Majestic 103 floors in Art Deco style - Empire State Building

New York/Praha - It is no longer the tallest building in the world, but it has lost none of its majesty. The iconic Empire State Building (ESB) on Manhattan stands again as the tallest building in New York, towering over the corner of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue after many years. One of the symbols of the "Big Apple" does not lack for visitors. In the 75 years since the opening of the city's pride on May 1, more than 110 million people have enjoyed the view from its observation deck on the 86th floor at a height of 320 meters.
The magnificent 103-story tower made of glass, steel, and aluminum in Art Deco style held its record as the tallest building in the world for an unprecedented duration (from 1931 to 1972), measuring 381 meters (443.2 meters from base to the tip of the antenna).
The project was assigned to architects almost on the very day of the New York stock market crash in October 1929. John Jakob Raskob, a former president of General Motors, wanted to invest in real estate construction and could not allow his biggest competitor Walter Chrysler to get ahead of him. Raskob teamed up with former New York Governor Alfred E. Smith, and they founded a company to finance the project. They approached architects from the firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, who designed the tower in the shape of a thick, long pencil.
The ESB was originally supposed to have 80 floors, but when it became clear that Chrysler's skyscraper would be taller, they added another five. A few extra meters triggered Raskob's fears that Chrysler might pull a fast one and add a piece right before the end of the construction. In the end, the ESB received a total of 103 floors.
Raskob purchased the land on Manhattan where the old Waldorf-Astoria hotel stood, and construction began on March 13, 1930. Since the leases for most offices in New York expired on May 1, the construction had to be ready for leasing by that date. The building was a model of efficiency - constructed literally like an assembly line. The work schedule was detailed down to the minute - no hour could be wasted.
The construction materials were therefore prepared in factories to minimize the time and space required at the construction site. Individual phases of work overlapped - while the Waldorf-Astoria hotel was being demolished, excavation began. The ESB was completed in a record time of 13 months, rising an average of four and a half floors every week. It was named after the nickname of its home state - Empire State.
On May 1, 1931, United States President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in his office in the White House in Washington, and the lights on the world's tallest skyscraper lit up in New York, 430 kilometers away. The ESB held the title of the tallest building globally until 1972, when it was surpassed by the "twins" of the World Trade Center (415 and 417 meters). After the collapse of the "twins" following the terrorist attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001, the ESB once again became the tallest landmark in the city.
The ESB also experienced an airplane collision. In 1945, a B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor, killing 14 people, but the structural integrity was not compromised.
Today, one of the most attractive places in New York initially waited in vain for tenants. A year and a half after its completion, the ESB was only a quarter occupied, largely due to the economic crisis. The building thus earned a new nickname: Empty State Building.
The architectural charm of the ESB is emphasized by its endless combinations of nighttime colorful lighting that commemorates both significant and less important events. It lights up in green and blue to celebrate Earth Day, uses the colors from state flags to mark the independence of India, and, of course, it glows green in honor of animated character Popeye the Sailor and his beloved spinach on his birthday.
The current owner of the ESB is Prudential Insurance Company of America, which purchased the ESB for 29 million dollars in 1961. At the same time, Empire State Building Associates, an investment company created by Lawrence A. Wien, bought the lease for the ESB for 114 years for 36 million dollars.

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