Can you imagine looking down from the top of that? (Courtesy of Sky Scraper City)

The big question for real estate at the turn of the decade: How many times does your ears pop on the elevator ride up to your apartment?

As of right now, New York by Frank Gehry is the tallest residential building in New York. That might change early next year when (or if) 70 Pine is fully converted, but even if that doesn't happen, One57 will gladly take the lead in the fall of 2013.

The lot on the corner of 57th Street  and Park Avenue has been speculated to be the new home of the toothpick tower and recent document filings have confirmed the plan for the mammouth residential building, the Real Deal discovered:

CIM Group and New York developer Harry Macklowe are making strides towards building the tallest residential building in New York City at the Drake Hotel site at 440 Park Avenue. They filed a plan examination request for the building, one of the first steps towards getting a development off the ground, with the Department of Buildings, according to a DOB filing dated March 26.

The filings noted the building height as 1,397 feet tall. Putting that in perspective, One57 will only be 1,004 feet tall. Jean Nouvel's tower for MoMA is taller, but not by much: 1,050 feet, after being knocked down from 1,250 feet by the City Planning Commission. And, depending on how one measures, taller than the Empire State Building (also 1,250) if one ignores the spire (1,453 feet).

And so 432 Park (so dubbed by Mr. Macklowe) might be the new tallest building in the western hemisphere, but the Burj Khalifa still stands in at nearly double the height with residential properties at 2,716.5 feet. Though who would want to live in Dubai these days.

mewing@observer.com