HISTORY OF EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

HISTORY OF EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

 

HISTORY

 Construction of the Empire State Building began in March of 1930 on the site of the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at 350 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street. It was completed 14 months later in May, 1931. Designed by the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb, & Harmon Associates, the Empire State Building, at 102 stories, was the tallest building in the world until the completion of the first tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan in 1972.

LOCATION

350 Fifth Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Streets, New York, NY 10001

 DESCRIPTION

 Architects: Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates.
Builders: Starrett Brothers & Eken, Inc.

Height: 1,472 feet (448 meters) to top of antennae. 1,250 feet (391 meters) to 102nd floor observatory. 1,050 feet (320 meters) to 86th floor observatory.
Volume: 37 million cubic feet.

Area of Site: 83,860 square feet.
Cost including land: $40,948,900.

Cost of building alone: $24,718,000 (expected cost of $50 million
did not materialize due to the Great Depression)

Construction schedule:
Excavation: Begun January 22, 1930, before demolition of old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel completed.
Construction: Begun March 17, 1930. Framework rose at the rate of 4.5 stories per week.
Cornerstone: Laid by Alfred E. Smith, former governor of New York, September 17, 1930.

Masonry completed: November 13, 1930.

Official opening: May 1, 1931, by President Herbert Hoover, who pressed a button in Washington, D.C. to turn on the building's lights.

Total time: 7 million man hours, 1 year and 45 days work, including Sundays and holidays.

Work Force: 3,400 during peak periods.

Building Materials:
Exterior: Indiana limestone and granite, trimmed with aluminum and chrome-nickel steel from the 6th floor to the top.
Interior lobby: Ceiling high marble, imported from France, Italy, Belgium and Germany.

DETAILED INFORMATION

 “It’s nearest place we have in New York to heaven,” says the heroine of the classic film Love Affair (1939), gazing in awe at the Empire State Building.  Dominating the Manhattan skyline, the quintessential skyscraper has become a symbol of the city.

 

Named for New York (“the Empire State”), the building rises 102 storiesand was the world’s tallest for a record 41 years.  The building’s height, including the 203-foot pinnacle, is 1,453 feet (443 m).  The pinnacle is covered with broadcast antennas, crowned by a lightning rod, and a beacon light to serve as a warning signal for aircraft.

Primarily an office building, the Empire State’s 85 stories of commercial and office space houses 1,000 businessesand approximately 20,000 employees.  It even has its own zip code (10118).  Spaces open to the public include the magnificent three-story Art Deco marble lobby, and the Observation decks on the 86^th and 102^nd floors.

The building and its interiors are designed in the distinctive Art Decostyle, and are a designated National Historic Landmark.  In 2007, the building was ranked number one on the list of America’s Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.

Each evening, the top 30 stories of the building are illuminated in colors that reflect the season, celebrate a holiday (i.e. green for St. Patrick’s Day, red, white and blue for the 4^th of July, etc.), or commemorate local sporting teams or worthy causes (pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, etc.).  The lighting schedule can be found here, or try Night Light NYC, a mobile app that includes a 360 view of the lighting.

Excavation on the site (location of the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel) began on January 22, 1930.  Construction involved 3,400 workers, mostly immigrants from Europe, along with hundreds of Mohawk ironworkers.  The building rose incredibly fast (sometimes as rapidly as a floor a day), with steel girders still hot from Pennsylvania mills.  Just 410 daysafter construction began, the building officially opened on May 1, 1931, at acost of $40,948,900.

The Great Depression had devastated the business community, so the building was less than half occupied when it opened.  Nicknamed “The Empty State Building,” it barely managed to cover expenses with revenue from the observatory.  The building would not become profitable until 1950.

Visit –

The Observatories are open 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.  The last elevators go up at 1:15 a.m.
The visitors entrance is on Fifth Avenue between 33^rd & 34^th Streets.  All visitors must go through the Observatory security-check line (check here for prohibited items, which include glass containers, cans, professional camera equipment, and large packages or luggage).  There are no storage facilities available for personal belongings.

Tickets to the 86th floor Observatory are $22.00 for Adults, $20.00 for Seniors, and $16.00 for Children (6-12, kids under 5 are free). The ticket office accepts cash, American-based travelers checks, and all major credit cards except Diner’s Club.

There are additional charges to continue to the 102nd floor Observatory ($15), for the Audio Tour ($8), or the Express Pass ($45), which allows you to skip some lines. Combination tickets are also available.  Ticket and visitor information

Two factors that can greatly impact your visit are weather (on a clear day, you can see 80 miles and five states), and crowds, which can make for considerable lines and waiting.  In general, the least busy times are weekdays before noon, and after midnight. You can buy tickets online in advance to avoid the long lines to the ticket office.
You may call the Empire State Building to find out wait times, visibility, etc. at (212) 736-3100 or toll free (877) NYC-VIEW (692-8439).

The Empire State Building is fully ADA compliant, and handicapped restrooms are on the 86^thfloor Observatory.  The Handicap Entrance is on 34^th Street, between Bank of America and Starbucks.  Note: The 34^th Street Handicap Entrance is only open Monday – Friday until 6 p.m. Use the Main Entrance for all other times.

Originally, the 17-story spire was to be a dirigibleanchor and passenger gate.  The current top observation deck at 1,250 feet is enclosed, but in the original plans it was an outdoor platform where passengers loaded on and off trans-Atlantic dirigibles parked over midtown.  After high winds nearly lead to catastrophe, the plan was abandoned.

According to official accounts, five workers died during the construction of the building.

On July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber that was lost in fog slammed into the north wall of the 78th and 79th floors.  Fourteen people were killed (it was Saturday, so many offices were empty). Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator, the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall recorded.  There was no important structural damage to the building, which opened for business on the following Monday.

Over the years, more than thirty people have committed suicide by jumping from the top of the building.  The fence around the observatory terrace was put up in 1947 after five people tried to jump during 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.  The most recent suicide occurred in 2007, when someone leapt from the 69^th floor.