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111-529: The building, which opened in 2003, has a 1200% floor area ratio . In 2002 All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced that it would be taking up to 10 floors in the then under-construction Shiodome City Center. It was planning on moving its headquarters from Tokyo International Airport . ANA announced that it was also moving some subsidiaries to the Shiodome City Center. When Shiodome City Center opened, Nippon Cargo Airlines moved its headquarters into

222-483: A multi-story building that rises higher above the plane of the land, but which must consequently result in a smaller footprint than would a single-story building of the same total floor area. By combining the horizontal and vertical limits into a single figure, some flexibility is permitted in building design , while achieving a hard limit on at least one measure of overall size. One advantage to fixing this parameter, as opposed to others such as height, width, or length,

333-499: A "backup" since signal transmissions from the building were generally of poorer quality. Following the construction of One World Trade Center in the late 2000s and early 2010s, some TV stations began moving their transmitting facilities there. As of 2021 , the Empire State Building is home to the following stations: The site was previously owned by John Jacob Astor of the prominent Astor family , who had owned

444-419: A "medallion" in the very southeast portion of the outline. A compass is depicted in the bottom right and a plaque to the building's major developers is on the bottom left. A scale model of the building was also placed south of the security desk. The plaque at the western end of the lobby is on the eastern interior wall of a one-story-tall rectangular-shaped corridor that surrounds the banks of escalators, with

555-481: A 25-story office building on the Waldorf–Astoria site. The company's president, Floyd De L. Brown, paid $ 100,000 of the $ 1 million down payment required to start construction on the building, with the promise that the difference would be paid later. Brown borrowed $ 900,000 from a bank but defaulted on the loan. After Brown was unable to secure additional funding, the land was resold to Empire State Inc.,

666-554: A black granite cladding. The second through fourth stories consist of windows alternating with wide stone piers and narrower stone mullions . The fifth story contains windows alternating with wide and narrow mullions, and is topped by a horizontal stone sill. The facade of the tower stories is split into several vertical bays on each side, with windows projecting slightly from the limestone cladding. The bays are arranged into sets of one, two, or three windows on each floor. The bays are separated by alternating narrow and wide piers,

777-557: A combined average of four million visitors per year in 2010. Since opening, the observatories have been more popular than similar observatories at 30 Rockefeller Plaza , the Chrysler Building, the first One World Trade Center, or the Woolworth Building , despite being more expensive. There are variable charges to enter the observatories; one ticket allows visitors to go as high as the 86th floor, and there

888-412: A dedicated broadcast tower began on July 27, 1950, with TV, and FM, transmissions starting in 1951. The 200-foot (61 m) broadcast tower was completed in 1953. From 1951, six broadcasters agreed to pay a combined $ 600,000 per year for the use of the antenna. In 1965, a separate set of FM antennae was constructed ringing the 103rd floor observation area to act as a master antenna. The placement of

999-483: A few FM stations were relocated to the nearby Condé Nast Building to reduce the number of broadcast stations using the Empire State Building. Eleven television stations and twenty-two FM stations had signed 15-year leases in the building by May 2003. It was expected that a taller broadcast tower in Bayonne, New Jersey , or Governors Island , would be built in the meantime with the Empire State Building being used as

1110-637: A few broadcasters renewed their leases in the Empire State Building. The September 11 attacks destroyed the World Trade Center and the broadcast centers atop it, leaving most of the city's stations without a transmitter for ten days until the Armstrong Tower in Alpine, New Jersey , was re-activated temporarily. By October 2001, nearly all of the city's commercial broadcast stations (both television and FM radio) were again transmitting from

1221-428: A group of wealthy investors that included Louis G. Kaufman , Ellis P. Earle , John J. Raskob , Coleman du Pont, and Pierre S. du Pont . The name came from the state nickname for New York. Alfred E. Smith , a former Governor of New York and U.S. presidential candidate whose 1928 campaign had been managed by Raskob, was appointed head of the company. The group also purchased nearby land so they would have

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1332-400: A lot must adhere to a 0.1 FAR, then the total area of all floors in all buildings on the lot must be no more than one-tenth the area of the parcel itself. In other words, if the lot was 10,000 sq. ft, then the total floor area of all floors in all buildings must not exceed 1,000 sq. ft. An architect can plan for either a single-story building consuming the entire allowable area in one floor, or

