7. The Metropolitan Life North Building was originally designed to be 100 stories

Metropolitan Life Building and Tower
The Metropolitan Life Building standing at 28 stories tall.

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Building is a skyscraper occupying a full block in the Flatiron District, currently composed of a North and South building. From 1909 to 1913, the Met Life Tower was the tallest in the world until the Woolworth Building took over. However, few know that the structure could have looked completely different (and would have been much taller). Harvey Wiley Corbett, a San Francisco native, worked as a draftsman with Cass Gilbert. He collaborated with Hugh Ferriss on drawings of what a skyscraper city could look like while abiding by the 1916 Zoning Laws, turning these sketches notable into Art Deco skyscrapers.

Corbett, who had been working for John Rockefeller, set off to create the North Building and reclaim the title of the tallest building in the world. With D. Everett Waid, he took up the project, and the approved design would have created a 100-story tower. The new building would be located in the full block site between East 24th and East 25th Streets and would have drawn heavily from Art Deco elements. Construction began in 1928, though the Great Depression and Black Tuesday led construction to be stopped in 1933. Only 28 stories were built, slightly over a fourth of the goal, and the North Building was eventually completed in 1950.