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For decades, the New York City skyline was dominated by one building, the 1,250-foot-tall Empire State Building. But 17 “supertall” skyscrapers — defined as over 984 feet in height by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat — have been started or completed since the Great Recession, completely remaking the city’s traditional silhouette.

If the developer Harry B. Macklowe has his way, an 18th will soon join them. On Friday, Mr. Macklowe submitted a preliminary application to the Department of City Planning outlining his intention to build a new super tower, east of Fifth Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets, overlooking St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

If approved at 1,551 feet tall, his skyscraper, known as Tower Fifth, would rank as the second-tallest building not only in New York, but in the Western Hemisphere.

In the heady world of competitive building, Tower Fifth would hover 216 feet above the roofline of One World Trade Center — which would remain the city’s tallest building because a mast brings its official height to 1,776 feet — and reach a scant 12 inches above Central Park Tower, the skyscraper nearing completion on Billionaires’ Row.