The Manhattan skyline is without doubt one of the greatest and most beautiful skylines in the world. Only a few cities in the world can hold a candle to it. Only cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Chicago can really be compared with Manhattan. The reason for this is the density as well as the height and girth of the structural cluster. Cities like Tokyo, Mexico City, and Sao Paulo though they are much larger cities in population they lack the large towering skyscrapers and extensive complimenting buildings.

Though Manhattan Island is small in area it is vast in respects to a downtown cityscape. One could fit Chicago’s entire center city into Central Park and though Chicago does have the tallest buildings in the United States (at this time) it lacks the shear volume and density of skyscrapers that New York City offers. This is not to say disparaging things about Chicago, which is truly one of the other great cities of the world, my purpose here is to put things into perspective and to say that Chicago is on the same par as that of Manhattan is just not sober. In the same fashion I am not here to say negative things about Tokyo but again, it does not possess the density and high volume of massive tall buildings that Manhattan does.

To really appreciate what Manhattan has to offer as grand skyline one has to visit NYC and walk the streets and take in all that the city has to offer. After you have walked the street and look at images of the city from afar you get a much better appreciation of Manhattan.

Essentially Manhattan’s skyline starts around the southern crescent of Central Park and works its way south to Lower Manhattan. There are two main clusters of buildings in Manhattan; Midtown where you have the Empire State and Chrysler Building and Lower Manhattan (or Downtown Manhattan) where you have the financial district.

Lower Manhattan has the greatest cluster of tall building roughly starting with Woolworth Tower (the world’s tallest building at its completion and a testament to Frank Woolworth who paid cash for the building and Barbara Hutton who squandered all the millions that Frank Woolworth made).

Midtown is the area around Central Park and south of it. Along here you have 5th Avenue and the famous shop as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History. Manhattan continues to grow and add new skyscrapers to her skyline. As the future unfolds let us take appreciation for all that Manhattan has given to this country and the world.