highest building in the world at the time. Since then New York has housed 9 other ‘tallest buildings in the world’, holding the honor for 75 consecutive years until the Sears Tower was built in Chicago in 1974, surpassing 1 World Trade Center.

Here is a small photo gallery of the famous New York City skyline:

Famous Skyscrapers in NYC

Midtown Manhattan is home to the most famous building in New York, and possibly the world: the Empire State Building. The area is also the largest central business district in the world and houses other notable buildings such as Rockefeller Center and the GE Building, the Chrysler Building, and Citicorp Center. In fact, most of the city’s skyscrapers are found in Midtown and some 700,000+ people work in the numerous offices, hotels, and retail stores found there. Some other famous buildings and areas in Midtown Manhattan are Times Square, Fifth Avenue, Radio City Music Hall, Time Warner Center, the Conde Nast Building, Seagram’s Building, the Met Life Building (formerly the Pan Am Building), Hell’s Kitchen…the list goes on and on.

You can also see famous New York City buildings near Wall Street and the Financial District. Prior to it’s loss of the World Trade Center and the 16 million square feet of office space the buildings contributed, Lower Manhattan was the third largest central business district in America; the district currently ranks 4th behind Midtown, Chicago’s Loop, and Washington D.C. Some other famous buildings in Lower Manhattan are City Hall, the Municipal Building, and the construction site of Freedom Tower.