The 80th, 86th, and 102nd floors contain observatories. The latter two observatories saw a combined average of 4 million visitors per year in 2010. Since opening, the observatories have been more popular than similar observatories at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the Chrysler Building, the first One World Trade Center, or the Woolworth Building, despite being more expensive. There are variable charges to enter the observatories; one ticket allows visitors to go as high as the 86th floor, and there is an additional charge to visit the 102nd floor. Other ticket options for visitors include scheduled access to view the sunrise from the observatory, a "premium" guided tour with VIP access, and the "AM/PM" package which allows for two visits in the same day.
Observation decks
Empire State Building
Empire State Building | Observation decks
3 floors. Three floors - the 80th, 86th, and 102nd floors contain observatories. 102 Three, the 80th, 86th, and 102nd floors
how many floors is the empire state building observation deck
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Located on the 42nd floor of the 44-story Erastus Corning Tower, the observation deck is free and open to the public on weekdays. However, it does not feature a 360-degree view because it has no windows on the west side. The tower is the tallest building in New York State outside of New York City.
Empire State Plaza | Corning Tower observation deck
The 80th, 86th, and 102nd floors contain observatories. The latter two observatories saw a combined average of 4 million visitors per year in 2010. Since opening, the observatories have been more popular than similar observatories at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the Chrysler Building, the first One World Trade Center, or the Woolworth Building, despite being more expensive. There are variable charges to enter the observatories; one ticket allows visitors to go as high as the 86th floor, and there is an additional charge to visit the 102nd floor. Other ticket options for visitors include scheduled access to view the sunrise from the observatory, a "premium" guided tour with VIP access, and the "AM/PM" package which allows for two visits in the same day.
Empire State Building | Observation decks
The height of the Empire State Building, to its 102nd floor, is , including its pinnacle. The building has 85 stories of commercial and office space representing a total of of rentable space. It has an indoor and outdoor observation deck on the 86th floor, the highest floor within the actual tower. The remaining 16 stories are part of the Art Deco spire, which is capped by an observatory on the 102nd floor. The spire is hollow with no floors between levels 86 and 102. Atop the tower is the pinnacle, much of which is covered by broadcast antennas, and surmounted with a lightning rod.
Empire State Building | Architecture
According to a 2010 report by Concierge.com, the five lines to enter the observation decks are "as legendary as the building itself". Concierge.com stated that there are five lines: 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. However, in 2016, New York City's official tourism website, NYCgo.com, made note of only three lines: the security check line, the ticket purchase line, and the second elevator line. Following renovations completed in 2019, designed to streamline queuing and reduce wait times, guests enter from a single entrance on 34th Street, where they make their way through exhibits on their way up to the observatories.
Empire State Building | Observation decks
Guests were offered a variety of ticket packages, including a package that enables them to skip the lines throughout the duration of their stay. The Empire State Building garners significant revenue from ticket sales for its observation decks, making more money from ticket sales than it does from renting office space during some years.
Empire State Building | Observation decks
When the Empire State Building opened in 1931 with two observatories at a higher elevation, the Chrysler observatory lost its clientele. After the observatory closed, it was used to house radio and television broadcasting equipment. Since 1986, the old observatory has housed the office of architects Harvey Morse and Cowperwood Interests. , a new observation deck has been proposed for the 61st floor of the building. The new deck will take advantage of that floor's setbacks to create an outdoor space.
Chrysler Building | Observation deck
The 86th floor observatory contains both an enclosed viewing gallery and an open-air outdoor viewing gallery, allowing for it to remain open 365 days a year regardless of the weather. The 102nd floor observatory is completely enclosed and much smaller in size. The 102nd floor observatory was closed to the public from the late 1990s to 2005 due to limited viewing capacity and long lines. The observation decks were redesigned in mid-1979. The 102nd floor was again redesigned in a project that was completed in 2019. An observatory on the 80th floor, opened in 2019, includes various exhibits as well as a mural of the skyline drawn by British artist Stephen Wiltshire.
Empire State Building | Observation decks
In December 1975, the observation deck was opened on the 110th floor of the Twin Towers, significantly higher than the 86th floor observatory on the Empire State Building. The latter was also losing revenue during this period, particularly as a number of broadcast stations had moved to the World Trade Center in 1971; although the Port Authority continued to pay the broadcasting leases for the Empire State until 1984.
Empire State Building | Loss of "tallest building" title
The observation deck atop the skyscraper, dubbed "Top of the Rock", is built to resemble the deck of an ocean liner. It offers sightseers a bird's eye view of the city, competing with the 86th-floor observatory of the Empire State Building 200 feet (61 m) higher. It is often considered the best panoramic city view, mainly because it offers a far-away view of the Empire State Building. The timed entry system and larger observation deck also results in shorter waiting times compared to the Empire State. The frameless safety glass around the perimeter of the deck dates to 2005, when the facility reopened to the public.
30 Rockefeller Plaza | Observation deck
This was built as a disembarkation floor for airships tethered to the building's spire, and has a circular balcony outside. It is now an access point to reach the spire for maintenance. The room now contains electrical equipment, but celebrities and dignitaries may also be given permission to take pictures there. Above the 103rd floor, there is a set of stairs and a ladder to reach the spire for maintenance work. The mast's 480 windows were all replaced in 2015.
Empire State Building | Above the 102nd floor
The Empire State Building was the first building to have more than 100 floors. It has 6,514 windows; 73 elevators; a total floor area of ; and a base covering . Its original 64 elevators, built by the Otis Elevator Company, are located in a central core and are of varying heights, with the longest of these elevators reaching from the lobby to the 80th floor. As originally built, there were four "express" elevators that connected the lobby, 80th floor, and several landings in between; the other 60 "local" elevators connected the landings with the floors above these intermediate landings.
