New York, the Vertical City, Kept Rising Under Bloomberg

In short, building boomed during the Bloomberg years, both in terms of sheer numbers and in terms of height. And that is not counting what is yet to come after the mayor leaves office: the millions of square feet of office towers on Manhattan's far West Side, more high rises along the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront, and the other development in areas throughout the city that can now be built due to the mayor's zoning actions.

Francis Morrone, an architectural historian and author of the forthcoming Guide to New York City Urban Landscapes, said he appreciates that Bloomberg is trying to keep pace with London and Shanghai in the competition for global companies. But Morrone said the mayor's growth agenda also has a major downside. He cited a 2009 study by the Center for an Urban Future that argued that tens of thousands of middle-class New Yorkers were leaving the city because of the high cost of living.