Walk down 34th Street and look up. It’s still there, dominating the skyline with that unmistakable Art Deco crown. Honestly, it’s easy to get distracted by the shiny, needle-thin towers popping up around Central Park or the massive complex at Hudson Yards. But the Empire State Building remains the soul of New York City. It’s not just a tourist trap. It’s a feat of engineering that shouldn’t have worked, built at a time when the world was literally falling apart.
Construction started just as the Great Depression began to bite. Hard. Most people think of it as a slow, methodical process, but it was actually a frantic race. The developers were obsessed with beating the Chrysler Building. They wanted the title of "World's Tallest."
The Empire State Building and the Race for the Clouds
The rivalry was intense. 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building were already duking it out when John J. Raskob and Al Smith threw their hat in the ring. They kept changing the plans. Higher. No, higher than that. They eventually settled on a design by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon that could be put together like a giant set of Legos. It was fast. Insanely fast.
Framework rose at a rate of four and a half stories per week. Can you imagine that today? With modern safety codes and logistics, it feels impossible. Back then, "sky boys" walked the beams hundreds of feet in the air without harnesses. Lewis Hine captured those famous photos of men dangling over the abyss, eating lunch on a steel girder. It’s terrifying to look at now, but for them, it was just a paycheck in a decade where paychecks were rare.
They finished the whole thing in just 410 days.
Think about that. From the first structural steel to the ribbon cutting, it took less than 14 months. It opened on May 1, 1931. President Herbert Hoover flipped a switch in Washington D.C. to turn on the lights. But there was a problem. Nobody was moving in.
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The "Empty State Building" Era
For years, the building was a financial disaster. It gained the nickname "The Empty State Building" because it was sitting at nearly 75% vacancy. If it weren't for the observation deck revenue, the whole project might have gone under. People were willing to pay a dollar just to see the view, even if businesses weren't willing to pay for the office space. It didn't actually turn a profit until after World War II.
That Time a Plane Hit the 79th Floor
Most people forget this happened. On July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber was flying in thick fog over Manhattan. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith Jr., was trying to find Newark Airport. He got disoriented. He missed the Chrysler Building, but he slammed right into the north side of the Empire State Building.
It hit the 78th and 79th floors.
The explosion was massive. One engine flew all the way through the building and out the other side, landing on a penthouse roof nearby. Fourteen people died. But here is the crazy part: the building opened for business on many floors the very next Monday. The structural integrity of that steel frame was so over-engineered that it barely flinched.
There’s also the story of Betty Lou Oliver. She was an elevator operator who survived a 75-story plunge after the plane crash severed the elevator cables. The cables coiled at the bottom of the shaft and acted like a spring, cushioning her fall. She survived. It's still a Guinness World Record.
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Secrets of the 103rd Floor and the Mooring Mast
If you go to the 86th floor, you’re with the crowds. If you pay extra for the 102nd, you’re behind glass. But there is a 103rd floor. It’s a narrow circular balcony outside the top office level, used mostly by celebrities and maintenance workers. It’s basically a ledge with a waist-high railing.
Then there’s the spire.
Initially, the 200-foot tower at the top wasn't just for height. It was supposed to be a docking station for dirigibles—giant airships like the Hindenburg. The plan was to let passengers deboard at 1,000 feet in the air, walk down a gangplank, clear customs, and be on the street in seven minutes. It was a logistical nightmare. The winds at that altitude were way too high. They tried it once with a small blimp, and it nearly flipped over. The "Mooring Mast" idea was quietly scrapped, and it became a base for the massive broadcast antenna we see today.
Sustainability in an Old Icon
You might think a building from 1931 is an environmental disaster. It’s actually the opposite. In 2009, the Empire State Building underwent a massive $550 million retrofit. They took all 6,514 windows and remanufactured them on-site to be super-insulated. They overhauled the heating and cooling systems.
The result? They cut energy use by nearly 40%.
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It’s now one of the most sustainable historic buildings in the world. It proves that you don't have to tear down the past to meet modern standards. The building uses a "demand response" system where it can reduce its power load during peak city usage to help prevent blackouts.
The Lights and the Legends
The lighting system is legendary. Before 1964, it was mostly just white searchlights. Then they installed floodlights to celebrate the World’s Fair. Now, it’s all high-tech LED. The building can change colors instantly to mark holidays, sports wins, or global events.
- Red, White, and Blue for July 4th.
- Green for St. Patrick's Day.
- Yellow for the "Stranger Things" premiere (yeah, that happened).
- Split colors for the Subway Series.
There is actually a "Director of Film and TV" for the building because so many movies want to shoot there. From King Kong (both 1933 and 2005) to Sleepless in Seattle and Elf, the building is basically a character in the New York mythos.
Visiting Tips: How Not to Hate the Experience
If you're going, don't just show up at 2:00 PM on a Saturday. You’ll spend three hours in lines.
- Go early or late. The deck is often open until midnight or later. Going at 11:00 PM is magic. The city is glowing, and the crowds are gone.
- Enter on 34th Street. The main entrance for visitors has been moved to a dedicated spot to keep the lobby clear for office workers.
- Check the weather. If it’s foggy, don't bother. You'll be standing inside a cloud and won't see a single street light.
- Use the 2nd Floor Museum. Most people rush through the exhibits to get to the elevators. Don't. The history of the construction and the "King Kong" room are actually pretty cool.
Why It Still Matters
The Empire State Building represents a specific kind of American ambition. It was built during a collapse, yet it reached higher than anything else. It survived a plane crash. It survived being empty. It survived the rise of the Twin Towers and the subsequent rise of One World Trade.
It remains the most photographed building in the world for a reason. It has a silhouette that everyone recognizes, whether they live in Tokyo or Topeka. It's the anchor of Midtown.
Next Steps for Your Visit:
- Download the official app. It has a guided tour narrated by Tony Robbins (random, I know) that explains the history as you move through the floors.
- Check the lighting schedule. Before you go, look at the building's official website to see why it's a certain color that night. It adds a layer of context to your photos.
- Book the "Premium Experience." If you have the budget, the guided 90-minute tour takes you through the "celebrity" green room and gives you priority access to everything.
- Look for the rivets. When you're on the 86th floor, look at the steel work. Those are the original rivets hammered in by hand in 1930. It puts the scale of the human effort into perspective.