The Empire State Building is an architectural marvel, and one of the most striking attractions in New York City. The building itself was constructed during the Great Depression and is a living monument to that era and the city it so proudly illuminates.
The excavation for the project began on January 22, 1930 and took only one year and 45 days to complete, or 7 million hours. The masonry for the structure was completed on May 1, 1931, significantly ahead of schedule. The total cost to construct the skyscraper was $40,948,000, including the cost of the land. The building alone was constructed with a little over $24,000,000. The onset of the depression significantly reduced the amount needed to construct the building. The total height of the building is 1,454 feet. The 86th floor observatory, where visitors can overlook the Chrysler Building, Harlem River and other scenes of New York City, is 1,050 feet above ground. There are 102 floors and 6,500 windows. When it was completed, the building was the tallest in the world and the New York Times referred to it as the “Everest on Fifth Avenue.”
Initially, there was trouble finding tenants to occupy the offices of this enormous building not only due to the effects of the Great Depression, but also because the area of fifth avenue and 34th street was not a prime location at he time. Since 1931 taller buildings have been built, but perhaps none remain as famous as the Empire State Building. The history of the building also includes the mishap at the end of WWII in 1945 when an Army Air Corps bomber plane crashed into the 79th floor in a dense fog. Since 1931, the building has also acted as the official welcoming landmark to many of the world’s important figures like Fidel Castro, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth and Nikita Khrushchev.
The fame of the Empire State Building has put it in movies like “Sleepless in Seattle“, “Superman II“, and “Enchanted.” However, it’s in the film “King Kong” where this monument plays a symbolic role. In the famous closing scenes of the film “King Kong” (1933), the giant ape climbs to the top of the building. His arrival at the summit announces his temporary mastery not only of the structure, but of the city as well. According to author Merrill Schleier, up to this point in the film King Kong represents the powerful and multiethnic working-class skyscraper laborers and the “human flies” who climbed skyscrapers for fame before the Great Depression. Kong’s fall however, signifies the “exploitation, unemployment, loss of manly purpose, and even death during the Great Depression.” An anonymous writer also refers to skyscrapers as “the material embodiment of the late bull market,” which “soar boldly above a mesa of roofs, very much as the spire-graph of 1929 equity prices,” but during the depression served as “ironic witnesses of collapsed hopes.”
The Empire State Building is also important for businesses and employment. Just to mention one example, Johnson Controls Inc. is serving as the energy services company for a $20 million energy efficiency upgrade program at the Empire State Building. The goal of the project is to reduce energy use at the facility by nearly 40 percent. The project is part of an ongoing overall $500 million upgrade program at the Empire State Building. This company is working in conjunction with the Clinton Climate Initiative, Rocky Mountain Institute and Jones Lang LaSalle, as well as subcontractors.
Can one imagine the number of people involved in this multimillion project? Without the Empire State Building this and many more projects wouldn’t exist and thousands of people wouldn’t have a job. Big buildings like this would always need upgrades and constant maintenance so this gigantic is a important source of employment. This project is only one topic. Lets not forget about the antenna of the Empire State Building. Different television and radio stations use this antenna, twenty two to be exact. NBC began experimental television transmissions from the first Empire State antenna on December 22, 1931. This single antenna site is the reason why workers like disc jockeys, and news reporters have a steady job.
The Empire State Building is also a target not only for New Yorkers who want to visit it, but for tourists from all around the world as well. Since the Observatory on the 86th floor opened to the public in 1931, almost 110 million visitors have thrilled to the view of the city beneath them. Each year over 3.5 million people are whisked to the 86th floor to be where Cary Grant waited in vain for Deborah Kerr in an “Affair to Remember”, while Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan had their fateful meeting in the movie “Sleepless in Seattle.” Also, there are two restaurants, a sushi bar, three coffee shops, a drug store, a Hallmark card shop, a post office and two banks, in addition to the plethora of restaurants and nightlife activities in the surrounding area. A simulated helicopter ride and virtual-reality movie theater are also available as well as several art exhibits for all to view in the lobby.
This colossal represents New York City at its fullest. From the ones who fell in love, to the business men who consider it their second home due to the long hours they spent in it.