Empire state building

Background

The present site of the Empire State Building was first developed as the John Thomson Farm in the late eighteenth century. The block was occupied by the original Waldorf Hotel in the late-nineteenth century and was frequented by the social elite of New York.

The Empire State Building was designed by the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, which produced the building drawings in just two weeks, possibly using its earlier design for the Carew Tower in Cincinnati, Ohio as a basis. The general contractors were Starrett Brothers and Eken, and the project was financed by John J. Raskob and Pierre S. DuPont. The construction company was chaired by Alfred E. Smith, a former Governor of New York.

A woman survived a 75-story plunge in one of the building’s elevators.

During the 1945 bomber crash, several pieces of the B-25’s engine sliced through the Empire State Building and entered an elevator shaft. The cables for two cars were severed, including one containing a 19-year-old elevator operator named Betty Lou Oliver. The elevator plummeted from the 75th floor and soon crashed into the subbasement, but luckily for Oliver, more than a thousand feet of severed elevator cable had gathered at the bottom of the shaft, cushioning the blow. The fall may have also been slowed by a pocket of compressed air generated by the car’s rapid descent. Despite suffering severe injuries including a broken neck and back, Oliver survived.

Смотровые площадки

Основная смотровая площадка

На 86 этаже небоскреба действует высочайшая смотровая площадка под открытым небом в Нью-Йорке. Здесь были сняты десятки киносцен, пережиты миллионы незабываемых моментов.

Для справки! Площадка располагается вокруг шпиля здания, представляя взору посетителей панораму Нью-Йорка и его окрестностей. Отсюда открываются захватывающие виды на Центральный парк, реку Гудзон, пролив Ист-Ривер, Бруклинский мост, Таймс-сквер, статую Свободы и многое другое.

Можно также воспользоваться обзорным биноклем с многократным увеличением и рассмотреть объекты в мельчайших подробностях.

Верхняя смотровая площадка

Шестнадцатью этажами выше – на 102 этаже здания – действует ещё одна смотровая площадка, по площади значительно уступающая основной, к тому же полностью закрытая.

Tickets FAQs

Visitors to the Empire State Building have many doubts about the different kinds of tickets and Passes available.

We try to answer them here –

1. Can we visit the Empire State Building’s lobby without buying the ticket? We don’t want to go up to the Observatory.

   Yes, you can roam around in the lobby without a ticket.But, you will be missing out on one of the World’s finest observatories and other exhibits.

2. Can I buy Empire State Building tickets online?

   Yes, you can buy the Empire State Building’s observatory tickets on the Internet.When you buy them in advance, you save up to 60 minutes of waiting time.

3. Are Empire State Building tickets timed?

   No, there is no time mentioned on Empire State Building tickets.They are valid anytime from 8 am to 1.15 am the next day.The last elevators go up at 1:15 am, and you can stay on till 2 am.

4. For how long are Empire State Building tickets valid?

   Empire State Building tickets purchased online can be used any time within one year from the purchase date.The tickets purchased at the ticket office have a validity of 14 days from the date of purchase.

5. Can I buy same-day Empire State Building tickets?

   Yes, you can purchase same-day (or next day’s) Empire State Observatory tickets.You can buy them from the ticket counters at the venue, or buy the tickets online and save yourself both time and energy (by skipping long queues).During peak hours, this waiting time at the ticket counter lines can go up to 45 minutes. 

6. Should I buy the Standard tickets or the Express tickets at Empire State Building?

   For an adult, the Empire State Building’s Express ticket is $40 more than the standard ticket, which is a lot of money.That’s why we recommend Express tickets only if you are in an extreme hurry, or if the high ticket price doesn’t affect you much.

7. What are the inclusions of the Empire State Building’s VIP Express ticket?

   With the VIP Express Pass, you can skip the ticketing line and elevator line to go up to the Observatory and come down.However, you must go through the line at the security check. 

8. Can we visit the Empire State Building twice on the same day?

   Yes, if you buy AM/PM experience ticket, you can visit Empire State twice.You can visit once in the morning and once again after 9.30 pm.The Empire State building stays open till 2 am and the last elevator goes up at 1:15 am.

9. How much is it to upgrade to the 102nd-floor observatory if we already have Empire State Building’s AM/PM tickets?

   The standard AM/PM tickets give you access to the Empire State Building’s 86th-Floor Observatory. To visit the 102nd-floor Observatory, you can upgrade your ticket at the venue by paying 20 dollars per person.If you wish to visit the 102-floor during your morning and evening visit, you must upgrade twice.

