Visit to the Empire State Building - The Heart & Soul of New York City!

In a crazy dash to erect the world’s largest skyscraper, New York’s economy boomed in the late 1920’a at an alarming rate. Competing with 40 Wall Street’s Bank of Manhattan and Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building really had a race for its money!  

Located in Midtown South of Manhattan, on the west side of Fifth Avenue between West 33^rd and 34^th Street sits the grand Empire State Building. This building was so exquisitely designed, the building has its own ZIP Code – 10118 and the design for this building was changed 15 times until it was finalised! 

 

At one time, the Empire State Building was once the tallest in the world, but is now the 6^th tallest in the United States and the 43^rd tallest tower in the world. The new One World Trade Center surpassed the Empire State Building at 1,776 feet becoming the seventh tallest building in the world. The building opened on May 1, 1931. 

The design of the building is typical of pre-World War II architecture and contains a total of 6,514 windows! The building has two main entrances on 33^rd and 34^th streets and stands at a height of 1,454 feet (including its antenna). The building was initially considered a financial flop as the construction of the building got off to a rocky start owing to the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression. 

 

At one point only 23% of the building was rented and occupied. As a result, it earned the nickname the ‘Empty State Building’! The earliest tenants of this building were large companies, banks and garment industries. At the time the building opened there were as few as 20 tenants (as recalled by one of the longest residential tenants – Jack Brod)

 

At one time workers were even told to keep the lights on to create the illusion that it was occupied. It wasn’t until World War II that the building finally become profitable!  

Having a total of 73 elevators serving its 102 floors, this building also has the longest elevator reaching from the lobby to the 80^th floor! There are office elevators, observatory elevators, service elevators and freight elevators. These elevators were engineered and installed by the reputable manufacturer and maintainer of elevators – Otis. These elevators are designed to move at 1,200 feet per second and were the fastest and most advanced of their day! 

The building has a one-of-a-kind glass elevator which can be accessed from the 86th-floor observation deck! There is even one floor above the official top floor – the 103^rd floor which is also accessible to the public. This floor has a balcony and is protected by a short ledge and knee-high railing.

 

 On the 12^th of June, 2023 I was able to visit The Empire State Building and view it from a different angle. 

 

Having 102 floors, this building is an icon of the city. It is also an international cultural icon! An example of a wonder of the world, this building is even taller than the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramid of Giza! Also known as one of the seven wonders of engineering, this building is also called the eighth wonder of the world.

 

With three observation decks – one on the 80^th floor, 86^th and 102^nd floor, this building will surely give you a view of the entire city! The observatories in this building have been more popular than similar observatories at 30 Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler Building, the first One World Trade Center and even the Woolworth Building – although those were more expensive! These observatories are open till 2 AM every night! 

On the 2^nd floor, there is a motion simulator attraction. While the original cinematic presentation last for approximately 25 minutes, the stimulation is for eight minutes. This floor is known for its reimagined observatory experience which tells the story of the building’s construction to date  

 

There are nine galleries featuring a panoramic image of the original site as construction started on the Empire State Building. Here there are pictures and exhibits of how the city looked like in the ’20s and see how things gradually come to colour. 

 

They will then be transported to another room where it shows how the building was constructed; there are many architectural and construction achievements shown in the third and fourth rooms and then the fifth room is all about the modern Empire State Building. 

 

The sixth room is known as Urban Campus where you can catch a glimpse of what it looks like in the Empire State Building without tenant spaces, amenities, etc. The seventh exhibit features an original score composed for this experience and finally, the eight-room -King Kong has an interactive figure of King Kong (as depicted in the movies) People can even pose in the ape’s hands and click pictures. Finally, the ninth room is a commemorative room where celebrities have made the Empire State Building feel like home! They are              

 

These galleries are well identified as  ‘The Site in the 1920s’, ‘The Modern Marvel’, ‘Urban Campus’, ‘King Kong’ and ‘World’s Most Famous Building’. The last one I find is very interesting as more than 70 screens highlight the role of the building in pop culture since the 1930s – inclusive of movies, TV, cartoons, comic books and video games!  

 

The 80th-floor observatory includes different exhibits and a mural of the skyline that was drawn by a British artist, Stephen Wiltshire.

 

 The 86th-floor observatory contains both an enclosed viewing gallery as well as an open-air outdoor viewing area; permitting this observatory to remain open 365 days a year, regardless of the weather.

What is really considered legendary are the five lines to enter the observation decks: the sidewalk line, the lobby elevator line, the ticket purchase line, the second elevator line and the line to get off the elevator and onto the observation deck. 

 

On the other hand, the 102-floor observatory is completely enclosed and relatively smaller in size.     

Having been featured in over 250 television series and films, the Empire State Building has actually been remodelled after two earlier Art-Deco buildings – Winston-Salem, North Carolina’s Reynold’s Building and Carew Tower in Cincinnati. These buildings are known as the Empire State’s architectural ancestors. What is really interesting is that this building was completed in 1 year and 45 days – a record time that is even unheard of in today’s construction climate. A total of 3,400 men worked each day, just assembling its skeleton in four and a half stories per week.

Of all the movies that have been filmed at The Empire State Building, none has been as famous as King Kong – 1933!  

 

It was truly a fun and exciting experience to visit The Empire State Building!