text: History The history of skyscrapers in New York City began with the construction of the Equitable Life, Western Union, and Tribune buildings in the early 1870s. These relatively short early skyscrapers, sometimes referred to as "preskyscrapers" or "protoskyscrapers", included features such as a steel frame and elevators—then-new innovations that were used in the city's later skyscrapers. Modern skyscraper construction began with the completion of the World Building in 1890; the structure rose to a pinnacle of . Though not the city's first high-rise, it was the first building to surpass the  spire of Trinity Church. The World Building, which stood as the tallest in the city until 1899, was demolished in 1955 to allow for the construction of an expanded entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. The Park Row Building, at , was the city's tallest building from 1899 to 1908, and the world's tallest office building during the same time span. By 1900, fifteen skyscrapers in New York City exceeded  in height.
  New York has played a prominent role in the development of the skyscraper. Since 1890, ten of those built in the city have held the title of world's tallest. New York City went through two very early high-rise construction booms, the first of which spanned the 1890s through the 1910s, and the second from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s. During this period 44 skyscrapers over  were built—including the Singer Building, Met Life Tower, Woolworth Building, 40 Wall Street, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building, each of which was the tallest in the world at the time of its completion, the last remaining so for forty years.
  Skyscraper construction resumed in the early 1960s, with construction surges in the early 1970s, late 1980s, and late 2010s. In total, the city has seen the rise of over 100 completed and topped-out structures at least  high, including the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and the current World Trade Center redevelopment.