Empire State Building opposes competitor

The owner of the Empire State Building on Monday asked a City Council zoning panel to reject or change a project that would raise a tower nearly as tall as the iconic skyscraper, saying it would forever alter the skyline of New York City.

In a last-ditch effort to change architectural plans, Anthony Malkin appealed to members of the council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises to make the new high-rise shorter. He proposed that 15 Penn Plaza be no more than 825 feet high, making it about two-thirds of its original proposed size.

He also asked that it be shaped so that it minimally obscured the view  from the western side of the Empire State Building.

The full City Council is scheduled to vote on the project on Wednesday. The 67-story tower would be only 34 feet lower than the Empire State Building.

Malkin called his building “the No. 1 favorite building in the U.S., surpassing the White House.” “The Empire State Building defines New York and its skyline ... This is not just a local phenomenon. This is a national phenomenon,” he said.

David Greenbaum, president of the New York office of Vornado Realty Trust, the company planning to erect the building, told the committee that 15 Penn Plaza would provide critically needed office space in midtown Manhattan.

Local officials said the project would create as many as 10,000 new jobs and lead to improved transportation facilities, including wider rail platforms at Penn Station, better access to subway stations, and the easing of both pedestrian and traffic congestion in the area, which includes the flagship Macy’s department store.