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In New York City, real estate fights between neighborhoods and developers over new projects typically take place long before any ground is broken.

But the latest battle involves a 30-story condo tower in Manhattan that is nearly finished.

It turns out that the building is larger and taller — by as many as five floors — than the city’s zoning codes allow . That is what an elected official is claiming, raising the specter that the building might have to shave off some of its height, an extremely rare penalty.

The building, on the Upper East Side, is part of an onslaught of new high rises being erected in the area as developers push into untouched corners of New York City, prompting fierce resistance from residents who believe their neighborhoods are being overwhelmed by soaring glass towers.

The higher that buildings can stretch into the sky, the more money that developers can command for sweeping views.