By Edith Honan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A soaring new office building planned for midtown Manhattan won the approval of the New York City Council on Wednesday, despite objections from the Empire State Building that it will diminish the iconic skyline.

Vornado Realty Trust's proposed 67-story building, known as 15 Penn Plaza, would be built two blocks away and stand nearly as tall as the landmark that has stood largely unobstructed in midtown Manhattan since it was built in 1931.

A Vornado spokesman said the building will be "an outstanding addition to New York's skyline."

The proposed building does not yet have an anchor tenant, and any ground breaking could be delayed until one is found.

Empire State Building co-owner Malkin Holdings said it respected the decision of the council.

"As the current stewards of the Empire State Building, the most iconic image on the skyline of New York, we thought that 15 Penn Plaza was too close to the Empire State Building for its height and design," said company president Anthony Malkin.

The Council approved the construction by a vote of 47-1.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg dismissed the Empire State Building's objections.

"Anybody that builds a building in New York City changes its skyline. We don't have to run around to every other owner and apologize," Bloomberg told a news conference on Tuesday.

"One guy owns a building and he'd like to have it be the only tall building. I'm sorry, that's not the real world," Bloomberg said.

The Empire State Building was forever etched in pop culture by the 1933 film "King Kong" in which a giant gorilla climbs to the top of the building, and has dominated Manhattan's skyline since its construction when.

It was the city's tallest building until the construction of the World Trade Center in 1970. After the twin towers were destroyed in the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Empire State Building again held the title of New York's tallest building, but One World Trade Center will be the tallest when completed.

The tower's height was determined by the needs of potential tenants, such as financial services firms that need large, uninterrupted floors to accommodate trading activities, as well as the additional space needs for "green" office design, Greenbaum told the New York City Council zoning committee.

Vornado also said the construction would bring transit improvements including a concourse linking Penn Station to subways and commuter trains, new subway entrances and an expanded subway platform.

Penn Plaza would be 1,190 feet tall, putting it just shy of the Empire State Building's main structure of 1,250 feet. The 102-story skyscraper has a 204-foot (62-meter) antenna that puts its peak at 1,454 feet.

(Additional reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Gary Hill)