1443-555: A major impact on the value of the land. Higher allowable FAR yields higher land value. A 2022 study found that lower maximum-allowed FAR in New York City led to lower land value and lower density. Andres Duany et al. (2000) note: Clarifying Duany's second criticism in reference to "lot coverage": If localities seek to regulate density through floor area ratio, the logical consequence is to encourage expansive one story building with less green space, as single story construction

1554-419: A mezzanine level. At the west end of the lobby, behind the security desk, is an aluminum relief of the skyscraper as it was originally built (without the antenna). The relief, which was intended to provide a welcoming effect, contains an embossed outline of the building, with rays radiating from the spire and the sun behind it. In the background is a state map of New York with the building's location marked by

1665-433: A popular attraction. Around four million tourists from around the world annually visit the building's 86th- and 102nd-floor observatories; an additional indoor observatory on the 80th floor opened in 2019. The Empire State Building is an international cultural icon : it has been featured in more than 250 television series and films since the film King Kong was released in 1933. The building's size has been used as

1776-453: A similar design to the lobby. The rectangular-shaped corridor actually consists of two long hallways on the northern and southern sides of the rectangle, as well as a shorter hallway on the eastern side and another long hallway on the western side. At both ends of the northern and southern corridors, there is a bank of four low-rise elevators in between the corridors. The western side of the rectangular elevator-bank corridor extends north to

1887-704: A standard of reference to describe the height and length of other structures. A symbol of New York City, the building has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers . It was ranked first on the American Institute of Architects ' List of America's Favorite Architecture in 2007. Additionally, the Empire State Building and its ground-floor interior were designated city landmarks by

1998-523: A storm. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the ride was closed. An updated version debuted in mid-2002, featuring actor Kevin Bacon as the pilot, with the new flight also going haywire. This new version served a more informative goal, as opposed to the old version's main purpose of entertainment, and contained details about the 9/11 attacks. The simulator received mixed reviews, with assessments of

2109-427: A symmetrical massing because of its large lot and relatively short base. Its articulation consists of three horizontal sections—a base, shaft, and capital —similar to the components of a column . The five-story base occupies the entire lot, while the 81-story shaft above it is set back sharply from the base. The setback above the 5th story is 60 feet (18 m) deep on all sides. There are smaller setbacks on

2220-469: A uniform shape. According to architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern , the building's form contrasted with the nearly contemporary, similarly designed 500 Fifth Avenue eight blocks north, which had an asymmetrical massing on a smaller lot. The Empire State Building's Art Deco design is typical of pre–World War II architecture in New York City. The facade is clad in Indiana limestone panels made by

2331-477: A work consisting of 15,000 stars and 5,000 circles, superimposed on a 13-by-5-foot (4.0 by 1.5 m) etched-glass installation, in the lobby. The Empire State Building has 73 elevators in all, including service elevators. Its original 64 elevators, built by the Otis Elevator Company , in a central core and are of varying heights, with the longest of these elevators reaching from the lobby to

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2442-442: A year regardless of the weather. The 102nd floor observatory is completely enclosed and much smaller in size. The 102nd floor observatory was closed to the public from the late 1990s to 2005 due to limited viewing capacity and long lines. The observation decks were redesigned in mid-1979. The 102nd floor was again redesigned in a project that was completed in 2019, allowing the windows to be extended from floor to ceiling and widening

2553-417: Is 1,250 ft (381 m) tall to its 102nd floor, or 1,453 feet 8 + 9 ⁄ 16  inches (443.092 m) including its 203-foot (61.9 m) pinnacle. It was the first building in the world to be more than 100 stories tall, though only the lowest 86 stories are usable. The first through 85th floors contain 2.158 million square feet (200,500 m ) of commercial and office space, while

2664-567: Is a 103-story Art Deco skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood 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

2775-410: Is an additional charge to visit the 102nd floor. Other ticket options for visitors include scheduled access to view the sunrise from the observatory, a "premium" guided tour with VIP access, and the "AM/PM" package which allows for two visits in the same day. The 86th floor observatory contains both an enclosed viewing gallery and an open-air outdoor viewing area, allowing for it to remain open 365 days

2886-475: Is from 1.3 to 3.25. In Mumbai 1.33 is the norm but higher FSI is allowed along the Metro rail line and slum areas like Dharavi . In Bangalore, 40 feet streets allow only an FAR of 1.75 but 100 feet streets allow 3.25 FAR. In New York City FAR or floor Area Ratio is one of the regulations that determine the density and face of the neighborhood, FAR is related to your Zoning Area and Special Districts that can modify

