This 860-foot ‘pencil tower’ built for just 26 people erased one of New York’s most iconic views forever

When people think of New York City's skyline, they think of the Empire State Building, one of the most photographed landmarks in the world, a structure so embedded in the city's identity that its silhouette has appeared in thousands of films, postcards, and album covers. For decades, one of the most beloved vantage points for that view was a pedestrian plaza just south of Madison Square Park in Manhattan, where the Empire State Building rose perfectly above the Flatiron District's low rooftops, framed by Fifth Avenue as if placed there deliberately.

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