Page 134 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New York City

132  NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA

2 Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is one of the tallest skyscrapers
in the United States. Named after the state’s nickname, it
has become an enduring symbol of the city. Construction
began in March 1930, not long after the Wall Street Crash,
and by the time the skyscraper opened in 1931 space Symbols of the
modern age are
was so difficult to rent that it was nicknamed “the Empty depicted on these
State Building.” Only the immediate popularity of the bronze Art Deco
observatories saved the building from bankruptcy – they medallions placed
still attract more than 3.5 million visitors a year. throughout the lobby.
Construction
The building was
designed for ease and
speed of construction.
Everything possible was
prefabricated and
slotted into place at
a rate of about four
stories per week.

Empire State Building

KEY
1 Over 200 steel and concrete
piles support the 365,000-ton
building.
2 Nine minutes 33 seconds is the
record, set in 2003, for racing up the
1,576 steps from the lobby to the
86th-floor observatory, in the annual
Empire State Run-Up.
3 Sandwich space between
the floors houses the wiring, pipes,
and cables.
4 Ten million bricks were used Big Ben 315 ft
to line the whole building. (96 m)
5 Aluminum panels were used
instead of stone around the 6,514
windows. The steel trim masks rough
edges on the facing.
6 The framework is made from
60,000 tons of steel and was built in
23 weeks.
7 High-speed elevators travel at
up to 1,000 ft (305 m) a minute.
8 Colored floodlighting of the top
30 floors marks special events.
9 The Empire State was planned
to be just 86 stories high, but a then
150-ft (46-m) mooring mast for
zeppelins was added. The mast, now
204 ft (62 m), transmits TV and radio
to the city and four states.
0 102nd-floor observatory

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