2997-521: Is generated by dividing the building area by the parcel area, using the same units. One of the purposes of the 1916 zoning ordinance of New York City was to prevent tall buildings from obstructing too much light and air. The 1916 zoning ordinance sought to control building size by regulating height and setback requirements for towers. In 1961, a revision to the zoning ordinance introduced the concept of floor area ratio (FAR). Buildings built before 1961 often have FARs that would be unachievable today, such as

3108-414: Is less expensive than multi-story construction on a per square foot basis. On the other hand, if density is regulated by building coverage ratio (a.k.a. lot coverage or site coverage ) then green space can be preserved and multi-story construction becomes financial advantageous. This outcome is demonstrated in the illustration comparing FAR to BCR. Empire State Building The Empire State Building

3219-419: Is sometimes called floor space ratio ( FSR ), floor space index ( FSI ), site ratio or plot ratio . The difference between FAR and FSI is that the first is a ratio, while the latter is an index. Index numbers are values expressed as a percentage of a single base figure. Thus an FAR of 1.5 is translated as an FSI of 150%. The terms most commonly used for this measurement vary from one country or region to

3330-574: Is that floor area correlates well with other considerations relevant to zoning regulation, such as total parking that would be required for an office building , total number of units that might be available for residential use, total load on municipal services , etc. The amounts of these things tend to be constant for a given total floor area, regardless of how that area is distributed horizontally and vertically. Thus, many jurisdictions have found it unnecessary to include hard height limitations when using floor area ratio calculations. Common exclusions to

3441-399: Is the ratio of a building's total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. It is often used as one of the regulations in city planning along with the building-to-land ratio. The terms can also refer to limits imposed on such a ratio through zoning . FAR includes all floor areas but is indifferent to their spatial distribution on the lot whereas

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3552-546: The 1916 Zoning Resolution , which was intended to allow sunlight to reach the streets as well. Normally, a building of the Empire State's dimensions would be permitted to build up to 12 stories on the Fifth Avenue side, and up to 17 stories on the 33rd Street and 34th Street sides, before it would have to utilize setbacks. However, with the largest setback being located above the base, the tower stories could contain

3663-467: 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

3774-586: The Art Deco lobby located at 350 Fifth Avenue. Visitors to the observatories use an entrance at 20 West 34th Street; prior to August 2018, visitors entered through the Fifth Avenue lobby. Although physically located in South Midtown, a mixed residential and commercial area, the building is so large that it was assigned its own ZIP Code , 10118; as of 2012 , it is one of 43 buildings in New York City that have their own ZIP codes. The areas surrounding

3885-505: The B. Altman and Company Building , which houses the City University of New York 's Graduate Center . The nearest New York City Subway stations are 34th Street–Herald Square , one block west, and 33rd Street at Park Avenue , two blocks east; there is also a PATH station at 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue . The Empire State Building was designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon in the Art Deco style. The Empire State Building

3996-490: The Empire State Building which has an FAR of 25 - meaning that it earns considerably greater rent than a newer building on the same land could hope for. The floor area ratio (FAR) can be used in zoning to limit urban density . While it directly limits building density, indirectly it also limits the number of people that a building can hold, without controlling a building's external shape. For example, if

4107-607: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered the exclusive deal be terminated. The FCC directive was based on consumer complaints that a common location was necessary for the seven extant New York-area television stations to transmit from so that receiving antennas would not have to be constantly adjusted. Other television broadcasters would later join RCA at the building on the 81st through 83rd floors, often along with sister FM stations. Construction of

4218-589: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1980, and were added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The Empire State Building is located on the west side of Fifth Avenue , between 33rd Street to the south and 34th Street to the north, in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City . Tenants enter the building through

4329-548: The New York Knicks ; red, white, and blue for the New York Rangers . The spire can also be lit to commemorate events including disasters, anniversaries, or deaths, as well as for celebrations such as Pride and Halloween . In 1998, the building was lit in blue after the death of singer Frank Sinatra , who was nicknamed "Ol' Blue Eyes". The structure was lit in red, white, and blue for several months after

4440-599: The Willis Tower 's 33 pounds per square foot (1.6 kPa) and the John Hancock Center 's 26 pounds per square foot (1.2 kPa). A December 1930 feature in Popular Mechanics estimated that a building with the Empire State's dimensions would still stand even if hit with an impact of 50 short tons (45 long tons). Utilities are grouped in a central shaft. On the 6th through 86th stories,

