Babbitt with real estate.
“The towers of Zenith,” Lewis’s book begins, “aspired above the morning mist; austere towers of steel and cement and limestone, sturdy as cliffs and delicate as silver rods.”
Lewis was describing the fictional city of Zenith, but he might as well have been writing about Manhattan, which in recent years has seen an explosion of super tall residential towers that in their own way “aspire above the morning mist.”
From left to right, 111 West 57th, Central Park Tower and One57. Street Credit: Michael Lee, Getty Images, Godsfriendchuck, Chris6d and Creative Commons
A few blocks south of Central Park, for example, there’s 53 West 53, which rises more than 1,000 feet above the street below.