Empire State Building | Interior
The final stage of the building was the installation of a hollow mast, a steel shaft fitted with elevators and utilities, above the 86th floor. At the top would be a conical roof and the 102nd-floor docking station. The elevators would ascend from the 86th floor ticket offices to a 101st-floor waiting room. From there, stairs would lead to the 102nd floor, where passengers would enter the airships. The airships would have been moored to the spire at the equivalent of the building's 106th floor. On the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building (formerly the 101st floor), there is a door with stairs ascending to the 103rd floor (formerly the 102nd).
Empire State Building | Above the 102nd floor
According to the official fact sheets the building rises 1,860 steps from the first to the 102nd floor, weighs , has an internal volume of , and an exterior with of limestone and granite. Construction of the tower's exterior required ten million bricks and of aluminum and stainless steel, and the interior required of elevator cable and of electrical wires. The building has a capacity for 20,000 tenants and 15,000 visitors. The building has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The building and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and confirmed by the New York City Board of Estimate.
Empire State Building | Architecture
The Empire State Building has 73 elevators in all, including service elevators. Utilities are grouped in a central shaft. On each floor between levels 6 and 86, the central shaft is surrounded by a main corridor on all four sides. As per the final specifications of the building, the corridor is surrounded in turn by office space deep. Each of the floors has 210 structural columns that pass through it, which provide structural stability, but limits the amount of open space on these floors. However, the relative dearth of stone in the building allows for more space overall, with a 1:200 stone-to-building ratio in the Empire State compared to a 1:50 ratio in similar buildings.
Empire State Building | Interior
The buildings are set around a row of three reflecting pools. On the west side are the four 23-story, Agency towers. On the east side is the Egg (Meeting Center) and the 44-floor () Erastus Corning Tower, which has an observation deck on the 42nd floor. On the south end is the Cultural Education Center, set on a higher platform; and on the north end is the New York State Capitol. While the Capitol predates the plaza, it is connected to the Concourse by an escalator which allows underground access to the rest of the plaza, most notably (to the New York State Legislature, at least), the Legislative Office Building.
Empire State Plaza | Layout
Attractions added to the observation deck included a theater showing a film of a helicopter tour around the city. The 107th-floor food court was designed with a subway car theme and featured Sbarro and Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs. Weather permitting, visitors could ride two short escalators up from the 107th-floor viewing area to an outdoor platform at a height of . On a clear day, visitors could see up to . An anti-suicide fence was placed on the roof itself, with the viewing platform set back and elevated above it, requiring only an ordinary railing. This left the view unobstructed, unlike the observation deck of the Empire State Building.
World Trade Center (1973–2001) | Top of the World observation deck
On November 18, 1929, Smith acquired a lot at 27–31 West 33rd Street, adding to the width of the proposed office building's site. Two days later, Smith announced the updated plans for the skyscraper. The plans included an observation deck on the 86th-floor roof at a height of , higher than the Chrysler's 71st-floor observation deck. The 1,050-foot Empire State Building would only be taller than the Chrysler Building, and Raskob was afraid that Chrysler might try to "pull a trick like hiding a rod in the spire and then sticking it up at the last minute." The plans were revised one last time in December 1929, to include a 16-story, metal "crown" and an additional mooring mast intended for dirigibles.
Empire State Building | Design changes
There is a cornice above the 16th floor. The capital is four stories tall with loggias and a metal cornice above the 20th floor. The loggias, located on the 18th and 19th floors, are composed of Corinthian paired columns that form a colonnade. There are also ornamental panels. The 21st story was added in 1928–1930. Atop the south side of the 21st floor is a small terracotta tower that holds the machine rooms for the elevators.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Other stories
Despite favorable publicity related to the building's construction, because of the Great Depression and World War II, its owners did not make a profit until the early 1950s. The building's Art Deco architecture, height, and observation decks have made it a popular attraction. Around 4 million tourists from around the world annually visit the building's 86th and 102nd floor observatories; an additional indoor observatory on the 80th floor opened in 2019. The Empire State Building is an American cultural icon: it has been featured in more than 250 TV shows and movies since the film "King Kong" was released in 1933.
Empire State Building | Introduction
A December 1930 feature in "Popular Mechanics" estimated that a building with the Empire State's dimensions would still stand even if hit with an impact of . The Empire State Building design has a recessed design, including one major setback and several smaller ones that reduce the level dimensions as the height increases, thus making upper 81 floors much smaller than the lower five floors. However, this design allows sunlight to illuminate the interiors of the top floors and, in addition, positions these floors away from the noisy streets below. This design was mandated as per the 1916 Zoning Resolution, which was intended to allow sunlight to reach the streets as well.
Empire State Building | Exterior
Aggressive marketing efforts served to reinforce the Empire State Building's status as the world's tallest. The observatory was advertised in local newspapers as well as on railroad tickets. The building became a popular tourist attraction, with one million people each paying one dollar to ride elevators to the observation decks in 1931. In its first year of operation, the observation deck made approximately $2 million in revenue, as much as its owners made in rent that year. By 1936, the observation deck was crowded on a daily basis, with food and drink available for purchase at the top, and by 1944 the tower had received its 5 millionth visitor.
Empire State Building | Tenants and tourism
An observation deck is located on the Corning Tower's 42nd floor. It offers expansive views of Albany, the Hudson River, and the surrounding area. Panels below the windows give information about the visible landmarks. The observation deck, however, does not feature a 360-degree view because it has no windows on the west side. A nonstop elevator to the 42nd floor reaches a speed of 26 km/h (16 MPH). The deck is open to the public for free Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Visitors can access the observation deck via the plaza or concourse levels. Upon taking office in 2010, Governor Andrew Cuomo eliminated a photo ID requirement.
