NEW YORK (REUTERS) - A new skyscraper in New York's midtown Manhattan that towers 150 feet above the Empire State Building transports visitors in glass elevators up the sides of the building to an observation deck high above the city.

The 1,401-foot (427-m)-tall skyscraper, dubbed One Vanderbilt, is a US$3.3 billion (S$4.38 billion) development adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.

It is the fourth-tallest in New York City, after One World Trade at 1,776 feet, Central Park Tower at 1,550 feet, and 111 West 57th Street at 1,428 feet. Its observation deck, Summit One Vanderbilt, is a four-level, 65,000-square-foot space atop the skyscraper.

The Empire State Building, built in the 1930s, is 1,250 feet tall.

"Visitors will have the opportunity to take those glass elevators that were fabricated in Italy by a gondola maker... to a height of over 1,200 feet for vistas of New York City that are really unparalleled," said Marc Holliday, chairman and chief executive officer of SL Green Realty Corp.

"When you sit up here and you look out at this vista, there's no better shot of downtown, the Empire State Building...it's just very exhilarating."

The observation deck will open to the public on Oct 21.