Downtown Manhattan - Skyline in transition
East Coast cities
978-3-14-100890-6 | Page 190 | Ill. 1
Overview
The New York skyline has been a landmark of the metropolis for more than a hundred years. The construction of skyscrapers was favoured by the rocky, glacially formed subsoil. The Woolworth Building, built in 1913 on Broadway, was long considered the tallest building in the world at 241 metres. In 1931 the Empire State Building took its place (381 m without the antenna), which was then surpassed by the twin towers of the World Trade Center (417 m) in 1972.
Skyline of Downtown Manhattan
Figure 190.1 shows the skyline of Downtown Manhattan, in particular the Financial District in southeast Manhattan (on the left), home to Wall Street, the stock exchange and the headquarters of numerous financial companies and banks that make New York a global financial centre. Between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge is Chinatown, bordered by Broadway. To the right of the Manhattan Bridge, the neighbourhoods of Little Italy and the Lower East Side are located.
The skyline is in a constant state of change. On 11 September 2001, the World Trade Center was destroyed in a terrorist attack. On "Ground Zero", the site of the collapse, the One World Trade Center is located today, with a height of 541 metres. Part of the new group of buildings in this area is the 297-metre-high Four World Center. The Two World Center (411 m) and the Three World Center (357 m) are still under construction. Other skyscrapers in the Downtown are also under construction or in planning.