Erastus Corning Tower | Observation deck
The office floors begin at floor 20, and go up to floor 63. There is a sky lobby on floor 64; office floors resume on floor 65, and stop at floor 90. Floors 91–99 and 103–104 are mechanical floors. The tower has a three-story observation deck, located on floors 100–102, in addition to existing broadcast and antenna facilities. Similar to the Empire State Building, visitors to the observation deck and tenants have their own separate entrances; one entrance is on the West Street side of the building, and the other is from within the shopping mall, descending down to a below-ground security screening area.
One World Trade Center | Layout
The original plan of the building was 50 stories, but was later increased to 60 and then 80 stories. Height restrictions were placed on nearby buildings to ensure that the top fifty floors of the planned 80-story, building would have unobstructed views of the city. "The New York Times" lauded the site's proximity to mass transit, with the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit's 34th Street station and the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad's 33rd Street terminal one block away, as well as Penn Station two blocks away and the Grand Central Terminal nine blocks away at its closest. It also praised the of proposed floor space near "one of the busiest sections in the world".
Empire State Building | Design changes
The Empire State Building Run-Up, a foot race from ground level to the 86th-floor observation deck, has been held annually since 1978. Its participants are referred to both as runners and as climbers, and are often tower running enthusiasts. The race covers a vertical distance of and takes in 1,576 steps. The record time is 9 minutes and 33 seconds, achieved by Australian professional cyclist Paul Crake in 2003, at a climbing rate of per hour.
Empire State Building | Empire State Building Run-Up
The top three floors were originally slated to contain Doherty's private residence. The suite contained a gym and a squash court; in addition, Doherty's bed was designed on a motorized platform that could slide out onto the terrace. However, Doherty did not move into the space. In July 1932, the private suite opened to the public as an observation deck. The deck comprised an open-air platform with a enclosed glass solarium above it on the 66th floor. Until the 1973 construction of the World Trade Center, it was the highest observatory of any building in Lower Manhattan. The observatory charged 40 cents for admission in 1939, as opposed to the Empire State Building's observation deck, which cost $1.10 to enter.
70 Pine Street | Observatory
Normally, a building of the Empire State's dimensions would be permitted to build up to 12 stories on the Fifth Avenue side, and up to 17 stories on the 33rd/34th Streets side, before it would have to utilize setbacks. However, the setbacks were arranged such that the largest setback was on the sixth floor, above the five-floor "base", so the rest of the building above the sixth floor would have a facade of uniform shape.
Empire State Building | Exterior
On the observation deck, the actual viewing space is on the 100th floor, but there is a food court on the 101st floor and a space for events for the 102nd floor. To show visitors the city, and give them information and stories about New York, an interactive tool called City Pulse is used by Tour Ambassadors. The admission fee is $32 per person, but admission discounts are available for children and seniors, and the deck is free for 9/11 responders and families of 9/11 victims. When it opened, the deck was expected to have about 3.5 million visitors per year.
One World Trade Center | Layout
The Empire State Building's art deco design is typical of pre–World War II architecture in New York. The modernistic, stainless steel canopies of the entrances on 33rd and 34th Streets lead to two-story-high corridors around the elevator core, crossed by stainless steel and glass-enclosed bridges at the second-floor level. The riveted steel frame of the building was originally designed to handle all of the building's gravitational stresses and wind loads. The exterior of the building is clad in Indiana limestone panels sourced from the Empire Mill in Sanders, Indiana, which give the building its signature blonde color. The amount of material used in the building's construction resulted in a very stiff structure when compared to other skyscrapers, with a structural stiffness of versus the Willis Tower's and the John Hancock Center's .
Empire State Building | Exterior
The new lobby also features free Wi-Fi provided for those waiting. A exhibit with nine galleries, opened in July 2019. The 102nd floor observatory, the third phase of the redesign, re-opened to the public on October 12, 2019. That portion of the project included outfitting the space with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and a brand-new glass elevator. The final portion of the renovations to be completed was a new observatory on the 80th floor, which opened on December 2, 2019. In total, the renovation had cost $165 million and taken four years to finish.
Empire State Building | 2010s
On January 24, 2000, an elevator in the building suddenly descended 40 stories after a cable that controlled the cabin's maximum speed was severed. The elevator fell from the 44th floor to the fourth floor, where a narrowed elevator shaft provided a second safety system. Despite the 40-floor fall, both of the passengers in the cabin at the time were only slightly injured. Since that elevator had no fourth-floor doors, the passengers were rescued by an adjacent elevator. After the fall, building inspectors reviewed all of the building's elevators.
Empire State Building | 2000 elevator plunge
Of the 64 total elevators, 58 were for passenger use (comprising the four express elevators and 54 local elevators), and eight were for freight deliveries. The elevators were designed to move at . At the time of the skyscraper's construction, their practical speed was limited to as per city law, but this limit was removed shortly after the building opened. Additional elevators connect the 80th floor to the six floors above it, as the six extra floors were built after the original 80 stories were approved. The elevators were mechanically operated until 2011, when they were replaced with digital elevators during the $550 million renovation of the building.
Empire State Building | Interior
A year later, on July 24, 1946, another aircraft narrowly missed striking the building. The unidentified twin-engine plane scraped past the observation deck, scaring the tourists there.
Empire State Building | 1945 plane crash
Proshansky Auditorium on the concourse, the 180-seat Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall on the first floor, and the 70-seat Martin E. Segal Theatre on the first floor. The ground floor also houses the Amie and Tony James Gallery. An eighth-floor dining room contains ceilings of as well as a skylight from which the Empire State Building is visible. On the Madison Avenue side of the building, the NYPL occupied an eight-floor condominium spanning from the 1990s. The NYPL condominium was split up into four units in 2012. Prior to 2020, the NYPL's Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) occupied five floors in the building, with a research library in the basement, a lobby and circulating library at ground level, and offices on three upper levels.
