Vornado Realty Trust is hoping to build an office tower on 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue that would stand 1,090 feet tall.
The 67-story tower would rise only 34 feet less than the Empire State Building.
Critics and the owners of the Empire State Building say the new tower would both disrupt the skyline and prevent many residents on the West Side from seeing the landmark.
Anthony Malkin took out a full-page ad in The New York Times Monday asking the City Council to reject or amend the current proposal for 15 Penn Plaza.
The full City Council is scheduled to vote on the project on Wednesday.
Malkin told a council zoning committee Monday that his building is the "No. 1 favorite building in the U.S."
David Greenbaum is president of the company planning to erect the competitor. He told the committee that 15 Penn Plaza would provide critically needed office space in midtown Manhattan.
