The Empire State Building
On a frigid day on January 22, 2025, I finally made the trip, which I have postponed for over a decade, to see and photograph New York City, from its outdoor observation deck. The Empire State Building is an ancient warrior of architecture leaning against the Manhattan skyline in defiance of being eclipsed by the growing forest of sleek supertall modern edifices. Waves of tourists jostled for the best areas to prop themselves against the stainless-steel fence to forge memorable photographs with their cellphones and cameras of themselves and the city from its perch. Maneuvering around them with heavy camera in cold hands for several hours, I photographed the city east, west, south and north as the sun receded towards New Jersey and building lights pieced the evening sky. I also captured one of the several guides in their dark black uniforms with maroon piping in the interior of the building.
The Empire State Building is a 102-story[c] Art Deco skyscraper in the Midtown Southneighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from “Empire State”, the nickname of the state of New York. The building has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m) and stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, including its antenna. The Empire State Building was the world’s tallest building until the first tower of the World Trade Center was topped out in 1970; following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was New York City’s tallest building until it was surpassed in 2012 by One World Trade Center. As of 2024, the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, the ninth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, and the 57th-tallest completed skyscraper in the world.
The site of the Empire State Building, on the west side of Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets, was developed in 1893 as the Waldorf–Astoria Hotel. In 1929, Empire State Inc. acquired the site and devised plans for a skyscraper there. The design for the Empire State Building was changed fifteen times until it was ensured to be the world’s tallest building. Construction started on March 17, 1930, and the building opened thirteen and a half months afterward on May 1, 1931. Despite favorable publicity related to the building’s construction, because of the Great Depression and World War II, its owners did not make a profit until the early 1950s.
