The Empire State Building is the tallest skyscraper in New York since the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. With a height of 381 meters and 448.7 meters, if we count the antenna, the Empire State Building dominates the island of Manhattan with its 102 floors.
The construction of the Empire State Building took place during the mad race between architects and promoters in the early 1930s to claim the title of the tallest skyscraper in the world. The Empire State Building was commissioned by architect William Lamb. The specifications were strict, the work had to be completed on May 1, 1931, a year and a half after the commencement of the project.
It was John J. Raskob, the founder of the General Motors brand, who financed the construction, which began on March 17, 1930. The construction, which employed up to 3,400 workers, progressed at the rate of more than 4 floors per week. With no day off, work continuing on Sundays and holidays, the Empire State Building was inaugurated on schedule, May 1, 1931, after 410 days of work.
Less than a year after the construction of the Chrysler Building by William Van Alen, the Empire State Building won the title of the tallest skyscraper in the world; a title which it would lose only much later with the construction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1973.
In 1952 the antenna was installed at the top of the Empire State Building, raising the building to 448.7 meters in height.
During the first years, half of the offices of the building remained empty. The United States was barely recovering from the crash of the New York Stock Exchange in 1929 and the skyscraper was nicknamed by Americans the Empty State Building. Faced with the substantial losses caused by the maintenance of the building, the owner, John J. Raskob, decided to sell it in 1951 to Roger I. Stevens who parted with it 3 years later, in 1954, by selling it to Col. Henry J. Crown.
In 2000, following a long legal battle between different businessmen, Donald Trump become the owner of the building. But after the 9/11 attack in 2001, the building was bought for more than 57 million dollars by Peter Malkin on March 19, 2002.
The Building Specs
To achieve this colossal work no less than 60,000 tons of steel were used to build the frame, more than 10 million bricks, and 200,000 tons of stone for masonry. Inside the Empire State Building, an Art-Deco style building, noble materials have been used such as pink marble and white sandstones.
The building has 6,500 windows, and 5 entrances on Fifth Avenue, 33rd, and 34th Street. The skyscraper also has 73 fast elevators,
In case you want to reach the 102nd floor by stairs, you will have to climb 1860 steps. For your information, the men’s record is held by the Australian Paul Crake who was able to climb the 1576 steps to reach the 86th floor in 9 minutes and 33 seconds in 2003, while the women’s record goes to the Austrian Andrea Mayr, who achieved the same ascent in 11 minutes & 23 seconds in 2006
The Lighting and Events
One of Manhattan’s finest night-time spectacles is undoubtedly the lighting of the Empire State Building’s spire. The colors of the lights that brighten the top of the famous building have a very specific meaning; blue, white, red on the 4th of July to celebrate the national holiday; green and red when the Christmas holidays are approaching; Orange, blue and white when the New York Knicks basketball players play an NBA game; yellow during the matches of the US Tennis Open, red, black and green to remember Martin Luther King; green on St. Patrick’s Day … and much more.
During your visit to New York, don’t forget to climb to the top of the Empire State Building for a spectacular view. The building offers an exceptional view of New York City and its surroundings, thanks to the two observatories on the 86th and 102nd floors.
From the 86th-floor observatory, open all year round, you will have a 360° view of the city. Like the 110 million tourists who have visited it since it opened in 1931, you can observe the immense green expanse of Central Park in the middle of Manhattan, other famous skyscrapers such as the Chrysler Building, the Flatiron, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty to the south.
From the top of the Empire State Building, you can’t help thinking of King Kong who, in 1933, had climbed the Empire State Building to the top, holding in one of his hands the beautiful Ann (Fay Wray) with whom he had fallen in love.
Following in the footsteps of King Kong, the Frenchman Alain Robert scaled the 381 meters of the Empire State Building with his bare hands and without safety equipment. The Empire State Building has featured in more than 10 other movies since King Kong.