B. Altman and Company Building | Current usage
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York. The building has a roof height of and stands a total of tall, including its antenna. The Empire State Building stood as the world's tallest building until the construction of the World Trade Center in 1970; following its collapse in 2001, the Empire State Building was again the city's tallest skyscraper until 2012. , the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, the ninth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, the 48th-tallest in the world, and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas.
Empire State Building | Introduction
The Empire State Building, a 102-story contemporary Art Deco style building in Midtown Manhattan, was designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon and finished in 1931. It was the world's tallest building for 42 years. The tower takes its name from the nickname of New York State. It was the first building to go beyond the 100-story mark, and has one of the world's most visited observation decks, which sees about 4 million visitors a year. The building was built in just 14 months. Completed in 1930, the Chrysler Building is a distinctive symbol of New York, standing high in East Midtown, Manhattan.
Architecture of New York City | Art Deco
After the World Trade Center was destroyed on September 11, 2001, it remained the tallest building in New York City for 13 years until the One World Trade Center was completed. Numerous people have mentioned its similarities in appearance to the phallus, with its "tall and glinting" towers.
Phallic architecture | Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper on Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets in Midtown, Manhattan, New York City. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet (381 m), and with its antenna included, it stands a total of tall. The Empire State Building stood as the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years, from its completion in early 1931 until the topping out of the original World Trade Center's North Tower in late 1970. It has been featured in numerous films, TV shows, songs, video games, books, photographs, and artwork.
Empire State Building in popular culture | Introduction
The shaft is twelve stories of a white rusticated granite. The lowest section of the shaft is the 5th floor, which is designed as a transition between the base and the upper floors. The rest of the shaft's facade is composed of band courses that stretch horizontally across the facade on several floors. The facade of the 9th and 13th floors is composed of vertical pilasters rather than rusticated granite, and has arched windows instead of the rectangular windows seen on the other stories. The 7th, 11th, and 15th floors have balconies, while the 5th, 8th, and 12th floors have balconies.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Other stories
The Empire State Building is the 28th-tallest in the world , the tallest being Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is also the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas behind the five tallest buildings and the CN Tower.
Empire State Building | Height records
As a dominant landmark in the midtown skyline upon its opening, the building had an open-air observation deck on the 54th floor. It was one of three open-air observatories in the city following World War II, the others being at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and at the Empire State Building, though there had been several other observation decks in the city prior to the war. The Chanin Building only charged 25 cents for admission, since it was not as well known as the other two buildings with outdoor observatories. Over the years, several people have committed suicide by jumping off the 54th floor observation deck.
Chanin Building | Upper floors
One engine shot through the south side opposite the impact and flew as far as the next block, dropping and landing on the roof of a nearby building and causing a fire that destroyed a penthouse art studio. The other engine and part of the landing gear fell down an elevator shaft. The resulting fire was extinguished in 40 minutes. The Empire State Building fire is the only significant fire at such a height to be brought under control by firefighters. Between 50 and 60 sightseers were on the 86th floor observation deck when the crash happened. Fourteen people were killed: Colonel Smith, Staff Sergeant Christopher Domitrovich, and Navy Aviation Machinist's Mate Albert Perna, who was hitching a ride, and eleven civilians in the building.
1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash | Details
The staircase has an iron railing, which contains decorative motifs featuring dolphins and Neptune's scepter, as well as marble treads. The building was originally equipped with 10 hydraulic elevators manufactured by Otis Worldwide, which were grouped in two banks of five. Of these, nine elevators were for passenger service and one was a freight elevator that could carry loads of up to . Each of the shafts was enclosed in masonry. The bottom of each elevator shaft narrowed slightly to create a protective "air cushion", which used air pressure to slow down elevator cabs if they were to fall. These safety features were included because of a series of elevator accidents that had taken place at nearby 150 Nassau Street.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Features
The Empire Building is an office skyscraper at 71 Broadway, on the corner of Rector Street, in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by Kimball & Thompson in the Classical Revival style and built by Marc Eidlitz & Son from 1897 to 1898. The building consists of 21 stories above a full basement story facing Trinity Place at the back of the building and is tall. The Empire Building's articulation consists of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column—namely a base, shaft, and capital—and has a facade of gray granite at its base and white granite on the upper stories.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Introduction
Afterward, work on the building's interior and crowning mast commenced. The mooring mast topped out on November 21, two months after the steelwork had been completed. Meanwhile, work on the walls and interior was progressing at a quick pace, with exterior walls built up to the 75th floor by the time steelwork had been built to the 95th floor. The majority of the facade was already finished by the middle of November. Because of the building's height, it was deemed infeasible to have many elevators or large elevator cabins, so the builders contracted with the Otis Elevator Company to make 66 cars that could speed at , which represented the largest-ever elevator order at the time.
Empire State Building | Completion and scale
An elevator cab with eggs and light bulbs was experimentally dropped from the top of the shaft on July 18, 1898; despite having fallen past the third floor at , the eggs and light bulbs were found to have been undamaged.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Features
By 1980, there were nearly two million annual visitors, although a building official had previously estimated between 1.5 million and 1.75 million annual visitors. The building received its own ZIP code in May 1980 in a roll out of 63 new postal codes in Manhattan. At the time, the tenants of the tower collectively received 35,000 pieces of mail daily. The Empire State Building celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 1, 1981, with a much-publicized, but poorly received, laser light show, as well as an "Empire State Building Week" that ran through to May 8. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to make the lobby a city landmark on May 19, 1981, citing the historic nature of the first and second floors, as well as "the fixtures and interior components" of the upper floors.