10. Can I purchase the Express Pass with the AM/PM ticket?

    We don’t recommend you buy AM/PM tickets with an Express Pass.However, once you reach the attraction and see a massive crowd, you can go to one of the kiosks to upgrade your tickets and get VIP Express Passes.You must upgrade each AM and PM ticket individually for each person.It will cost you $31 per ticket per person.

11. Does New York Pass help in skipping the lines at Empire State Building?

    With a New York Pass, you get fast-track entry to the 86th-floor observation deck.New York Pass holders don’t need to collect a ticket from the ticket office and instead can go straight to the security check. 

12. How do I use Empire State Building tickets given to me as a gift? It has the name of my friend who gifted it to me.

    You can easily use the ticket if your friend is with you during the visit.Else, you must carry a note signed by your friend, authorizing that you can use the ticket.You must also carry a photo ID of yours where your name must match the way it is mentioned on the note.

13. We are on a very tight schedule. When should we visit the Empire State Building?

    If you are on a tight schedule, the best time to visit the Empire State Building is during off-peak hours, i.e., between 8-10 am or after 11 pm.For an off-peak hour visit, a Standard Empire State ticket is the best option.To get the most out of your visit, you need at least 90 minutes.

Empire State Building tickets price

There are four kinds of Empire State Building tickets, each offering a unique experience.

To visit the Main deck on the building’s 86th floor, you need to buy the Standard ticket, which costs $45.73 for an adult.

If you want to skip all the lines, you must buy an Express Entry ticket, which costs $85 for all visitors.

Once you are at Empire State Building, you can upgrade both the Standard and the Express Entry tickets by paying $20 more and go up to the Top Deck (102nd floor) as well.

Empire State Building’s 102-floor upgrade ticket. Image: Roamthegnome.com

If you want to watch the sunrise from the 86th floor of ESB, buy Sunrise ticket for $125 per person.

The AM/PM combo pass allows you to visit the attraction once during the day and once after 9 pm and costs $66.40 for adults.

Tip: More than 90% of the visitors opt for the cheapest Empire State Building entry ticket called the Standard Ticket (also known as General Admission ticket).

Design features

Entrance lobby

Unlike most of today’s high-rise buildings, the Empire State Building features a classic facade. The modernistic, stainless-steel canopies of the entrances on Thirty-third and Thirty-forth 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 elevator core contains 67 elevators.

There are various setbacks in the building’s design, as required by New York City’s Zoning Resolution of 1916. The main purpose for the law was to reduce shadows cast by tall buildings. These setbacks give the building its unique tapered silhouette.

The lobby is three stories high and features an aluminum relief of the skyscraper without the antenna, which was not added to the spire until 1952. The north corridor contains eight illuminated panels, created by Roy Sparkia and Renée Nemorov in 1963, depicting the building as the Eighth Wonder of the World alongside the traditional seven.

Red and green floodlights during Christmas

Long-term forecasting of the life cycle of the structure was implemented at the design phase to ensure that the building’s future intended uses were not restricted by the requirements of future generations.

Floodlights illuminate the top of the building at night, in colors chosen to match seasonal and other events, such as Christmas and Independence Day. After the eightieth birthday and subsequent death of Frank Sinatra, for example, the building was bathed in blue light to represent the singer’s nickname «Ol’ Blue Eyes.»

The floodlights bathed the building in red, white, and blue for several months after the destruction of the World Trade Center, then reverted to the standard schedule. In June 2002, during the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, New York City illuminated the Empire State Building in purple and gold (the monarchical colors of the Royal House of Windsor). After the death of actress Fay Wray in late 2004, the building stood in complete darkness for 15 minutes in commemoration of her famous role in the movie King Kong, in which the building was prominently featured.

The Empire State Building has one of the most popular outdoor observatories in the world, having been visited by over 110 million people. The 86th floor observation deck offers impressive 360-degree views of the city. There is a second observation deck on the 102nd floor that is open to the public. It was closed in 1999, but reopened in November 2005. Completely enclosed and much smaller, it may be closed on high-traffic days.

Construction

Worker bolting beams during construction.

Excavation of the site began on January 22, 1930, and construction on the building itself started on March 17. The project involved 3400 workers, mostly immigrants from Europe, along with hundreds of Mohawk Nation iron workers. According to official accounts, five workers died during the construction.

