As City Vote Draws Near, Louder Protest Over the Empire State-Blocking 15 Penn Plaza

In case you’ve missed it, the battle over New York’s identity crisis is ramping up. Starting back in the spring of this year, plans were unveiled for the new 15 Penn Plaza building that’s roughly the size of the Empire State Building. Therein lies the problem. The building would be just blocks away from the iconic Empire State and from all the important angles, would potentially muddy the skyline, blending the two towers into one big mass of building. As with any big skyscaper project, there are a million hurdles to overcome between the current planning stages and opening the front door for the first time, particularly financially, but as it looks like the developers will be getting the okay from the city (there’s to be a vote this week), groups opposed to the building and its skyline-damaging potential, are speaking up. To get yourself up to speed, here’s a great, quick recap of the project and the surrounding controversy over at the NY Times‘ City Room blog, and another from the Architect’s Newspaper.

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