EQUITABLE BUILDING.

Modern skyscraper architecture owes everything to this gigantic building. It was built between 1912 and 1915, and rose 40 stories. It's impossible today to imagine the impact of such a structure. Back then, though, they knew what to do: Ban it!

Fearing congestion and loss of sunlight, people agitated for an end to buildings like the Equitable, and eventually New York passed zoning laws that mandated setbacks at certain heights. This didn't just affect New York buildings - since the styles of the New York skyscraper architects were copied everywhere, any city in the 20s that built a skyscraper aped the same setback styles of Gotham.