The new skyscraper at 262 Fifth Avenue reduces the visibility of the Empire State. New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman published an article in October.
Kimmelman: “Those who spent a dollar in 1931 could visit the observation deck and see New York like a god” The unrecognizable New York skyline is, Kimmelman continues, “occupied by billionaire apartments, and has increasingly come to symbolize the city's growing income gap and skyrocketing housing costs’ The Flatiron – 20 stories and a triangular plan – was the tallest building in the world until 1909.