You’ve seen it in a thousand movies. King Kong climbed it, Sleepless in Seattle romanticized it, and every postcard from Manhattan basically requires its silhouette. But honestly, most people treat the Empire State Building like a giant, limestone checklist item. They show up, take a blurry selfie from the 86th floor, and leave without realizing they’re standing inside one of the weirdest, most desperate, and technically impossible gambles in architectural history. It is the quintessential New York famous building, yet we’ve kind of forgotten how close it came to being a total disaster.
Walking down 34th Street today, the building feels permanent. It feels like it’s always been there, steady as a mountain. It isn't.
The 410-Day Miracle (Or How to Build a Skyscraper at Warp Speed)
Let’s talk about the pace. It’s actually insane. Modern construction projects for a standard Midtown condo can take three or four years. The Empire State Building went up in one year and 45 days. Think about that. They were adding roughly four and a half floors every single week.
Starrett Bros. & Eken, the lead contractors, ran the site like a military operation. There were 3,400 workers crawling over the frame at any given time. It wasn't just fast; it was a logistics masterpiece. They had a miniature railway on the construction floors to move materials. They had "sky restaurants" so the guys didn't have to go down to the street for lunch. It was a self-contained city rising into the clouds.
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Why the rush? Pure, unadulterated ego and a looming economic shadow. John J. Raskob and Al Smith were in a "space race" with Walter Chrysler. Chrysler was building his namesake tower just a few blocks away, and he was being sneaky about it, hiding a stainless steel spire inside the building to snatch the "world's tallest" title at the last second. Raskob wasn't having it. He allegedly asked his architect, William F. Lamb, "Bill, how high can you make it so that it won't fall down?"
The answer was 1,250 feet.
But here’s the thing: they finished the building right as the Great Depression slammed the door shut on the world economy.
The Empty State Building
For years, this New York famous building was a financial joke. It opened in 1931, and nobody wanted to rent space. It was too far from the main transit hubs of the time, and well, nobody had any money. It was nicknamed the "Empty State Building."
If you visited in 1934, you would have found entire floors completely dark. The owners actually told the janitors to turn on lights in unoccupied offices just so it looked like someone was working there from the street. It didn't turn a profit until after World War II. Imagine owning the most iconic skyscraper on the planet and being unable to pay the taxes on it for a decade. It’s a side of the story that doesn't make it into the tourist brochures, but it's the most "New York" part of the tale—faking it until you make it on a massive, Art Deco scale.
That Time a Plane Hit the 79th Floor
People forget the 1945 crash. It sounds like a fever dream or a movie plot, but it’s 100% real. On a foggy Saturday in July, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith was piloting a B-25 Mitchell bomber. He got lost in the soup over Manhattan. He was supposed to be heading to Newark, but he found himself weaving between skyscrapers.
He missed the Chrysler Building. He missed the New York Central Building. He didn't miss the Empire State.
The plane slammed into the north side of the 79th floor. A huge hole—18 by 20 feet—was ripped into the side of the building. High-octane fuel poured down the stairwells and the elevator shafts. One engine flew all the way through the building and landed on the roof of a penthouse across the street.
The most incredible part? The building stayed open for business on Monday.
Betty Lou Oliver, an elevator operator, survived a 75-story plunge in a lift after the cables were severed by the crash. The emergency brakes (and a cushion of air at the bottom) saved her life. It remains the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall. If you ever feel nervous in those high-speed elevators, just remember Betty Lou. The engineering in this place is basically bulletproof.
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The Zeppelin Docking Station That Never Was
If you look at the very top of the building—the mast—it looks a bit like a lighthouse. That wasn't just for aesthetics. The original plan was for the Empire State Building to be an international airport for dirigibles.
The idea was that massive Zeppelins like the Hindenburg would pull up, tether themselves to the spire, and passengers would walk down a gangplank onto the 102nd floor, clear customs, and be in Midtown Manhattan in seven minutes.
It was a nightmare. The winds at 1,000 feet are unpredictable and violent. After a few terrifying attempts where a blimp nearly flipped over and dangled passengers over the street, they realized it was a logistical impossibility. Now, that "docking station" just serves as the base for the massive broadcast antenna that provides the signal for half the city.
Designing the Icon: It's All About the Setbacks
The "wedding cake" shape of the building wasn't just a style choice. It was a legal requirement. The 1916 Zoning Resolution in New York City was passed because people were worried that skyscrapers would turn streets into dark, sunless canyons. To get permission to go that high, you had to "step back" the building as it rose.
This is why the Empire State has those distinct tiers. Architect William F. Lamb turned a legal annoyance into a masterpiece of Art Deco symmetry. The limestone is from Indiana, and the interior is decked out in marbles from France, Italy, Belgium, and Germany. It was a global effort at a time when the world was falling apart.
Real Tips for Your Visit
If you’re actually going, stop doing what everyone else does.
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- Skip the sunset. Everyone wants to be there when the sun goes down. It’s crowded, people are pushy, and you’ll spend more time looking at the back of someone’s head than the horizon. Go at 8:00 AM or after 10:00 PM. The city at night, without the elbowing crowds, is a completely different experience.
- The 102nd Floor is cool, but is it $20 extra cool? The 86th floor is the famous open-air observatory. You can feel the wind, hear the hum of the city, and look through the bars. The 102nd is enclosed in glass. It’s higher, sure, but you lose that tactile connection to the city. If you’re on a budget, stay at 86.
- Look at the lobby. People rush through the lobby to get to the elevators. Don't. The gold leaf and the marble depiction of the building with the sun radiating behind it is one of the most significant pieces of Art Deco interior design in existence.
- The Lights. Check the lighting schedule before you go. The building changes colors almost every night to celebrate various holidays, causes, or events. There’s a specific logic to it that most people miss.
The Practical Reality of the Empire State Building
Today, the building is a massive tech hub. It’s undergone a $550 million "Greening" project to make it one of the most energy-efficient pre-war buildings in the world. They refurbished all 6,514 windows to keep heat in. It’s a living example of how you can take a 100-year-old giant and make it work for the 21st century.
This isn't just a New York famous building because it's tall. It's famous because it represents the sheer, stubborn will of a city that refuses to quit. It was built during a crash, survived a plane hitting it, stayed empty for years, and yet it still defines the skyline.
What to do next:
- Check the lighting calendar: Visit the official Empire State Building website to see what the colors represent tonight; it adds a layer of meaning to your photos.
- Buy tickets online: Never, ever buy tickets from the "street team" vendors outside. They are often selling third-party tours you don't need. Use the official site to get a QR code and skip the first line.
- Pair it with a walk: Start at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street, walk down 5th Avenue to see the building loom larger, and enter through the 34th Street visitor entrance for the best approach.