Empire State Building | 1980s and 1990s
In later years, other nearby buildings surpassed the Chanin Building in height (including the Chrysler Building, diagonally across Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street), and so the observation deck was closed in the mid-20th century. The top of the building was used as a transmission site for WQXR-FM starting on December 15, 1941, when it was relocated from Long Island City in Queens. In 1965, the transmitter was moved to the Empire State Building.
Chanin Building | Upper floors
The total height of the building is . The facade rises straight from street level and fills the entire lot except for two light courts on the south end of the lot. The offices were arranged so that they faced north toward Trinity Church, while utility rooms and elevators are located on the southern portion of the building.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Design
They responded by firing 16 shots, killing him but also wounding nine bystanders. Most of the injured were hit by bullet fragments, although three took direct hits from bullets.
Empire State Building | Shootings
The chapel-like three-story-high lobby, which runs parallel to 33rd and 34th Streets, contains storefronts on both its northern and southern sides. These storefronts are framed on each side by tubes of dark "modernistically rounded marble", according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and above by a vertical band of grooves set into the marble. Immediately inside the lobby is an airport-style security checkpoint. The walls on both the northern and southern sides of the lobby house storefronts and escalators to a mezzanine level. At the west end of the lobby is an aluminum relief of the skyscraper as it was originally built (i.e.
Empire State Building | Lobby
On the third and fourth floors of the Rector Street facade, there is an arcade with Ionic-style vertical pilasters.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Base
It is one of the earliest skyscrapers built on pneumatic caissons and one of the oldest such buildings that remain standing. The building contains an interior steel frame structure with a curtain-walled facade. The top stories contain a loggia on the facade as well as a large metal cornice above the 20th floor. There are numerous band courses, balconies, and arched windows along the facade. The original Empire Building was a brownstone structure constructed in 1859. Though the politician and real estate developer Orlando B. Potter had acquired the brownstone in 1884, he died prior to the current building's construction.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Introduction
Per the original plans, the Empire State Building's spire was intended to be an airship docking station. Raskob and Smith had proposed dirigible ticketing offices and passenger waiting rooms on the 86th floor, while the airships themselves would be tied to the spire at the equivalent of the building's 106th floor. An elevator would ferry passengers from the 86th to the 101st floor after they had checked in on the 86th floor, after which passengers would have climbed steep ladders to board the airship. The idea, however, was impractical and dangerous due to powerful updrafts caused by the building itself, the wind currents across Manhattan, and the spires of nearby skyscrapers.
Empire State Building | Other events
With the destruction of the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York City, and the second-tallest building in the Americas, surpassed only by the Willis Tower in Chicago. The Empire State Building remained the tallest building in New York until the new One World Trade Center reached a greater height in April 2012. , it is the fourth-tallest building in New York City after One World Trade Center, 432 Park Avenue, and 30 Hudson Yards. It is the fifth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States behind the two other tallest buildings in New York City, as well as the Willis Tower and Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago.
Empire State Building | Height records
The Empire State Plaza consists of various steel and reinforced concrete buildings, all clad in imported stone (except The Egg, which fully exposes its concrete structure). The buildings are placed on a 6-story stone-clad Main Platform, supported by more than 25,000 steel pilings driven an average of into soft glacial clay deposits underlying the site. The placement of starkly abstract geometric building forms on a monolithic plaza is said to represent Rockefeller's concept of architecture as similar to sculpture. The exterior columns and narrow windows of the buildings resemble the style of the World Trade Center towers in New York City, which were completed around the same time.
Empire State Plaza | Architecture
The scale of the project was massive, with trucks carrying "16,000 partition tiles, 5,000 bags of cement, of sand and 300 bags of lime" arriving at the construction site every day. There were also cafes and concession stands on five of the incomplete floors so workers did not have to descend to the ground level to eat lunch. Temporary water taps were also built so workers did not waste time buying water bottles from the ground level. Additionally, carts running on a small railway system transported materials from the basement storage to elevators that brought the carts to the desired floors where they would then be distributed throughout that level using another set of tracks.
Empire State Building | Steel structure
In the early morning of September 27, 1946, shell-shocked Marine Douglas W. Brashear Jr. jumped from the 76th-floor window of the Grant Advertising Agency; police found his shoes from his body. On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the 86th floor observation deck and landed on a limousine parked at the curb. Photography student Robert Wiles took a photo of McHale's oddly intact corpse a few minutes after her death. The police found a suicide note among possessions that she left on the observation deck: "He is much better off without me... I wouldn't make a good wife for anybody".
Empire State Building | Suicide attempts
A Chrysler showroom was placed on the first floor of the building and an observation deck and the exclusive "Cloud Club" on the upper levels. The Empire State Building originated from a 1928 project to redevelop the original Waldorf–Astoria into a 50-story mixed-use development; the purchase of the site for $14 million ($2.1 billion) set a record in New York for the year. John Raskob and Pierre du Pont entered into the project as financial backers, and concluded that the project would be more profitable if the site was used to build an extremely tall 80-story skyscraper instead. Although revised financial estimates suggested that the height should be cut back, the caché of having the world's tallest building was considerable, and instead an additional five stories were added to ensure the building, at , would be slightly taller than the Chrysler Building.
Early skyscrapers | Great Depression
The attraction consists of three levels, the ground floor entry area, a second floor ticketing, lobby and gift shop area, and the 57th floor observation area. After purchasing a ticket, visitors may choose to stand in front of a green screen to have a photograph taken. Visitors then board an elevator where a video with surround sound is presented about the observation deck and the city. Once on the 57th floor, visitors enter an area with tables, seating and vending machines. The observation area completely encircles the building core with windows in all directions. Multiple interactive maps with electronic sight-seeing tours are available throughout the observation deck.
