This new Midtown skyscraper will let thrill-seeking New Yorkers free-fall 300 feet
In 2026, adrenaline junkies will get to experience the city from a heart-stopping new perspective: Plummeting 300 feet in transparent tubes. That's courtesy of the 52-story, 1,067-foot-tall skyscraper called The Torch, at 740 Eighth Avenue, which just resumed construction a year after halting. Forget fancy observation decks or high-end, high-rise restaurants. The Torch wants to offer both panoramic views and the kind of free fall that usually ends with you jerking awake.
A combination of observation deck and theme park ride, the attraction will be housed inside a spire lit to resemble a literal torch, taking riders to the top before dropping them straight down at speeds approaching 60 mph. The experience will reportedly also include enveloping lighting and sound effects; in case you Need a side of immersive theater with your terror.
But even those who don't want to look down as the streets of NYC hurtle ever closer can enjoy the top of The Torch. There will also be a more traditional observation deck and a glass-bottomed elevator that promises to take visitors up all 1,000 or so feet in under 60 seconds.
The project was designed by studios ODA and SLCE, with the plans revealed in a Rizzoli book on ODA published in 2024. Developer Extell, responsible for One57 on the so-called Billionaire's Row, is also behind this one.
The rest of The Torch will include 825 hotel rooms, retail spaces, and a rooftop restaurant. Construction on the project is already underway, with some estimates pegging the building's opening sometime in 2026. When it's complete, The Torch will dominate the Theatre District's skyline, offering up a level of drama that will rival anything that happens on a Broadway stage. Let's just hope the wind carries the screams over the river and into New Jersey.
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