The construction was part of an intense competition in New York for the title of the world’s tallest building. Two other projects vying for the title, 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, were still under construction when work began on the Empire State Building. Both would hold the title for less than a year, as the Empire State Building had surpassed them upon its completion, just 410 days after construction commenced. The building was officially opened on May 1, 1931 in dramatic fashion, when United States President Herbert Hoover turned on the building’s lights with the push of a button from Washington, D.C..

A series of setbacks causes the building to taper off with height.

The Empire State Building rises to 1,250 feet at the one-hundred-and-second floor, and its full structural height (including broadcast antenna) reaches 1,453 feet and eight and nine-sixteenth inches. The building is typically described as being 102 stories tall, although it has only 85 stories of commercial and office space (2,158,000 square feet), with an observation deck on the 86th floor. The remaining 16 stories represent the spire, which supports the broadcast antenna on top. The Empire State Building is the first building to have more than 100 floors. The building weighs approximately 330,000 metric tons. It has 6,500 windows, 73 elevators, 1,860 steps to the top floor, and a total floor area of 2,200,000 square feet.

Did you know?
The Empire State Building remained the tallest skyscraper in the world for over 40 years

The Empire State Building remained the tallest skyscraper in the world for a record 41 years and stood as the world’s tallest man-made structure for 23 years.

What to see at the Empire State building?

Most tourists don’t know that the Empire State isn’t just about the observatories.

Inside Empire State Building, there are two kinds of attractions – observatories and exhibits.

Observation decks

The Empire State is the 6th tallest building in the United States of America.

There are two observatories in Empire State Building – on the 86th and 102nd floors.

The Empire State building’s Observation decks allow a 360-degree view of the city.

Main Deck on 86th floor

Image: Esbnyc.com

This Deck is the highest open-air observatory in New York City.

All the ESB ticket holders get access to this Main deck observatory.

High-powered binoculars present in the observatory help you get a closer look at the city.

Because of the protective fencing, it isn’t easy to take selfies and photos from the 86th floor.

Top Deck on 102nd floor

Image: Esbnyc.com

The 102nd-floor observatory is much smaller and completely enclosed.

It has huge glass windows through which you can see the most beautiful panoramic view of New York City.

On a clear day, you can see as far as the five states – New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

From this Empire State Building observatory, you can see approximately 130 km (80 miles approx).

The Lobby

Image: Esbnyc.com

The ESB lobby is one of the few interior areas of the city, labeled a historic landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

This lobby’s backdrop is an image of the Empire State Building itself, with beams of light radiating from the building.

The Exhibits

Besides the observatories, the Empire State Building has numerous exhibits spread over the second and the 80th floor of the building. 

We list them here:

• Site in 1920s
• Construction exhibit
• Opening Day
• Modern Marvel
• Otis Elevators
• Urban Campus
• Most Famous Building exhibit
• King Kong’s Escape
• Celebrities Galore
• Artistry in Light
• Stephen Wiltshire’s Drawing

Follow the link to know what’s inside the Empire State Building.

Recommended Reading– Empire State Building or Top of the Rock– Empire State Building or One World Observatory

Standard or Express tickets?

Many visitors are confused about which tickets to buy while visiting Empire State Building – Standard tickets or Express tickets.

Here is our Standard ticket vs. Express ticket comparison to help you decide:

Standard tickets

• Also known as General Admission ticket
• The adult ticket costs $45.73 per person
• Seniors get a discount of $2 on the adult ticket price
• Kids between 6 to 12 years get a $6.5 discount
• Kids 5 years and below enter for free
• If you buy Standard Tickets online, you wait in two lines – for security and the elevator. Else, you also wait in line to purchase tickets
• During peak seasons and hours, purchasing a Standard ticket helps you save more than 60 minutes in the lines

Express tickets

• Also known as Skip all the Lines ticket
• The cost of the Express ticket is $85 irrespective of the age of the visitor
• Kids below six years get in for free
• If you buy Express Tickets online, you don’t wait in any queue
• During peak times, this ticket can save you more than an hour of waiting time

Our recommendation

The Express tickets are expensive, so we suggest them only under the following conditions:

• You are visiting during the peak season
• You can’t plan your visit during the off hours – 8 am to 11 pm or after sunset to 1 am
• You don’t have much time and want to finish your tour of the Empire State Building in an hour
• You are traveling with kids and fear they may get irritated while waiting
• Money isn’t an issue for you, but you want a hassle-free experience at Empire State

Got reasons to buy Express Tickets? Book Now

Recommended Reading: Empire State Building facts

История Эмпайр Стейт Билдинг

Здание Эмпайр Стейт-Билдинг находится по адресу: Нью-Йорк, Пятая авеню,350. Эта часть Манхеттена и сейчас считается очень престижной. Небоскребы, которых здесь достаточно, лишь еще больше подчеркивают респектабельность этого района.