One Liberty Observation Deck | Concept
without the antenna). The relief, which was intended to provide a welcoming effect, contains an embossing of the building's outline, accompanied by what the Landmarks Preservation Commission describes as "the rays of an aluminum sun shining out behind [the tower] and mingling with aluminum rays emanating from the spire of the Empire State Building". In the background is a state map of New York with the building's location marked by a "medallion" in the very southeast portion of the outline. A compass is located in the bottom right and a plaque to the tower's major developers is on the bottom left.
Empire State Building | Lobby
Ron Miller, in a 2010 book, also described the Empire State Building as one of the "seven wonders of engineering". It has often been called the Eighth Wonder of the World as well, an appellation that it has held since shortly after opening. The panels installed in the lobby in 1963 reflected this, showing the seven original wonders alongside the Empire State Building.
Empire State Building | Iconic status
The narrowness of the lot resulted in the inclusion of an extensive system of steel skeleton framing and bracing. The foundations were nonetheless designed to accommodate a future expansion of the building. The total floor area is . Due to the irregular shape of the lot area, none of the sides are equal or parallel to each other. Since being converted to a residential building in 1997, the Empire Building has included 238 apartments, which contain between of space. The residential units include studio apartments as well as one- and two-bedroom apartments. Though the interior has been extensively remodeled, the Empire Building still contains one of its original staircases on the western side.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Features
The original main lobby is accessed from Fifth Avenue, on the building's east side, and contains an entrance with one set of double doors between a pair of revolving doors. At the top of each doorway is a bronze motif depicting one of three "crafts or industries" used in the building's construction—Electricity, Masonry, and Heating. The lobby contains two tiers of marble, a lighter marble on the top, above the storefronts, and a darker marble on the bottom, flush with the storefronts. There is a pattern of zigzagging terrazzo tiles on the lobby floor, which leads from the entrance on the east to the aluminum relief on the west.
Empire State Building | Lobby
The base is four stories of polished gray granite. Due to the difference in elevation between the front and the back of the building, the site slopes down from Broadway to Trinity Place, and there is a full-height storefront in the basement on Trinity Place. The main entrance on Broadway is based on a triumphal arch, with a main archway that contains three pairs of steel doors, and two smaller flanking ones that lead to first floor stores. The triumphal arch is flanked by two pairs of granite columns, topped by eagles on globes. The entrance originally consisted of three pairs of doors, leading to a portico with a barrel vault; it was modified by Walker & Gillette in 1937–1938 in the Art Deco style.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Base
(Chicago’s Willis Tower has an observation deck on its 103rd floor, at 1,354 feet; however, it is enclosed.) It offers new skyline views to the south and east of Manhattan, the surrounding boroughs, and New Jersey.
30 Hudson Yards | Introduction
Built originally with an observation deck on the 31st floor, the open-air deck was closed in 1976 when the 42nd floor enclosed Corning Tower Observation Deck was opened. An extensive renovation of the building began in 2002. This modernization, which cost at least $103 million, is now finished. Prior to reconstruction, the building was home to the state Comptroller's Office. With the renovation complete, the new tenants include the New York State Department of Civil Service, Department of State, New York State Banking Department, New York State Liquor Authority, and Division of the Budget. The Alfred E. Smith Building has several distinctive features.
Alfred E. Smith Building | Introduction
Though the Empire State Building had also included escalators between its lobby and mezzanine, 70 Pine Street was modeled on the layout of a department store, the first office building in New York City to be designed in this manner. These escalators were hidden behind a false marble wall. 70 Pine Street also included a hot-water heating system, innovative for its time, which obviated the need for boiler facilities. The building had a "unit ventilating system" as well; this system utilized spaces over the radiators and inside the walls to provide ventilation without any dust or noise. The basement contained a bank vault with the most advanced security systems available during that era.
70 Pine Street | Other features
The remodeled entrance has a stainless-steel transom band directly atop the doors with the stainless-steel text "71 Broadway 71", as well as a round-arched stainless-steel spandrel panel at the top of the arch, with the number "71" in stainless steel. Staircases to the Wall Street subway station flank the arches at the main entrance. On the corner of Broadway and Rector Street, there is a chamfer that used to have an entrance at the first floor. Along Rector Street, the facade of the base is divided into three parts, and the full basement has storefronts. An entrance arch was located in the middle of the facade.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Base
The building's pinnacle reaches , briefly making it the world's tallest building upon its completion. The Bank of Manhattan Building had an observation deck on the 69th and 70th floors, located above the street, with the observatory able to fit up to 100 people. The observatory was closed to the public sometime after World War II.
40 Wall Street | Design
The New York Flatiron reaches its height of 21 floors because of its steel skeleton. The Pullman Flatiron is only two stories because its original construction was not steel at all, but masonry. Masonry construction today is typically reinforced with steel and when the front end loader damaged the Flatiron in 1994, the reconstruction actually used steel reinforcement.
Pullman Flatiron Building | Connection to New York
The Erastus Corning Tower, the tallest building in Albany and the tallest in the state outside New York City, is named for him, as is the Corning Riverfront Park, a nature trail and fishing site on the western banks of the Hudson River in Albany. The tower is part of the Empire State Plaza, a , 11-building state government office and cultural complex. Some believe that the building was named after Corning because it has 42 floors (which is the same as the number of years he served as mayor), but the building actually has 44 floors with an observation deck on Floor 42.
Erastus Corning 2nd | Legacy
A symbol of New York City, the tower has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was ranked first on the American Institute of Architects' List of America's Favorite Architecture in 2007. Additionally, the Empire State Building and its ground-floor interior were designated city landmarks by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1980, and were added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
Empire State Building | Introduction
Concurrently, Lamb's partner Richmond Shreve created "bug diagrams" of the project requirements. The 1916 Zoning Act forced Lamb to design a structure that incorporated setbacks resulting in the lower floors being larger than the upper floors. Consequently, the tower was designed from the top down, giving it a "pencil"-like shape.
