[The Manhattan skyline in 2030 by VisualHouse. Click for big!]

It's no secret that the New York City skyline is changing, and quickly—the profusion of sky-high skyscrapers in Midtown will eventually transform the city into the image above (which was created by Visualhouse earlier this year). This is especially evident along 57th Street, whose transformation into a thicket of skyscrapers is well-documented, most recently in a New York Times piece that looks at the rise of these supertall, super-skinny residential towers.

One thing the piece focuses on is the fact that for many buyers in these towers, the marketing materials that led them to a particular building may soon be inaccurate, thanks to all the other towers rising around them. For example, a rendering of 111 West 57th Street, designed by SHoP and in the works by JDS Development and Property Markets Group, shows the building towering over Midtown with only One57 neighboring it. But in reality, the building will eventually be surrounded by Central Park Tower, 36 Central Park South, and other skyscrapers. The Municipal Art Society put together a before-and-after view of a few of the more high-profile projects, showing what their actual profile amid the skyline of the future will be.

Here's 111 West 57th Street:

And Jean Nouvel's MoMA-hugging tower at 53 West 53rd Street:

For their part, developers acknowledge that these sorts of discrepancies are inevitable. "We're not forecasters, so any building that's not built yet wouldn't be a factor for us," JDS founder Michael Stern told the Times.

And for good measure, here's a video by the New York Times that shows the order in which these towers will appear and alter the skyline:

· "Corrected" Advertisements for New York's New Supertall Skyscrapers [MAS blog]

· As a New High Society Climbs in Manhattan, It's a Race to the Top [NYT]

· Mapping the Rise of New York City's 20+ Supertall Towers [Curbed]

· All Supertall Towers Coverage [Curbed]