Нью-Йорк и Чикаго стали первыми городами, где началось строительство высотных зданий. Тому было много причин. Во-первых, уже активно применялись технические новшества — легкая строительная арматура, скоростные лифты, ленточный фундамент и т. д. Во-вторых, с конца XIX века цена на землю была достаточно высока, поэтому строительство многоэтажных зданий оказалось экономически выгодным. Но, несмотря на более низкую цену, размещение офиса в небоскребе было и остается до сих пор очень престижным. Сейчас, чтобы снять офис в небоскребе, надо заплатить гораздо больше, чем за подобные апартаменты в обычном здании.

Современный Эмпайр Стейт-Билдинг построен на месте, где с 1860 года находился центр для местной аристократии. Тогда здесь стояли два знатных дома, принадлежавших членам богатейшей семьи Астор. В последствие, здесь были построены отели «Уолдорф» и «Астория». Эти два отеля функционировали в 90-х годах XIX века. В 1929 году оба отеля были разрушены, для того, чтобы расчистить площадку для строительства Эмпайр Стейт-Билдинг.

Здание возведено на двухэтажном фундаменте (чтобы небоскреб был более устойчивым) и поддержано стальной конструкцией весом в 54 400 тонн. На строительство потрачено десять миллионов кирпичей и 700 километров кабеля. Строительство возглавлял Джон Якоб Раскоб (создатель компании «Дженерал Моторс»). Проект выполнила архитектурная фирма «Шрив, Лэм и Хармон».

Здание было выстроено просто с неслыханной скоростью. Чуть больше полутора лет 38 бригад строителей (по 5 человек в каждой) монтировали каркас небоскреба из огромного количества металлических балок, которые доставляли на стройку по специально построенной железной дороге. Строительство было очень сложным и рискованным: каждый день рабочим приходилось балансировать на узких балках этого каркаса.

Небоскреб рос буквально на глазах. Каждую неделю строились примерно четыре с половиной этажа, а в наиболее интенсивный период за 10 дней были возведены 14 этажей. Все здание было построено за 1 год и 45 дней.

1 мая 1931 года состоялось официальное открытие Эмпайр Стейт-Билдинг, получившего статус самого высокого здания на нашей планете, обогнав предыдущего рекордсмена — штаб-квартиру автомобильной корпорации «Крайслер».

Время открытия небоскреба совпало великой экономической депрессией. Не многие могли позволить снять себе офис в этом здании. Тогда здание даже прозвали «Пустой-стейт-билдинг» (Empty State Building). Прошло десять лет, пока все помещения, наконец, были сданы.

Сначала создатели небоскреба планировали построить плоскую крышу, чтобы устроить здесь площадку для дирижаблей. Но впоследствии от этой идеи отказались: и площадка — дорогое удовольствие, да и дирижабли выходили и моды. В 1950 году небоскреб решено было надстроить: на крыше установили небольшую телебашню, высотой в 447 метров.

Название небоскреба Эмпайр Стейт-Билдинг происходит от слов «билдинг», что по-английски означает «здание» или «строение». «Эмпайр стейт» (с английского переводится как «штат-империя») — это неофициальное название штата Нью-Йорк.

Небоскреб быстро приобрел печальную славу, поскольку оказался очень привлекательным для самоубийц. Первый суицид произошел в 1933 году, спустя всего 3 года после открытия. В том же году на экраны вышел фильм «Кинг-Конг», и образ этого здания оказался прочно связанным в сознании миллионов зрителей с огромным чудовищем, взбирающимся по стенам небоскреба. В довершение ко всему, в 1945 году из-за плохой видимости в 79-й этаж врезался самолет. Погибли 14 человек, а ущерб составил один миллион долларов. Тогда стали поговаривать, что небоскреб Эмпайр Стейт-Билдинг чуть ли не дьявольское изобретение. Правда, преуспевающие бизнесмены все это называли полнейшей чушью и продолжали бороться за право снять офис в самом респектабельном здании Манхеттена.