Empire State Building | Early plans
Starting in 2009, the building's public areas received a $550 million renovation, with improvements to the air conditioning and waterproofing, renovations to the observation deck and main lobby, and relocation of the gift shop to the 80th floor. About $120 million was spent on improving the energy efficiency of the building, with the goal of reducing energy emissions by 38% within five years. For example, all of the windows were refurbished onsite into film-coated "superwindows" which block heat but pass light. Air conditioning operating costs on hot days were reduced, saving $17 million of the project's capital cost immediately and partially funding some of the other retrofits.
Empire State Building | 2010s
There is currently no public observation floor. However, there was an exception from 12 October 1992 to 15 December 1992, when bankruptcy administrators for Olympia & York Canary Wharf Limited opened the 50th floor to the public, to maintain interest in Canary Wharf. The scheme was stopped on 15 December 1992 when the IRA attempted to bomb the tower (see Terrorism section).
One Canada Square | Observation floor
It borders three large storefronts and leads to escalators that go both to the second floor and to the basement. Going from west to east, there are secondary entrances to 34th and 33rd Streets from both the northern and southern corridors, respectively, at approximately the two-thirds point of each corridor. Until the 1960s, an art deco mural, inspired by both the sky and the Machine Age, was installed in the lobby ceilings. Subsequent damage to these murals, designed by artist Leif Neandross, resulted in reproductions being installed. Renovations to the lobby in 2009, such as replacing the clock over the information desk in the Fifth Avenue lobby with an anemometer and installing two chandeliers intended to be part of the building when it originally opened, revived much of its original grandeur.
Empire State Building | Lobby
Patrick's Cathedral, and take over the observation deck of the Empire State Building. There they dance and sing: "Now we do whatever we please, whatever we please, whatever we damn well please".
Empire of Dreams (poetry collection) | Part Two: "Profane Comedy"
The north corridor contained eight illuminated panels created in 1963 by Roy Sparkia and Renée Nemorov, in time for the 1964 World's Fair, depicting the building as the Eighth Wonder of the World alongside the traditional seven. The building's owners installed a series of paintings by the New York artist Kysa Johnson in the concourse level. Johnson later filed a federal lawsuit, in January 2014, under the Visual Artists Rights Act alleging the negligent destruction of the paintings and damage to her reputation as an artist. As part of the building's 2010 renovation, Denise Amses commissioned a work consisting of 15,000 stars and 5,000 circles, superimposed on a etched-glass installation, in the lobby.
Empire State Building | Lobby
There was an additional elevator serving the 30th through 38th floors. These stories contained floor surfaces made of concrete; walls of marble, plaster, and terracotta; and doors, window sash, and trim made of metal but finished to look like mahogany. A continuous 531-step staircase runs from the third floor to the 29th floor. The present-day 32nd floor, the highest story beneath the roof, once served as an apartment, which J. P. Morgan had an option to occupy. He chose not to pursue the option due to antitrust proceedings ongoing against Bankers Trust at the time of the building's completion. "The New York Times" reported at the building's 1912 opening that $250,000 had been spent on "teakwood furniture, priceless rugs, luxurious baths, and a private observation balcony", though it was "entirely devoid of furniture".
14 Wall Street | Upper stories
Two fatal shootings have occurred in the direct vicinity of the Empire State Building. Abu Kamal, a 69-year-old Palestinian teacher, shot seven people on the 86th floor observation deck during the afternoon of February 23, 1997. He killed one person and wounded six others before committing suicide. Kamal reportedly committed the shooting in response to events happening in Palestine and Israel. On the morning of August 24, 2012, 58-year-old Jeffrey T. Johnson shot and killed a former co-worker on the building's Fifth Avenue sidewalk. He had been laid off from his job in 2011. Two police officers confronted the gunman, and he aimed his firearm at them.
Empire State Building | Shootings
The building became a National Historic Landmark in 1986 in close alignment to the New York City Landmarks report. The Empire State Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places the following year due to its architectural significance. Capital improvements were made to the Empire State Building during the early to mid-1990s at a cost of $55 million. These improvements entailed replacing alarm systems, elevators, windows, and air conditioning; making the observation deck compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA); and refurbishing the limestone facade. The observatory renovation was added after disability rights groups and the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the building in 1992, in what was the first lawsuit filed by an organization under the new law.
Empire State Building | 1980s and 1990s
The building would have 430 units on 68 floors and 2,050,000 square feet (190,451 m²) of floor space. It would be in height, in addition to being away from, and shorter than, the Empire State Building. Anthony and Peter L. Malkin, owners of the historic structure, had requested the creation of a 17-block exclusion zone that would prohibit large buildings from being built that would obstruct views of the Empire State Building and suggested that the proposed skyscraper be limited to in height. While Manhattan Community Board 5 voted overwhelmingly against the proposed project, the New York City Planning Commission approved the plan, which would allow the building to be 56% larger than standard zoning rules provide under special regulations that encourage the development of high-density office space near transit hubs.
15 Penn Plaza | Description
It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 2007, it was ranked number one on the AIA's List of America's Favorite Architecture.
Empire State Building | Architecture
The roof height was now , making it the tallest building in the world by far, even without the antenna. The addition of the dirigible station meant that another floor, the now-enclosed 86th floor, would have to be built below the crown; however, unlike the Chrysler's spire, the Empire State's mast would serve a practical purpose. The final plan was announced to the public on January 8, 1930, just before the start of construction. "The New York Times" reported that the spire was facing some "technical problems", but they were "no greater than might be expected under such a novel plan." By this time the blueprints for the building had gone through up to fifteen versions before they were approved.
