New York City is filled with amazing architecture, culture and design, making it a real hotspot for tourists and sightseers alike. I was lucky enough to capture the Empire State Building in all its glory when I visited Manhattan, so I thought I’d share some interesting facts about it that I learned on my travels.
- 1. The Empire State Building’s signature Art Deco design was inspired by the Reynolds Building in North Carolina and Carew Tower in Cincinnati.
- The skyscraper was designed and built during a construction boom in the late-1920s, which led to literal race to the top. Both the Bank of Manhattan building and the Chrysler Building were in competition to build the world’s largest skyscraper but, thanks to a few last-minute changes, former New York Governor Al Smith General Motors executive John J. Raskob managed to win the title with their Empire State Building!
- Even though the Empire State Building is absolutely colossal in size, the contractors who built it did so in just 410 days, using an army of 3,400 every day to set and maintain this impressive pace!
- Once the Empire State Building was finally completed, it was considered to be a total financial flop, thanks to the Great Depression. Just a quarter of the building’s planned retail space was filled and trading when it opened, and the top half of the skyscraper stayed almost completely vacant for most of that decade until finally becoming profitable after World War II!
- Standing at an impressive 1,250 feet tall, the Empire State Building held onto its title as the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years before finally being beaten by the first World Trade Center tower in 1970.
- Shortly after their record has been broken, an architect proposed a plan to increase the height of the building to 1,495 in order to claim back the title. This idea never came to be reality, however, due to concerns about costs and potential complaints regarding changes to the tower’s iconic look. Personally, I’m glad they kept it the way it was!
- In honour of King Kong’s 50th anniversary, a gigantic inflatable King Kong balloon was attached to the building’s mooring mast, causing quite the scene!
Have you ever been lucky enough to visit New York City? Or perhaps plan to in the near future?
The Empire State Building is certainly an unmissable sight that’s more than worth a visit!
Until next time - Stephen