One World Trade Center in Manhattan was named America's tallest building, the Associated Press reported.

The official designation ended a 40-year reign by Chicago's 110-storey Willis Tower as tallest U.S. skyscraper. It also makes the New York City skyscraper the third-tallest building in the world.

The Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat said Tuesday that the 408-foot needle atop the New York City skyscraper can be counted when measuring the structure's height because it is a permanent spire and not an antenna.

Under the council's current criteria, spires that are an integral part of a building's aesthetic design count. Broadcast antennas that can be added and removed do not.

With the needle, 1 World Trade Center is a symbolically important 1,776 feet tall. Without it, the building would have been only 1,368 feet tall - well short of the 1,451-foot Willis Tower.

The needle was more than enough to confirm Chicago is the Second City when it comes to tall buildings.

However, without the needle the building's height holds symbolism, it's the height of the original World Trade Center which was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks.

For New York, more than just the bragging rights were at stake, the 1 World Trade Center "stands as a monument to those killed in the 9/11 attacks, and its architects had sought to capture the echo of America's founding year in the structure's height," the AP reported.

"The committee was well aware of the gravity of the situation," Antony Wood, the council's executive director, said during a news conference in Chicago.

The new World Trade Center tower remains under construction and is expected to open next year. The Height Committee, which is comprised of 30 industry professionals from all over the world and is widely recognized as the final arbiter of official building heights around the world.

Daniel Safarik, an architect and spokesman for the nonprofit council, told the AP they might consider amending its height criteria.

However, according to the AP, such a move would have much broader implications that could force a reshuffle in the rankings of the tallest buildings in the world.