What is that giant matchstick on Manhattan's skyline?
Everyone knows about One World Trade Centre, which dominates the financial district of New York City – and most of Manhattan – a gleaming, magnificent replacement for the fallen Twin Towers.
Standing at 541 meters, with 104 floors, it has been the city’s tallest building since it was finished in 2013.
At that time, it overtook an old favourite, the Empire State Building, which itself was the world’s tallest building for more than four decades from 1931 until the World Trade Centre was finished in 1972. It remains one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions.
But now something has come between these two buildings, and unless you're a New York City regular you will probably never have heard of it.
Tourists are going to have to get used to the sight of the giant 432 Park Avenue development, due to be completed next year. In the past months it has reached its full height, now towering 426 meters above the pavement a few blocks south-east of Central Park.
Some even argue that is actually the city’s tallest building. Without its enormous spire, One World Trade Centre would in fact be almost 10 metres shorter than the newcomer to New York City’s skyline – which officially has the city’s highest rooftop.
Perhaps the lack of fanfare is due to it being a residential property, inevitably among the tallest of its type in the world.
It now dwarfs the Empire State Building. “From the living room of 432 Park’s penthouses, it is possible to look down on the observation deck there, flash bulbs glittering like an oversize chandelier,” went a New York Times report when the tower reached its full height in mid October.
Pic: DBOX for CIM Group/Macklowe Properties
The same report refers to the building’s newfound dominance over the city. The developer behind the building described it as “almost like the Mona Lisa”.
“Except instead of it looking at you, you’re looking at it wherever you are. You can’t escape it.”
Pic: DBOX for CIM Group/Macklowe Properties
Unlike One World Trade Centre, and the Empire State Building, tourists are only able to look up at its pinnacle. As a residential property, it will not open its dramatic views to the visiting public.
It’s not to everyone’s taste. One publication described it as like a "metal chopstick" - although the consensus on Telegraph Travel is that giant matchstick is more apt.
(For a fuller analysis of New York City's changing skyline, read the Vanity Fair article, Too Rich, Too Thin, Too Tall, which also points out that construction will begin next year on 225 West 57th Street, another luxury tower expected to be even taller than 432 Park when it is finished).
Pic: DBOX for CIM Group/Macklowe Properties
The architect of 432 Park Avenue was Rafael Vi?oly, who was behind London’s Walkie Talkie, the skyscraper which unintentionally fried eggs and melted car wing mirrors as it neared completion last year with its concave fa?ade.
Pic: DBOX for CIM Group/Macklowe Properties
The straight lines of the new 432 Park Avenue mean the same result is unlikely in Manhattan. What is guaranteed, however, is extremely high property values. Its highest penthouse sold for a reported $95m (￡60.4m), and the cheapest apartment currently on the market is going for $16,950,000 (￡10.78m). Those views come at a price.
Read more: The best hotels in Manhattan