“Sliver Buildings” Take Their Place in NY Skyline
[Note to Readers: still in New York City; this is another “dispatch” in between kid-centric activities]
If you like skyscrapers, there’s no better place — at least in North America — than New York City. All the buildings in downtown Minneapolis would barely fill up Rockefeller Center, which itself is perhaps 5% of Manhattan’s commercial office space.
Since living here in the late 90’s, though, there’s a new “species” in the skyscraper jungle: ‘the bamboo shoot.’
Also known as “sliver buildings,” these are incredibly tall, incredibly narrow buildings: imagine a 60 story-plus building on the footprint of a two-story colonial house. Literally.
Ten years ago, I noted perhaps a half-dozen of these strange species; today, Manhattan easily has dozens.
Why the proliferation?
My guess is a combination of ever-more limited land, plus advancing technology.
P.S.: As a former resident of one, I have some advice to would-be tenants: check how many elevators the building has — and if they work!
