The 700 foot high Metlife tower was the tallest building in the world when it was built in 1909. Modeled on the campanile on St. Mark’s Square in Venice, the tower would hold that title for only four years, yet it still remains a landmark alongside of New York’s Madison Square Park. I catch its crumpling, twisted reflection in the rippling waters of the square’s fountain, creating a surreal vision of a historic building. It seems to be shrinking before our eyes –an apt metaphor for a building that once was the tallest of them all but currently ranks as the 15th highest building in New York City.