В 1986 году зданию Эмпайр Стейт-Билдинг присвоен статус национального памятника архитектуры. Ежегодно его посещает более 35 000 туристов, не считая того, что в самом здании работает более 50 000 человек.

Уже не одно десятилетие Эмпайр Стейт-Билдинг считается символом Нью-Йорка и всего американского государства.

History

The building’s opening coincided with the Great Depression in the United States, and as a result much of its office space went unrented in the beginning. In its first year of operation, the observation deck took in over a million dollars, as much as its owners earned in rent that year. The lack of renters led New Yorkers to deride the building as the «Empty State Building.»

Empire State Building with downtown New York City in the background.

The building’s distinctive art deco spire was originally designed to be a mooring mast and depot for dirigibles. The 102nd floor was originally the landing platform for the Dirigible Gang Plank. One elevator, which travels between the 86th and 102nd floors was supposed to transport passengers after they checked in at the observation deck on the 86th floor. However, the idea proved to be impractical and dangerous after a few attempts with airships, due to the powerful updrafts caused by the size of the building itself. The T-shaped mooring devices remain in place, and a large broadcasting antenna was added to the top of the spire in 1952.

At 9:49 a.m. on Saturday July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber flying in a thick fog accidentally crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building between the 79th and 80th floors, where the offices of the National Catholic Welfare Council were located. One engine shot through the side opposite the impact and another plummeted down an elevator shaft. The fire was extinguished in 40 minutes. Fourteen people were killed in the incident. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator, which still stands as the Guinness World Record for the longest, survived, elevator fall recorded. Despite the damage and loss of life, the building was open for business on many floors on the following Monday.

Over the years, more than 30 people have committed suicide from atop the building. The fence around the observatory terrace was put up in 1947 after five people tried to jump over a three-week span. In 1979, Elvita Adams jumped from the 86th floor, only to be blown back onto the 85th floor and left with only a broken hip. Despite security measures, the building was also the site of suicides as recently as 2004 and 2006.

There was a short-lived plan to add 11 floors to the Empire State Building.

Credit: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images

Shortly after the World Trade Center towers were erected in the early 1970s, an architect at the firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon concocted a scheme that would allow the Empire State Building to keep its crown as the world’s tallest skyscraper. The proposed plan called for the building’s 16-story tower to be demolished and replaced by a new top section that would increase its height to 113 stories and 1,495 feet. If completed, the renovation would have made the Empire Building taller than both the World Trade Center and the Sears Tower—which was then under construction—but the idea was quickly dropped due to cost concerns and complaints that it would destroy the building’s iconic look.

Free entry to Empire State

Children aged five and under can enter the Empire State Building for free.

Military personnel in uniform can also walk in for free.

All other visitors need a ticket to explore this New York City landmark.

If you are on a budget holiday and don’t want to go up to the observatory, you can visit the Empire State’s lobby for free.

Empire State for free with Discount cards

Visitors can enter the building for free if they have bought New York City Pass or the New York Explorer Pass.

Both the Passes let you skip the queue at the Empire State’s ticketing counter and go straight to the 86th-floor observatory for free.

Besides ESB, these discount cards also help you explore attractions such as the Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Museum and Memorial, MoMA, etc., for free.

These discount passes help you save up to 45% of your ticket cost.

86 floor observatory vs 102 floor observatory

All tickets allow access to the Main Deck on the 86th floor. Once you are at Empire State Building, you can also upgrade to the Top Deck on the 102nd floor – so you get to see New York Skyline from two heights.

When you buy the Empire State Building tickets – Standard, Express, Sunrise, or AM/PM – you can only book the Main Deck (86th floor) experience.

But once you are at the venue, you can decide to visit the observatory on the 102nd floor and upgrade.

The Top Deck upgrades are available at the Observatory ticket office (2nd floor) or the 86th-floor kiosk for $20 extra per person.

Most tourists wonder if the upgrade to the 102-floor observatory is worth it.

The 86th floor is 320 meters (1050 feet) above the ground, while the 102nd floor is 381 meters (1250 feet) high.

That’s a difference of 61 meters (200 feet).

Our recommendation

At that height, we don’t think a mere 61 meters (200 feet) makes a huge difference in how you see the New York skyline.

