Brooklyn, the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, is home to 84 high-rise buildings that stand taller than 300 feet (91 m), 17 of which are skyscrapers taller than 492 ft (150 m) as of 2026. Brooklyn has the second most skyscrapers of the five boroughs of New York City, after Manhattan. Brooklyn's skyline has undergone significant transformation in the 21st century, especially since the 2010s; all fifteen of Brooklyn's tallest buildings were built after 2009. The Brooklyn Tower, a condominium and rental tower in Downtown Brooklyn, has been the borough's tallest building at following its topping out in October 2021. The building was later completed in 2023. The Brooklyn Tower is the borough's sole supertall skyscraper and the tallest building in New York City outside of Manhattan.

The development of high-rise buildings in Brooklyn began during the late 19th century with the 1891 construction of Brooklyn's first high-rise, the 10-story Franklin Trust Company Building. The Zoning Resolution of 1916 influenced the construction of taller, more slender buildings in Brooklyn, as it did in neighboring Manhattan. The 1920s brought about a building boom centered on Court and Montague Streets, with notable office skyscrapers such as 75 Livingston Street, the Chamber of Commerce Building, and the Montague–Court Building. The Great Depression brought an end to Brooklyn's skyscraper boom. The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, one of the last skyscrapers to be built during the boom, was completed in 1929 at a height of 512 ft (156 m), and would remain the tallest building in Brooklyn for 80 years. In the mid-20th century, several high-rise residential projects were built near Downtown Brooklyn, including as Farragut Houses, Concord Village, and the Atlantic Terminal Houses.

Downtown Brooklyn saw large-scale development in the 1980s and 1990s with the MetroTech Center (now Brooklyn Commons), a complex of several office towers. In 2004, parts of Downtown Brooklyn were rezoned to allow for denser residential development. This has led to a major skyscraper boom in Brooklyn, which intensified during the 2010s. In 2010, The Brooklyner, with a height of 531 ft (162 m), surpassed the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower to be the borough's tallest building. The record was soon superseded four more times, first by 388 Bridge Street in 2014, AVA DoBro in 2015, Brooklyn Point in 2019, and finally by the Brooklyn Tower in 2023. The skyscraper boom in downtown has also spread eastwards to Fort Greene.

In addition to Downtown Brooklyn, significant skyscraper development has occurred in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, along the East River waterfront. 175 blocks in the two neighborhoods were rezoned in 2005.Greenpoint/Williamsburg Rezoning Overview . New York City Department of City Planning. The redevelopment of the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg enabled the construction of One South First in 2019, followed by the two-tower One Domino Square in 2024. The 22-acre Greenpoint Landing development, transforming an industrial waterfront into a mixed-income community, is planned to have over ten high-rises. Following a 2021 rezoning and the cleaning of the Gowanus Canal, the neighborhood of Gowanus is also undergoing a residential high-rise boom.

History

The construction of high-rise buildings in Brooklyn began during the late 19th century, following the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 and the building of elevated railroads and streetcar lines during the late 1880s. Increased accessibility to Downtown Brooklyn brought greater economic growth and propagated denser commercial development, which increased the heights of downtown buildings throughout the 1890s. This led to the 1891 construction of Brooklyn's first skyscraper, the 10-story Franklin Trust Company Building. By 1901, the 13-story Temple Bar Building was completed and was the borough's first steel-beam high-rise, its largest office building, and its tallest at . In the early 20th-century, the opening of multiple New York City Subway lines in Downtown Brooklyn spurred further development of tall commercial buildings. The Zoning Resolution of 1916, which required buildings to incorporate setbacks from the street to allow for sunlight, influenced the construction of taller, more slender buildings.

In 1918, the 22-story and building at 32 Court Street was completed and regarded as Brooklyn's first "true skyscraper", and thus initiated a skyscraper building boom in Brooklyn centered on Court and Montague Streets. Brooklyn's high-rise development continued unabated into the 1920s. The Court and Remsen Building, built in 1926 at in height, was the first of the major high-rises to be built in Brooklyn during the 1920s and briefly held the title of Brooklyn's tallest building until 1927, when the Montague–Court Building was completed and became Brooklyn's tallest building at . Brooklyn's skyscraper building boom ceased during the Great Depression, and the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower in Fort Greene, which was completed in 1929, remained Brooklyn's tallest building until 2009.

In 2004, several portions of Downtown Brooklyn were rezoned to promote more commercial, residential, and retail development. This rezoning allowed for greater density of development, and combined with an increased demand for housing, these areas experienced a boom in the construction of tall buildings. In addition to Downtown Brooklyn, high-rise buildings are also concentrated in the Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene, and Williamsburg neighborhoods, although other Brooklyn neighborhoods have significant numbers of high-rises. In 2019, One South First, situated on the Domino Park waterfront, became Williamsburg's tallest tower at 435 feet. The Brooklyn Tower which rises to a height of 1,066 feet in Downtown Brooklyn, became the tallest building in the New York City area outside of Manhattan, and the tallest building on Long Island.

Map of tallest buildings The map below displays the location of buildings taller than 300 ft (91 m) in Downtown Brooklyn. Buildings outside the scope of the map, such as those in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, are marked with an asterisk. Each marker is numbered by the building's height rank, and coloured by the decade of its completion.

Cityscape

Tallest buildings

This list ranks completed buildings in Brooklyn that stand at least 300 ft (91 m) tall as of 2026, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. The “Year” column indicates the year of completion. Buildings tied in height are sorted by year of completion with earlier buildings ranked first, and then alphabetically.