Look at NYC’s tallest resi towers through the ages

In an age when New York City developers seem to be having open competition over who can build the tallest luxury condo tower, it may be startling to hear that the Waldorf Astoria stood its ground as the city’s tallest residential building for more than 50 years.

The Skyscraper Museum’s latest exhibit, “Ten Tops,” reveals this and other fascinating factoids from over a century of almost nonstop, upward building in New York City.

While largely examining the tallest buildings in the world at large, the museum has also created a list of “alternative” rankings, according to Curbed — which include subjects like the top ten residential towers in New York, both now and over the past century.

The graphic above displays the 10 tallest residential buildings in New York at any given point from 1927 — when the Sherry-Netherland Hotel claimed the crown — through 2019, when Extell Development’s Central Park Tower at 217 West 57th Street is expected to hold the title belt.

Below, meanwhile, you’ll find a list of the 10 tallest buildings in the city that are “current or under construction” as of this month — ranging from the 914-foot-tall 15 Hudson Yards to Central Park Tower and featuring the likes of 220 Central Park South and 432 Park Avenue in between. [Curbed] and [Skyscraper] — Rey Mashayekhi

New York’s tallest residential towers scheduled for completion by 2018 (credit: Skyscraper Museum. Click to enlarge)