Empire State Building turns 75

Just want to share with you an audio slideshow on Empire State Building. In 1929, the former governor of New York teamed with others with the idea to create the world's tallest skyscraper.




Empire State Building turns 75

April 28, 2006


It is the symbol of New York that holds sway like none other. And the only one made of 60,000 tons of steel and 10 million bricks -- and struck by lightning about 100 times a year.

On Monday, Gotham will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Empire State Building, which remains the preeminent architectural monument to the ingenuity and confidence of New York City.

"It would be hard to imagine another building ever having so much symbolic power in the American landscape," said Mark Kingwell, author of the forthcoming book "Nearest Thing to Heaven: The Empire State Building and American Dreams." "Nothing on earth had been completed as quickly and to such a substantial degree as the Empire State Building."

At the height of construction in 1930, almost 3,500 ironworkers, electricians and stonemasons toiled away, knowing they were blessed with work while much of the country suffocated in the Great Depression's grip.

Construction took just 13 months, with workers reaching toward the sky at the rate of nearly one floor per day. The men wore no hardhats, and did not strap on safety harnesses. Twelve of them died during construction.

"There were not too many lawyers involved in the building process back then, so that sped things up," said Tom Kelly, author of "Empire Rising," a novel about the building's construction. "Thanks to the Depression, it was the only show in town, so they had all the best workers and engineers on the project."

According to Kingwell, the Empire State Building "never did make commercial sense." Indeed, the "Empty State Building," as the crack went, has historically had large swaths of vacant office space.

To be sure, its builders hoped to make money, but ultimately, the tower served as a way to restore confidence to a city and nation that had been brought to its economic knees.

Even today, with the economy humming but our confidence shaken in other ways, the Empire State Building stands as an emblem of the city's -- and perhaps our own -- potential for greatness.

"As a kid growing up in New York, the Empire State Building was the fixed point at the center of the world about which everything else -- Manhattan, Long Island, the 48 states -- all rotated," said Rick Bell, executive director of the local American Institute of Architects.

"Like the stick in a New Year's noisemaker or a whirligig, it was, and is, New York's fulcrum."

(jsilverman@am-ny.com)


Timeline of Empire State Building history

1929: The original Waldorf Astoria is torn down to make way for what will become New York's ultimate architectural icon.

March 17, 1930: Construction begins.

May 1, 1931: The tower opens for business to much fanfare.

1933: King Kong has his first date with Empire State Building.

July 28, 1945: A B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor on a foggy Saturday, killing 14 people. The damage is minimal.

December 1947: Suicide guards are installed around the 86th floor observatory.

1953: The 200-foot TV mast is installed.

1957: Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr make it a symbol of romance in "An Affair to Remember."

1973: World Trade Center tops ESB as New York's tallest.

1976: Douglas Leigh devises multi-color lighting system for Empire's top.

May 18, 1981: Named a city landmark.

Feb. 23, 1997: Man opens fire on 86th-floor observation deck, killing one and injuring six before fatally shooting himself.

Sept. 11, 2001, 10:29 a.m.: With collapse of One World Trade Center, the Empire State is again the city's tallest building.

May 1, 2006: The Empire celebrates its 75th birthday.