4551-422: The building coverage ratio (or lot coverage) measures building footprint on the lot but is indifferent to building height. Written as a formula, FAR = ⁠ gross floor area / area of the plot ⁠ . Lower maximum-allowed floor area ratios are linked to lower land values and lower housing density. Stringent limits on floor area ratios lead to less housing supply, and higher rents. Floor Area ratio

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4662-578: The collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 . On January 13, 2012, the building was lit in red, orange, and yellow to honor the 60th anniversary of the NBC program The Today Show . After retired basketball player Kobe Bryant 's January 2020 death , the building was lit in purple and gold, signifying the colors of his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers . The evening after iconic actor James Earl Jones died, September 9, 2024,

4773-410: The $ 550 million renovation of the building. An additional elevator connects the 86th and 102nd floor observatories, which allows visitors access the 102nd floor observatory after having their tickets scanned. It also allows employees to access the mechanical floors located between the 87th and 101st floors. The 80th, 86th, and 102nd floors contain observatories. The latter two observatories saw

4884-405: The 103rd floor, there is a set of stairs and a ladder to reach the spire for maintenance work. The mast's 480 windows were all replaced in 2015. The mast serves as the base of the building's broadcasting antenna. Inflatable objects have sometimes been mounted to the spire for promotional purposes. For example, a King Kong balloon was attached to the spire in 1983 to mark the 50th anniversary of

4995-516: The 2 acres (1 ha) needed for the base, with the combined plot measuring 425 feet (130 m) wide by 200 feet (61 m) long. The Empire State Inc. consortium was announced to the public in August 1929. Concurrently, Smith announced the construction of an 80-story building on the site, to be taller than any other buildings in existence. Empire State Inc. contracted William F. Lamb , of architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon , to create

5106-421: The 34th Street entrance and south to the 33rd Street entrance. It borders three large storefronts and leads to escalators (originally stairs), which go both to the second floor and to the basement. Going from west to east, there are secondary entrances to 34th and 33rd Streets from the northern and southern corridors, respectively. The side entrances from 33rd and 34th Street lead to two-story-high corridors around

5217-565: The 72nd floor to illuminate the top of the building at night so that the building could be seen from the World Fair later that year. The lights were shut off from November 1973 to July 1974 because of the energy crisis at the time. In 1976, the businessman Douglas Leigh suggested that Wien and Helmsley install 204 metal-halide lights , which were four times as bright as the 1,000 incandescent lights they were to replace. New red, white, and blue metal-halide lights were installed in time for

5328-490: The 80th floor. As originally built, there were four "express" elevators that connected the lobby, 80th floor, and several landings in between; the other 60 "local" elevators connected the landings with the floors above these intermediate landings. Of the 64 total elevators, 58 were for passenger use (comprising the four express elevators and 54 local elevators), and eight were for freight deliveries. The elevators were designed to move at 1,200 feet per minute (366 m/min). At

5439-474: The 85th floor and built a laboratory there. In 1934, RCA was joined by Edwin Howard Armstrong in a cooperative venture to test his FM system from the building's antenna. This setup, which entailed the installation of the world's first FM transmitter , continued only until October of the next year due to disputes between RCA and Armstrong. Specifically, NBC wanted to install more TV equipment in

5550-424: The 86th floor contains an observatory. The remaining 16 stories are part of the spire, which is capped by an observatory on the 102nd floor; the spire does not contain any intermediate levels and is used mostly for mechanical purposes. Atop the 102nd story is the 203 ft (61.9 m) pinnacle, much of which is covered by broadcast antennas, and surmounted with a lightning rod . The Empire State Building has

5661-649: The Bank of Manhattan Building) and the Chrysler Building in Manhattan both vied for this distinction and were already under construction when work began on the Empire State Building. The "Race into the Sky", as popular media called it at the time, was representative of the country's optimism in the 1920s, fueled by the building boom in major cities. The race was defined by at least five other proposals, although only

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5772-474: The Chrysler Building, and Raskob was afraid that Chrysler might try to "pull a trick like hiding a rod in the spire and then sticking it up at the last minute." The plans were revised one last time in December 1929, to include a 16-story, 200-foot (61 m) metal "crown" and an additional 222-foot (68 m) mooring mast intended for dirigibles . The roof height was now 1,250 feet (380 m), making it

5883-403: The Empire State Building allows for more space overall, with a 1:200 stone-to-building ratio compared to a 1:50 ratio in similar buildings. The original main lobby is accessed from Fifth Avenue, on the building's east side, and is the only place in the building where the design contains narrative motifs. It contains an entrance with one set of double doors between a pair of revolving doors . At