Visitors who have been to the Top Deck also feel the views weren’t much different.

However, we recommend the upgrade during winter when the outdoors 86th-floor observatory will be colder than the indoors 102nd-floor observatory.

If you are visiting in the summer months, save your $20 per person and see either Top of the Rock or One World Observatory.

B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945.

Wreckage from B-25 crash.

On the morning of July 28, 1945, while flying an Army B-25 bomber toward New York’s La Guardia Airport, Army Lt. Col. William F. Smith became disoriented in heavy fog and drifted over Midtown Manhattan. The World War II combat veteran managed to dodge several skyscrapers, but he was unable to avoid plowing into the 78th and 79th floors of the Empire State at 200 miles an hour. The crash triggered a massive explosion and sent debris careering through the building’s interior. Smith and two crewmen were killed, as were 11 people inside the building. A four-alarm fire broke out on several floors—it was then the highest building fire in New York’s history—but firefighters managed to extinguish it in just 40 minutes. Amazingly, the undamaged sections of the building were reopened for business just two days later.

Similar skyscrapers

Height comparison with the Burj Khalifa, Willis Tower, Taipei 101, and the Petronas Twin Towers

The Torre Latinoamericana in Mexico City very much resembles the Empire State Building, including setbacks and antenna. The main differences are the size and outer paneling—the Torre Latinoamericana is glass-paneled on the outside. Also of similar design are the Seven Sisters in Moscow (such as the main building of Moscow State University) and the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland. The Williams Tower in Houston is a glass-architecture version of the design, and the entrance on the ground floor is very similar.

The Reynolds Building, headquarters for the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is said to be the prototype for the Empire State Building. The Carew Tower in Cincinnati, is also thought to be the basis of the tower, due to the similar design by the same architectural firm, Shreve, Lamb and Harmon Associates. Another tower thought to be an inspiration for the Empire State Building is the Penobscot Building in Detroit, Michigan, completed in 1928.

Empire State Building timings

Empire State Building opens at 8 am and closes at 2 am, all through the year.

The elevator’s last trip up to the observatory is at 1:15 am.

Both the 86th and the 102nd-floor observatories are open for tourists 365 days of the year, irrespective of the weather.

On a few special days, the Empire State follows different timings –

December 24: 8 am to 10 pmDecember 26 – 30: 7 am to 1 amNew Year: 7 am to 10 pm

Best time to visit Empire State

The best time to visit Empire State Building is between 8 am to 10 am, after which the lines start getting longer. If you can’t make it in the morning, the next best time is from 3 pm to 5 pm.

Note: Nowadays, because of the pandemic, Empire State Building opens at 1 pm.

It was modeled after two earlier buildings.

North Carolina’s Reynolds Building. (Credit: Gabriel Benzur/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

When he drew up its plans in 1929, architect William Lamb of the firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon is said to have modeled the Empire State Building after Winston-Salem, North Carolina’s Reynolds Building—which he had previously designed—and Carew Tower in Cincinnati. The two earlier Art Deco buildings are now often cited as the Empire State’s architectural ancestors. On the Reynolds Building’s 50th anniversary in 1979, the Empire State Building’s general manager even sent a card that read, “Happy Anniversary, Dad.”

Broadcast stations

Communications devices of all sorts adorn the very top of the building.

New York City is the largest media market in the United States. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, nearly all of the city’s commercial broadcast stations (both television and radio) have transmitted from the top of the Empire State Building, although a few stations are located at the nearby Condé Nast Building.

Broadcasting began at Empire in the late 1930s, when RCA leased the 85th floor and built a laboratory there for Edwin Howard Armstrong. When Armstrong and RCA terminated their relationship, the 85th floor became the home of RCA’s New York television operations, first as an experimental station and eventually as a commercial station WNBT, channel 4 (now WNBC-TV). Other television broadcasters would join RCA at Empire, on the 83rd, 82nd, and 81st floors, frequently bringing sister FM stations with them.

When the World Trade Center was being constructed, it interfered with broadcast signals and caused serious problems for the television stations, most of which moved to the WTC as soon as it was completed. This made it possible to renovate the antenna structure and the transmitter facilities for the benefit of the FM stations remaining there, which were soon joined by other FMs and UHF TVs moving in from elsewhere in the metropolitan area. The destruction of the World Trade Center necessitated a great deal of shuffling of antennas and transmitter rooms in order to accommodate the stations moving back into the ESB.

