Empire State Building

Locating the Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street in New York City.

The site was first developed as a farm with a stream running through it. As New York City grew, it became the first site of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The hotel was demolished in 1929 and rebuilt on another site in order to make way for the Empire State Building's construction.

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Tallest Building in New York

Gained, lost, and sadly regained

The Empire State Building is the tallest building in both New York City and New York State. At the time of its construction in 1931, it earned its "tallest" distinction by surpassing the newly constructed Chrysler Building. It was then surpassed in height by the World Trade Center's North Tower in 1972, but became the tallest building again following the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The Empire State Building is currently the second tallest skyscraper in the United States behind the Sears Tower in Chicago, and the ninth tallest skyscraper in the world. It has 86 floors of office space, a 14 story spire, and two basements equalling 102 stories total.

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Construction of the Empire State Building

Began in 1930

The Empire State Building was designed by Gregory Johnson of the architectural firm, Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon. The design was based on the design of two previous buildings: the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, NC and the Carew Tower in Cincinatti, OH. The drawings were ready in just two weeks.

The builders began excavation on January 22, 1930, with the construction of the building beginning on March 17, 1930, Saint Patrick's Day. The building was officially opened on May 1, 1931.

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Building Materials

For the Empire State Building

The Empire State Building was designed in the Art Deco style, which was the modern style at that time. It is visually composed into base, column, and capital sections, the common organization of most skyscrapers of that time period. It contains 10 million bricks, 430 miles of electrical wiring, and 5 acres of windows. The staircase from the ground floor to the top has 1860 steps, and the exterior is finished in Indiana limestone.

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Construction Workers

A variety of people

The construction of the Empire State Building employed about 3,400 workers. Most were European immigrants. The metal work was done by hundreds of Mohawk iron workers primarily from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal, Canada. Mohawk iron workers built many buildings in New York. They were known to be excellent workers, and they did not fear heights.

According to records of that time, only five workers lost their lives during the construction of the Empire State Building.

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A Dirigible Terminal

The Empire State Building as it looked in 1936

The Empire State Building's spire was originally conceived as a mooring for dirigibles. The 102nd floor was designed as a landing platform with a dirigible gangplank. There were special elevators that were meant to travel between the 86th floor observation deck and the 102nd floor, so that passengers could check in at the observation deck before going up to board.

However, the building's size caused there to be considerable updrafts, which made the docking of dirigibles dangerous, and the idea was quickly discarded. Later, a television tower was added to the top, bringing its total height up from 1250 feet to 1472 feet.

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World Wonder

The Empire State Building recognized

The Empire State Building was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

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Empty State Building

Because the Empire State Building was built at the early part of the Depression, there was great difficulty in finding tenants to occupy the building's office spaces. New Yorkers dubbed it the "Empty State Building."

There was no problem, however, getting people to visit its observation deck. In the first year, income from the observation deck totalled $2 million, about the same amount as was received from its renters. It took 10 years for it to be fully occupied.

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Empire State Building Hit by a Plane

On an extremely foggy morning in 1945

On July 28, 1945, Lt. Col. William F. Smith flew his B-25 Mitchell Bomber into the 79th floor during an extremely foggy morning. He and his 2 passengers were among the 14 people killed. Because it was a Saturday morning, there were not many people in the building, drastically reducing the number of fatalities.

The plane hit the north side of the building and burst into flames. One engine from the plane shot through the building and out the opposite side, landing on a rooftop and destroying a penthouse apartment there.The second engine and the landing gear fell down through an elevator shaft.

Despite the damage from the impact, the fire was extinguished in only 40 minutes. The damage was repaired in only 3 months, at a cost of about $1 million.

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Lighting the Empire State Building

A rainbow of colors

The Empire State Building has the ability to be lit in a variety of colors, representing a number of different holidays and events. On St. Patrick's Day, it is lit in green, and green and red are the colors during the Christmas season. It is lit in red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July.

It is also specially lit for major sporting events. It is bathed in yellow during the US Open Tennis Tournament, and in the colors of the various professional New York teams on evenings that they play.



Sometimes the colors of the Empire State Building recognize special people. When Frank Sinatra died, the building was bathed in blue light in honor of his nickname, Old Blue Eyes, and when Fay Wray of King Kong fame died, the lights were turned off for 15 minutes in her memory.
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