5994-401: The Empire State Building are home to other major points of interest, including Macy's at Herald Square on Sixth Avenue and 34th Street, and Koreatown on 32nd Street between Madison and Sixth avenues. To the east of the Empire State Building is Murray Hill , a neighborhood with a mix of residential, commercial, and entertainment activity. The block directly to the northeast contains

6105-426: The Empire State Building weighs 365,000 short tons (331,122 t) and has an internal volume of 37 million cubic feet (1,000,000 m ). The interior required 1,172 miles (1,886 km) of elevator cable and 2 million feet (609,600 m) of electrical wires. It has a total floor area of 2,768,591 sq ft (257,211 m ), and each of the floors in the base cover 2 acres (1 ha). This gives

6216-686: The Empire State Building would survive the Wall Street Crash of 1929 . The 40 Wall Street tower was revised, in April 1929, from 840 feet (260 m) to 925 feet (282 m) making it the world's tallest. The Chrysler Building added its 185-foot (56 m) steel tip to its roof in October 1929, thus bringing it to a height of 1,046 feet (319 m) and greatly exceeding the height of 40 Wall Street. The Chrysler Building's developer, Walter Chrysler , realized that his tower's height would exceed

6327-469: The Empire State Building's as well, having instructed his architect, William Van Alen , to change the Chrysler's original roof from a stubby Romanesque dome to a narrow steel spire. Raskob, wishing to have the Empire State Building be the world's tallest, reviewed the plans and had five floors added as well as a spire; however, the new floors would need to be set back because of projected wind pressure on

6438-491: The Indiana Limestone Company and sourced from a quarry in south-central Indiana; the panels give the building its signature blonde color. According to official fact sheets, the facade uses 200,000 cubic feet (5,700 m ) of limestone and granite, ten million bricks, and 730 short tons (650 long tons) of aluminum and stainless steel. The building also contains 6,514 windows. The decorative features on

6549-533: The United Kingdom and Hong Kong both plot ratio and site ratio are used. In Singapore the terms plot ratio and gross plot ratio (GPR) are more commonly used. In the United States and Canada, floor space ratio (FSR) and floor area ratio (FAR) are both used. Use ratios are used as a measure of the density of the site being developed. High FAR indicates a dense construction. The ratio

6660-453: The available colors from nine to over 16 million. The computer-controlled system allows the building to be illuminated in ways that were unable to be done previously with plastic gels. For instance, CNN used the top of the Empire State Building as a scoreboard during the 2012 United States presidential election , using red and blue lights to represent Republican and Democratic electoral votes respectively. Also, on November 26, 2012,

6771-415: The building capacity for 20,000 tenants and 15,000 visitors. The riveted steel frame of the building was originally designed to handle all of the building's gravitational stresses and wind loads . The amount of material used in the building's construction resulted in a very stiff structure when compared to other skyscrapers , with a structural stiffness of 42 pounds per square foot (2.0 kPa) versus

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6882-598: The building design. Lamb produced the initial building design in just two weeks using the firm's earlier designs for the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina , as the basis. He had also been inspired by Raymond Hood 's design for the Daily News Building , which was being constructed at the same time. Concurrently, Lamb's partner Richmond Shreve created "bug diagrams" of

6993-411: The building had its first synchronized light show, using music from recording artist Alicia Keys . Artists such as Eminem and OneRepublic have been featured in later shows, including the building's annual Holiday Music-to-Lights Show. The building's owners adhere to strict standards in using the lights; for instance, they do not use the lights to play advertisements. According to official fact sheets,

7104-617: The building was lit up to look like Jones's iconic Darth Vader villain from “ Star Wars .” In addition to lightings, the Empire State Building is able to do immersive visual projections on the building's exterior. It partnered with Netflix in May 2022 to celebrate the return of Stranger Things fourth season by projecting the Upside Down onto the Empire State Building. In 2012, the building's four hundred metal halide lamps and floodlights were replaced with 1,200 LED fixtures, increasing

7215-630: The building. Air Japan , an ANA subsidiary, has some offices in Shiodome City Center. Mitsui Chemicals has its headquarters in Shiodome City Center. Vanilla Air , when it was known as AirAsia Japan , was headquartered here. The building is in close proximity to the Shimbashi Station and the Shiodome Station . 35°39′55″N 139°45′40″E  /  35.6653507°N 139.76098°E  / 35.6653507; 139.76098 Floor area ratio Floor area ratio ( FAR )