Empire State Building | Design changes
However, scholars described the building as having only 16 or 18 stories, excluding mezzanines, below-ground levels, and levels that could not be fully occupied. Contemporary media characterized the structure as an 18-story building, while Emporis and SkyscraperPage, two websites that collect data on buildings, listed the building as having 20 stories.
New York World Building | Design
The plaque at the western end of the lobby is located on the eastern interior wall of a one-story tall rectangular-shaped corridor that surrounds the banks of escalators, with a similar design to the lobby. The rectangular shaped corridor actually consists of two long hallways on the northern and southern sides of the rectangle, as well as a shorter hallway on the eastern side and another long hallway on the western side. At both ends of the northern and southern corridors, there is a bank of four low-rise elevators in between the corridors. The western side of the rectangular elevator-bank corridor extends north to the 34th Street entrance and south to the 33rd Street entrance.
Empire State Building | Lobby
It appears doubtful whether the upper floor was built for defensive purposes as some have maintained.
Ny Kirke | Architecture
The Empire Building was designed by the partnership of Kimball & Thompson, composed of Francis H. Kimball and George Kramer Thompson, in the Classical Revival style. It was built by Marc Eidlitz & Son, with Charles Sooysmith as foundation engineer. Though the building faces Broadway, with its main entrance on 71 Broadway, it also has entrances at 51-53 Trinity Place. The Empire Building has also been historically known as the "U.S. Steel Company Building" or "O.B. Potter Trust Building", reflecting its past ownership. As designed, the Empire Building was 20 stories, excluding the full basement on Trinity Place, but this was later expanded to 21 stories plus the basement.
Empire Building (Manhattan) | Design
A settlement was reached in 1994, in which the Empire State Building Associates agreed to add ADA-compliant elements, such as new elevators, ramps, and automatic doors, during its ongoing renovation.
Empire State Building | 1980s and 1990s
Wallace Harrison served as supervising architect for the entire project, with other associated firms as listed below. The buildings constituting the plaza include:
Empire State Plaza | Architecture
The longest world record held by the Empire State Building was for the tallest skyscraper (to structural height), which it held for 42 years until it was surpassed by the North Tower of the World Trade Center in October 1970. The Empire State Building was also the tallest man-made structure in the world before it was surpassed by the Griffin Television Tower Oklahoma (KWTV Mast) in 1954, and the tallest freestanding structure in the world until the completion of the Ostankino Tower in 1967. An early-1970s proposal to dismantle the spire and replace it with an additional 11 floors, which would have brought the building's height to 1,494 feet (455 m) and made it once again the world's tallest at the time, was considered but ultimately rejected.
Empire State Building | Height records
They pointed out that the observation deck of 40 Wall was nearly higher than the top floor of the Chrysler, whose surpassing spire was strictly ornamental and essentially inaccessible. Despite the protest, the Chrysler Building was generally accepted as the tallest building in the world for almost a year, until it was surpassed by the Empire State Building’s in 1931.
List of tallest buildings and structures | Tallest buildings
Around this time, Lamb held a press conference on the building plans. He described the reflective steel panels parallel to the windows, the large-block Indiana Limestone facade that was slightly more expensive than smaller bricks, and the tower's lines and rise. Four colossal columns, intended for installation in the center of the building site, were delivered; they would support a combined when the building was finished. The structural steel was pre-ordered and pre-fabricated in anticipation of a revision to the city's building code that would have allowed the Empire State Building's structural steel to carry , up from , thus reducing the amount of steel needed for the building.
Empire State Building | Steel structure
The photo ran in the May 12, 1947 edition of "Life" magazine and is often referred to as "The Most Beautiful Suicide". It was later used by visual artist Andy Warhol in one of his prints entitled "Suicide (Fallen Body)". A mesh fence was put up around the 86th floor terrace in December 1947 after five people tried to jump during a three-week span in October and November of that year. By then, sixteen people had died from suicide jumps.
Empire State Building | Suicide attempts
Lamb described the other specifications he was given for the final, approved plan:
Empire State Building | Design changes
The building features an outdoor observation deck known as "The Edge". The Edge contains a cantilevered outdoor terrace jutting outward south of the building, providing panoramic views of Manhattan and the Hudson River. It is the tallest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere and the second highest observation deck in New York City, after One World Observatory. Visitors can lean into the 9-foot-high clear glass barricade slanted 6.6 degrees outward to safely check out the street and rooftops below. The Edge also features a 225-square-foot glass triangle in the floor which looks down to the street 1,131 feet below.
30 Hudson Yards | The Edge
The Empire State Building has been hailed as an example of a "wonder of the world" due to the massive effort expended during construction. "The Washington Star" listed it as part of one of the "seven wonders of the modern world" in 1931, while "Holiday" magazine wrote in 1958 that the Empire State's height would be taller than the combined heights of the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramid of Giza. The American Society of Civil Engineers also declared the building "A Modern Civil Engineering Wonder of the United States" in 1958, and one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World in 1994.
Empire State Building | Iconic status
The new 82-story building, if erected, will have a total height of . In comparison, the Empire State Building's roof at the 102nd floor is tall, with its antenna, and the original 2 World Trade Center (referred to as the South Tower) was .
2 World Trade Center | New building
In 1931, NBC took up tenancy, leasing space on the 85th floor for radio broadcasts. From the outset the building was in debt, losing $1 million per year by 1935. Real estate developer Seymour Durst recalled that the building was so underused in 1936 that there was no elevator service above the 45th floor, as the building above the 41st floor was empty except for the NBC offices and the Raskob/Du Pont offices on the 81st floor.
Empire State Building | Tenants and tourism