Toronto may be North America's high-rise leader, with 150-plus active cranes, but it won't catch New York in completed towers while any of us are alive (even if you're a toddler with the genes of Methuselah). A new list from German building data researcher Emporis shows that while Toronto has long-since surpassed Chicago for the No. 2 spot in completed and under-construction high-rises, the 1,897 total is absolutely dwarfed by New York's 6,009. Most surprising might be that four Canadian cities made the top 10 and that none of them are Calgary... yet. Vancouver is No. 4 with 648, Montreal is No. 6 with 477, and Ottawa is No. 10 with 357. Emporis considers high-rise to be any building taller than 35m (that's 115 feet for old-timers).

A hundred years ago today, Royal Bank's plans for a 20-storey "sky-scraper" topped the front pages. Completed in 1915, Dundee's 2 King East still graces the corner well, complete with a ground-floor Sleep Country outlet. stephen.wickens@bisnow.com