7326-456: The busiest sections in the world". The Empire State Building was to be a typical office building, but Raskob intended to build it "better and in a bigger way", according to architectural writer Donald J. Reynolds. While plans for the Empire State Building were being finalized, an intense competition in New York for the title of " world's tallest building " was underway. 40 Wall Street (then

7437-464: The central shaft is surrounded by a main corridor on all four sides. Per the final specifications of the building, the corridor is surrounded in turn by office space 28 feet (8.5 m) deep, maximizing office space at a time before air conditioning became commonplace. Each of the floors has 210 structural columns that pass through it, which provide structural stability but limits the amount of open space on these floors. The relative dearth of stone in

7548-447: The character's introduction, and an inflatable dragon was placed on the spire in 2024 to promote the TV series House of Dragon . Broadcasting began at the Empire State Building on December 22, 1931, when NBC and RCA began transmitting experimental television broadcasts from a small antenna erected atop the mast, with two separate transmitters for the visual and audio data. They leased

7659-544: The city. The New York Times lauded the site's proximity to mass transit , with the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit 's 34th Street station and the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad 's 33rd Street terminal one block away, as well as Penn Station two blocks away and Grand Central Terminal nine blocks away at its closest. It also praised the 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m ) of proposed floor space near "one of

7770-480: The country's bicentennial that July. After the bicentennial, Helmsley retained the new lights due to the reduced maintenance cost, about $ 116 a year. Since October 12, 1977, the spire has been lit in colors chosen to match seasonal events and holidays. Organizations are allowed to make requests through the building's website. The building is also lit in the colors of New York-based sports teams on nights when they host games: for example, orange, blue, and white for

7881-464: The elevator core, crossed by stainless steel-and-glass-enclosed bridges at the mezzanine floor. Until the 1960s, an Art Deco mural, inspired by both the sky and the Machine Age , was installed in the lobby ceilings. Subsequent damage to these murals, designed by artist Leif Neandross, resulted in reproductions being installed. Renovations to the lobby in 2009, such as replacing the clock over

7992-482: The extension. On November 18, 1929, Smith acquired a lot at 27–31 West 33rd Street, adding 75 feet (23 m) to the width of the proposed office building's site. Two days later, Smith announced the updated plans for the skyscraper. The plans included an observation deck on the 86th-floor roof at a height of 1,050 feet (320 m), higher than the Chrysler's 71st-floor observation deck. The 1,050-foot Empire State Building would only be 4 feet (1.2 m) taller than

8103-415: The facade are largely geometric, in contrast with earlier buildings, whose decorations often were intended to represent a specific narrative. The main entrance, composed of three sets of metal doors, is at the center of the facade's Fifth Avenue elevation , flanked by molded piers that are topped with eagles. Above the main entrance is a transom , a triple-height transom window with geometric patterns, and

8214-451: The facility. The airline had its headquarters and its East Japan sales office on the 8th floor. Bloomberg reported in 2023 that GIC was considering a sale of the building. Fujitsu 's worldwide headquarters are in Shiodome City Center. The airline All Nippon Airways maintains its headquarters and a ticketing office at the building. The subsidiaries Air Nippon , ANA & JP Express , and All Nippon Airways Trading are headquartered in

8325-428: The general regulation of the zoning and introduce some exemptions for your property. The other important regulation you must be aware of it as an architect and professional designer is Height and Setback, and open space regulation. In many cases you your calculated FAR allows you to build more, but above regulations that comes from NYC Zoning resolution limits your design and cannot go for the maximum allowed FAR. FAR has

8436-421: The golden letters "Empire State" above the fifth-floor windows. There are two entrances each on 33rd and 34th streets, with modernistic, stainless steel canopies projecting from the entrances on 33rd and 34th streets there. Above the secondary entrances are triple windows, less elaborate in design than those on Fifth Avenue. The storefronts on the first floor contain aluminum-framed doors and windows within

8547-550: The hotel lease was purchased by Thomas Coleman du Pont . By the 1920s, the old Waldorf–Astoria was becoming dated and the elegant social life of New York had moved much farther north. Additionally, many stores had opened on Fifth Avenue north of 34th Street. The Astor family decided to build a replacement hotel on Park Avenue and sold the hotel to Bethlehem Engineering Corporation in 1928 for $ 14–16 million. The hotel closed shortly thereafter on May 3, 1929. Bethlehem Engineering Corporation originally intended to build

