One of my favorite buildings, The Empire State Building, is synonymous with New York City. It held the record for tallest building in the world twice and managed to survive getting beat up quite a few times.

Did you know that a B-25 Bomber (a very big plane) accidentally crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building?

*The original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on 5th Avenue and 33rd Street. - Photo: NYPL Digital Collection*

In May 1929, the original Waldorf Astoria Hotel closed and sold its highly valuable land to the Bethlehem Engineering Corporation, which planned to construct a 25-story office building. Bethlehem Engineering was unable to secure funding, so they resold the land to Empire State Inc., a group of investors led by John J. Raskob, former head of General Motors, and Alfred E. Smith, former governor of New York. Most of the remains of the lavish Waldorf Astoria were dumped offshore in New Jersey.

The group hired architectural firm Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon to design the building. They were known for their Art Deco work. Construction began on March 17, 1929 and was completed 410 days later. President Hoover announced its opening by pressing a button that activated its lights. This all happened during the Great Depression and helped employ 3,500 people, including many Irish and Italian immigrants, as well as Native Americans from the Mohawk tribe.

It was the first building to break 100 stories and has a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m).

It was originally designed as a dirigible (blimp) dock but due to the crazy winds that the tall building created, it was too dangerous.

The building wasn’t very profitable in its first few years because the Great Depression was still underway. Thanks to an ape named King Kong, in 1933 the building skyrocketed to international fame.

In 1945, a B-25 Bomber crashed into the north side of the 79th Floor of the building after going through heavy fog.

The 222-foot antenna that we know so well today wasn’t installed until 1950. At this time there was a demand for a broadcasting antenna for a new invention called… television. The building now stands a total of 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, with its antenna.

Unfortunately, the building’s title of Tallest Building was given to its new neighbors, the former Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Today, after many advancements in engineering, the Empire State Building sits at number 56 for the tallest building… not bad for an old timer and pioneer.

On February 15, 1978 (the day I was born!), the first ever Empire State Building Run-Up took place, where runners ascend the 1,500 steps in a very tough race. It is still an annual event of the New York Road Runners.

Did you know that the Empire State Building has its own Zip Code of 10118?

In 2012, the building installed its LED lighting system which makes it capable of 16,000,000 color combination displays.

The Empire State Building also gets struck by lightening an average of 25 times per year.

Today, The Empire State Building is a historical landmark, tourist destination, and epic example of Art Deco architecture. There may be taller buildings throughout the city and world, but The Empire State Building is the most iconic.

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