It stands 103 stories tall (1,250 feet to top floor, excludes height of antennae, which is 204 feet).
It is located on Fifth Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets in Manhattan.The Empire State Building took only one year and 45 days to build, or more than seven million man-hours.
Couples can sometimes see sparks when they kiss due to the static electricity at the top of the building.
The building has been featured in several movies such as "An Affair to Remember," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Elf" and "The Amazing Spider-Man."
Visitors can see 80 miles into New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts on a clear day.
The tower lights are turned off on foggy nights during the spring and autumn bird migration seasons, so the lights will not confuse birds and cause them to fly into the building.
It is the tallest
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified building in the United States.
Every year on
Valentine's Day, couples who marry on the 80th floor become members of the Empire State Building Wedding Club. They receive free admission to the observatory each year on February 14 (their anniversary) thereafter.
Over thirty people have jumped to their deaths from the Empire State Building.
The Empire State Building Run-Up is an annual race up the stairs to the 86th floor (1,576 steps).
William Lamb, an architect at the firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, designed the Empire State Building.
The contractor was the
firm
Starrett Brothers and Eken. The building has 24/7 security.
It is monitored with security technology, such as CCTV cameras.
The primary security screening for visitors is similar to airport security procedures.
Timeline:
1929 - John J. Raskob, Coleman and Pierre du Pont, Louis G. Kaufman and Ellis P. Earle create Empire State, Inc.
January 22, 1930 - Excavation begins.
March 17, 1930 - Construction begins with 3,000 workers building 4.5 floors per week.
April 1931 - At completion, it becomes the tallest building in the world.
May 1, 1931 - President Herbert Hoover turns on the building's lights, officially opening it, by pressing a button in Washington.
July 28, 1945 - At the end of
World War II, an Army Air Corps B-25 twin-engine bomber plane crashes into the 79th floor of the building, due to foggy conditions.
Only two stories are damaged, but 14 people are killed. 1951 - The building is sold for $34 million to a group led by Roger Stevens, but is also sold to Prudential Insurance Company of America. PICA agrees to a long term lease.
1954 - Col. Henry J. Crown and his Chicago group purchase the building for $51.5 million.
1961 - An investment group headed by Lawrence Wien purchases the building for $65 million.
1973 - The construction of the World Trade Center in Manhattan ends the Empire State Building's reign as the tallest building in the world.
May 18, 1981 - The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission declares the building a landmark.