8658-412: The inclusion of which may have been influenced by the design of the contemporary Daily News Building . The windows in each bay are separated by vertical nickel-chrome steel mullions and connected by horizontal aluminum spandrels between each floor. The windows are placed within stainless-steel frames, which saved money by eliminating the need to apply a stone finish around the windows. In addition,

8769-525: The information desk in the Fifth Avenue lobby with an anemometer and installing two chandeliers intended to be part of the building when it originally opened, revived much of its original grandeur. The north corridor contained eight illuminated panels created in 1963 by Roy Sparkia and Renée Nemorov, in time for the 1964 World's Fair , depicting the building as the Eighth Wonder of the World alongside

8880-410: The major and sudden Wall Street Crash , marking the beginning of the decade-long Great Depression . Despite the economic downturn, Raskob refused to cancel the project because of the progress that had been made up to that point. Neither Raskob, who had ceased speculation in the stock market the previous year, nor Smith, who had no stock investments, suffered financially in the crash. However, most of

8991-547: The mast contains four rectangular tiers topped by a cylindrical shaft with a conical pinnacle. On the 102nd floor (formerly the 101st floor), there is a door with stairs ascending to the 103rd floor (formerly the 102nd). This was built as a disembarkation floor for airships tethered to the building's spire, and has a circular balcony outside. It is now an access point to reach the spire for maintenance. The room now contains electrical equipment, but celebrities and dignitaries may also be given permission to take pictures there. Above

9102-667: The next. In Australia floor space ratio (FSR) is used in New South Wales and plot ratio in Western Australia . In France coefficient d'occupation des sols (COS) is used. In Brazil, Coeficiente de Aproveitamento (CA) is used. In Germany Geschossflächenzahl (GFZ) is used. Not to be confused with Grundflächenzahl (GRZ), which is the Site Coverage Ratio. In India floor space index (FSI) and floor area ratio (FAR) are both used. In

9213-564: The nine stations who were broadcasting from the Empire State Building were leasing their broadcast space until 1984, most of these stations moved to the World Trade Center as soon as it was completed in 1971. The broadcasters obtained a court order stipulating that the Port Authority had to build a mast and transmission equipment in the North Tower , as well as pay the broadcasters' leases in the Empire State Building until 1984. Only

9324-465: The north and south are storefronts, which are flanked by tubes of dark rounded marble and topped by a vertical band of grooves set into the marble. Until the 1960s, there was a Longchamps restaurant next to the lobby, with six oval murals designed by Winold Reiss ; these murals were placed in storage when the Longchamps closed. The western ends of the north and south walls include escalators to

9435-427: The observation deck. In 2016, New York City's official tourism website made note of only three lines: the security check line, the ticket purchase line, and the second elevator line. Following renovations completed in 2019, designed to streamline queuing and reduce wait times, guests enter from a single entrance on 34th Street, where they make their way through 10,000-square-foot (930 m ) exhibits on their way up to

9546-408: The observatories. Guests were offered a variety of ticket packages, including a package that enables them to skip the lines throughout the duration of their stay. The Empire State Building garners significant revenue from ticket sales for its observation decks, making more money from ticket sales than it does from renting office space during some years. In early 1994, a motion simulator attraction

9657-432: The old Waldorf–Astoria began on October 1, 1929. Stripping the building down was an arduous process, as the hotel had been constructed using more rigid material than earlier buildings had been. Furthermore, the old hotel's granite, wood chips, and "'precious' metals such as lead, brass, and zinc" were not in high demand, resulting in issues with disposal. Most of the wood was deposited into a woodpile on nearby 30th Street or

9768-484: The other specifications he was given for the final, approved plan: The program was short enough—a fixed budget, no space more than 28 feet from window to corridor, as many stories of such space as possible, an exterior of limestone, and completion date of [May 1], 1931, which meant a year and six months from the beginning of sketches. The contractors were Starrett Brothers and Eken , which were composed of Paul and William A. Starrett and Andrew J. Eken . The project

9879-404: The project requirements. The 1916 Zoning Act forced Lamb to design a structure that incorporated setbacks resulting in the lower floors being larger than the upper floors. Consequently, the building was conceived from the top down, giving it a pencil-like shape. The plans were devised within a budget of $ 50 million and a stipulation that the building be ready for occupancy within 18 months of

9990-431: The ride ranging from "great" to "satisfactory" to "corny". The final stage of the building was the installation of a hollow mast, a 158-foot (48 m) steel shaft fitted with elevators and utilities, above the 86th floor. The spire of the Empire State Building was originally intended to serve as a mooring mast for zeppelins and other airships, although the plan was abandoned after high winds made that impossible. At