Empire State Building tickets discount

Some of the Empire State Building tickets offer discounts for kids up to 12 years and seniors 62 years and above.

On the Standard Entry ticket, priced at $45.73, kids get a $6.5 discount while the senior citizens get a $2 discount.

On the Day and Night ticket, which costs $66.40, kids’ tickets are discounted by $10.

There are no discounts on Express Entry tickets – everybody above the age of 6 has the same ticket price.

Similarly, there are no discounts on the Sunrise ticket.

The Big Apple Pass includes tickets to a 60-minute Statue of Liberty cruise, the Empire State Building, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You also get a 10% discount code, which you can use (five times!) to get discounts on future purchases.

Empire State Building at night

Most tourists don’t know that the Empire State Building is open until 2 am every night.

The last elevator goes up at 1:15 am.

So when should one visit the Empire State Building? Day time or night?

Empire State Building day or night?

The New York Skyline at night is magical.

If you have the time and the money, we suggest you visit the building twice – once in the morning and once at night. For this, you must .

If you don’t want to make two trips to ESB, check out the advantages of visiting Empire State Building at night.

– You can spot many famous illuminated skyscrapers (including Wall Street)

– The Hudson River looks breathtaking, reflecting the city lights and the lit-up ferries moving across it.

– From the top of the Empire State Building, you can see for almost as far as 130 km (80 miles). All starlit.

– You can also spot the Statue of Liberty holding her torch, gleaming above the New York harbor.

– Empire State Building has thousands of programmable LED lights that change colors on holidays and special observances. You can experience this upfront. For instance, on the Fourth of July, the tower is lit up with red, white, and blue lights.

– You can also see the shimmering lights of the Williamsburg and Brooklyn bridge.

– You get to enjoy the city view, and at the same time, you can stargaze as you get a close view of the night sky. It is like watching into two different galaxies, one above you and one that is below.

– You get your personal space as the crowds are non-existent.

– Most of the nights, a live saxophonist takes requests. So it can be a romantic getaway.

– If you love taking photographs, you can capture the perfect night sky and the city lights

Popular attractions in New York

# Statue of Liberty# Metropolitan Museum of Art# 9/11 Memorial and Museum# Museum of Modern Art# Intrepid Museum# Guggenheim Museum# New York Botanical Garden# American Museum of Natural History# Vessel Hudson Yards# Museum of Ice Cream# Bronx Zoo# Central Park Zoo# Queens Zoo# Prospect Park Zoo# BlueMan Group NYC# Spirit of New York Dinner Cruise# New York Helicopter tour

It was constructed during a race to create the world’s tallest building.

Credit: Tetra Images/Getty Images

In the late-1920s, as New York’s economy boomed like never before, builders were in a mad dash to erect the world’s largest skyscraper. The main competition was between 40 Wall Street’s Bank of Manhattan building and the Chrysler Building, an elaborate Art Deco structure conceived by car mogul Walter Chrysler as a “monument to me.” Both towers tried to best each other by adding more floors to their design, and the race really heated up in August 1929, when General Motors executive John J. Raskob and former New York Governor Al Smith announced plans for the Empire State Building.

Upon learning that the Empire State would be 1,000 feet tall, Chrysler changed his plans a final time and fixed a stainless steel spire to the top of his skyscraper. The addition saw the Chrysler Building soar to a record 1,048 feet, but unfortunately for Chrysler, Raskob and Smith simply went back to the drawing board and returned with an even taller design for the Empire State Building. When completed in 1931, the colossus loomed 1,250 feet over the streets of Midtown Manhattan. It would remain the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years until the completion of the first World Trade Center tower in 1970.

Использование как терминала для дирижаблей

В начале эксплуатации здания его шпиль задумывалось использовать в качестве причальной мачты для дирижаблей. 102-й этаж был причальной платформой со сходнями для подъёма на дирижабль. Специальный лифт, курсирующий между 86-м и 102-м этажами, мог использоваться для транспортировки пассажиров. Регистрация, по задумке, производилась на 86 этаже. Однако идея воздушного терминала была признана несостоятельной ввиду соображений безопасности (сильные и нестабильные воздушные потоки наверху здания делали причаливание очень сложным, и после первой попытки стало понятно, что эта идея утопична). Ни один цеппелин так и не причалил к зданию. В 1952 году на месте терминала было размещено телекоммуникационное оборудование.