An artist's rendering of the proposed tower to go up next to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. An artist's rendering of the proposed tower to go up next to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. (Atelier Jean Nouvel/Associated Press)

New York's city council has approved a proposal for a new tower next to the Museum of Modern Art that will rival the nearby Chrysler Building in height.

The controversial 82-storey tower had been opposed by local residents' groups in midtown Manhattan, who say it is too tall.

Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, it will combine exhibition space for MOMA with 100 hotels rooms and 150 apartments.

MOMA, one of the world's most prominent modern art museums, sold the land to the Hines Real Estate Co. which is behind the project.

It will lease about 40,000 square feet of gallery space in the new building, increasing its exhibition space by 30 per cent.

Nouvel, a Pritzker Prize winner, has designed a 305-metre tower with a structural steel exterior that tapers upwards to a series of crystalline peaks. The art deco Chrysler Building, completed in 1930, is 319 metres.

With files from The Associated Press