New York’s most prominent skyscraper is about to get competition and its owner is trying to protest the construction of it.

Manhattan skies are most defined by skyscrapers, but none is as arresting as the tallest of them – the Empire State Building. But a proposal by David Greenbaum, who is the president of Vornado Realty Trust in New York, will have a new office tower a few blocks away that will only be 34 feet (10 meters) lower than the 79-year old iconic building and will alter greatly the Manhattan skyline.

The 67-storey 15 Penn Plaza, which will be located in the current Hotel Pennsylvania on 7th Avenue (a few steps away from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station), is facing major objections from Empire State Building’s owner. Anthony Malkin, grandson of the Malkin Holdings’ founder, testified at a City Council hearing. He says that allowing the erection of 15 Penn Plaza is an “assault on New York City and its iconography”.

The City Council is set to vote this week whether or not to allow Greenbaum to push through with the construction. The Zoning and Franchises subcommittee plans to make their votes on Tuesday. If both gives the plan the green signal, then everything will be in the hands of the City Council – only Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with his veto power, can revert the decision made by the City Council.

Defending his plans, Greenbaum tells the committee that a new building in Manhattan is beneficial to the continually changing New York City skyline. Furthermore, 15 Penn Plaza will create 7,000 new jobs and improve transportation facilities. In his proposal, Greenbaum opts to widen the rail platforms at Penn Station and reopen an underground passage that will connect nearby subway lines and PATH commuter trains to New Jersey.

Malkin, who also owns shares in Vornado, offers some alternatives. To avoid drastically altering New York’s skyline, he proposes that the council’s subcommittee members only agree to two-thirds of the initial plan: an 825-feet (250 meters) building. He also suggests that the top of 15 Penn Plaza be streamlined so as not to block out the view from Empire State Building’s western side.

Tourists are still disappointed, though. As Malkin said, the Empire State Building is the most favorite building in the U.S., even more than the White House. It has been scaled by King Kong in the original 1933 movie and the subsequent remakes.