No matter where you are in New York, you will have a view of the unmissable landmark of the city – the Empire State Building. After the collapse of the buildings of the World Trade Center complex, it became the tallest building in New York again after 29 years.
This skyscraper led the list of the world’s tallest buildings for 40 long years. Today, with its 102 floors and 381 meters, it is up to 11th place, and the ranking is proudly led by the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan, which is 509 meters high. The Empire State Building is located in the southern part of Midtown, in a strip of large skyscrapers, where it towers over other buildings. In total, the building consists of 60,000 tons of steel, and with the television tower at the top, it reaches a height of 443.2 meters. During your visit, be sure not to miss the observation deck located on the 86th floor, from which, from a height of 320 meters, there is an unforgettable view of all of Manhattan and, in good weather, much further.
According to campingship.com, the ziggurat skyscraper was designed by Gregory Johnson representing Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates in just 14 days. Construction began on May 17, 1931 and was completed an incredible 14 months later. Over 3,400 workers of various nationalities found work on the construction site. A large part was, for example, immigrants from Europe and also Indians of the Mohawk tribe, who applied themselves as excellent ironworkers.
Massive steel frameworks were used in the construction, which made it possible to drive the buildings to considerable heights. The facade of the building is made of silvery gray materials, mainly aluminum, nickel, granite and limestone slabs. The work on the skyscraper was very demanding and the building literally grew before our eyes every day. One shift alternated with another, so everything could be completed in just 410 days. The workers here faced the dangers that awaited them on the construction site every day. Even though there was really high work safety here, 5 workers eventually died here. However, much greater losses of life were originally expected, with plans predicting the death of up to 100 people. All the workers were eventually rewarded for their work by the President of the United States, Herbert Hoover.
Since the Empire State Building was built in times of deep economic crisis, it had to deal with certain problems at first, such as the vacancy of their office spaces. Even so, immediately after its completion, it became the pride of New Yorkers and a kind of symbol of the technical boom of the 20th century. It became profitable only in 1950. It is interesting that the architects originally intended the possibility of airships landing on the top of the tower, which would not be a problem at the height of the building. In the end, they abandoned this idea and replaced the landing area with an antenna.
Unfortunately, the Empire State Building is also connected to the plane crash of 1945. At that time, a B-25 bomber crashed into the tower, between its 79th and 80th floors, due to poor navigation. The Kolos survived this direct impact, but 11 people in the building and the crew of the aircraft were killed. As there was no disturbance to the building’s statics, it was reopened a few days later. However, the total damages were calculated at a full 1 million dollars.
In 1964, the building was supplemented with lights that still adorn its top today. The color of the top lighting changes according to current events or holidays. Once the North Tower of the World Trade Center was completed in 1972, Empire lost its height dominance. However, this did not diminish her popularity. Because people literally loved this building, it became an increasingly frequent subject for all kinds of movies. One of the most famous films in which the Empire State can be seen is King Kong from 1931. Many other films followed, in which it was often even destroyed. Fortunately, this did not actually happen. Unfortunately, the World Trade Center buildings were less fortunate, as they were razed to the ground in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. The Empire State Building thus, albeit unintentionally, became the tallest building in the city again. For many people, however, it is not just a skyscraper,
To see the Empire State Building in all its glory, you need to keep a greater distance from it. If you were to walk past it, you might not even notice it, or simply miss it. Today, there are long queues of curious people who want to see New York from a bird’s eye view. Fortunately, there is a good organization here, so you never have to wait long in line. As soon as you get inside, you can start admiring the interesting interiors decorated in art deco style. Transportation of people in the building is provided by 62 high-speed elevators. It takes about a minute to get to the observation deck on the 86th floor. Every year there is a stair race at the Empire State Building. The best runners can climb 1,860 steps in an incredible 11 minutes. Will you try it too?
