
All the talk lately about skyscrapers reminded me of a site I bumped into a while back (September, 2001 if I remember correctly.) The Empire State Building has a pair of Tower Cams (free registration required) that you can control to get a live view of various sights around New York City. Now there are two ways of getting a view from the top; the ESB Tower Cam or the new TowerVision, which apparently offers streamed video (which I wasn’t able to try because they have no Mac client. Yet.)
I first discovered this site a week or two after 9/11; while you couldn’t see Ground Zero, you could certainly see the smoke coming from it. For weeks and weeks after.
There is a handy view selector that lets you pick specific sights. One of my favorites is the Chrysler Building, shown above all in lights. The cams appear to be situated a story or two above the observation decks, and can be aimed at the decks for sometimes interesting shots of tourists.
I'm sure Deane will appreciate this site. TONS of cool images, like this one of Taipei 101. As usual, there's something for everyone on the internet: there's a meetup locator for skyscraper enthusiasts.