NY skyline set to change with rise of pencil towers

New York

IT'S not a tourist attraction yet, but when hard-hatted construction workers journey down from the summit of 432 Park Avenue at 57th Street they proudly rattle off sky-high statistics - 1,396 feet (425.5 metres) and 96 stories tall - that will make the luxury condominium tower in midtown the tallest habitable building in the city.

It's already an eye-popping distraction for miles out into the suburbs and surrounding countryside as it soars up, way up, from Manhattan's signature skyline.