10101-408: The room where Armstrong's transmitter was located. After some time, the 85th floor became home to RCA's New York television operations initially as experimental station W2XBS channel 1 then, from 1941, as commercial station WNBT channel 1 (now WNBC channel 4). NBC's FM station, W2XDG, began transmitting from the antenna in 1940. NBC retained exclusive use of the top of the building until 1950 when

10212-565: The site since the mid-1820s. In 1893, John Jacob Astor Sr.'s grandson William Waldorf Astor opened the Waldorf Hotel on the site. Four years later, his cousin, John Jacob Astor IV , opened the 16-story Astoria Hotel on an adjacent site. The two portions of the Waldorf–Astoria hotel had 1,300 bedrooms, making it the largest hotel in the world at the time. After the death of its founding proprietor, George Boldt , in early 1918,

10323-405: The space in the observatory overall. An observatory on the 80th floor, opened in 2019, includes various exhibits as well as a mural of the skyline drawn by British artist Stephen Wiltshire . An interactive multimedia museum, with multiple hands-on exhibitions about the building's history, was added during this project. The design of the 10,000 sq ft (930 m ) Observatory Experience

10434-453: The start of construction. Design drawings and construction were concurrent. Steel drawings were completed in mid-January 1930, when foundations were underway. The original plan of the building was 50 stories, but was later increased to 60 and then 80 stories. Height restrictions were placed on nearby buildings to ensure that the top fifty floors of the planned 80-story, 1,000-foot-tall (300 m) building would have unobstructed views of

10545-609: The stations in the Empire State Building became a major issue with the construction of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in the late 1960s, and early 1970s. The greater height of the Twin Towers would reflect radio waves broadcast from the Empire State Building, eventually resulting in some broadcasters relocating to the newer towers instead of suing the developer, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey . Even though

10656-403: The tallest building in the world by far, even without the antenna. The addition of the dirigible station meant that another floor, the 86th, would have to be built below the crown; however, unlike the Chrysler's spire, the Empire State's mast would serve a practical purpose. A revised plan was announced to the public in late December 1929, just before the start of construction. The final plan

10767-459: The time of the skyscraper's construction, their practical speed was limited to 700 feet per minute (213 m/min) per city law, but this limit was removed shortly after the building opened. Additional elevators connect the 80th floor to the six floors above it, as the six extra floors were built after the original 80 stories were approved. The elevators were mechanically operated until 2011, when they were replaced with automatic elevators during

10878-432: The top of each doorway is a bronze motif depicting one of three "crafts or industries" used in the building's construction—Electricity, Masonry, and Heating. The three-story-high space runs parallel to 33rd and 34th Streets. The lobby contains two tiers of marble: a wainscoting of darker marble, topped by lighter marble. There is a pattern of zigzagging terrazzo tiles on the lobby floor, which leads from east to west. To

10989-484: The top of the Empire State Building. In a report that Congress commissioned about the transition from analog television to digital television , it was stated that the placement of broadcast stations in the Empire State Building was considered "problematic" due to interference from nearby buildings. In comparison, the congressional report stated that the former Twin Towers had very few buildings of comparable height nearby thus signals suffered little interference. In 2003,

11100-433: The top would be a conical roof and the 102nd-floor docking station. Inside, the elevators would ascend 167 feet (51 m) from the 86th floor ticket offices to a 33-foot-wide (10 m) 101st-floor waiting room. From there, stairs would lead to the 102nd floor, where passengers would enter the airships. The airships would have been moored to the spire at the equivalent of the building's 106th floor. As constructed,

11211-416: The total calculation of square footage for the purpose of floor area ratio (FAR) include unoccupied areas such as mechanical equipment floors, basements exclusively used for parking, stair towers, elevator shafts, and parking garages. Japan has extensively adopted the floor area ratio in the zoning system since 1970. In India FAR and FSI are both used. FAR regulations vary from city to city and generally it

11322-534: The traditional seven. The building's owners installed a series of paintings by the New York artist Kysa Johnson in the concourse level. Johnson later filed a federal lawsuit, in January 2014, under the Visual Artists Rights Act alleging the negligent destruction of the paintings and damage to her reputation as an artist. As part of the building's 2010 renovation, Denise Amses commissioned

11433-415: The upper stories, allowing sunlight to illuminate the interiors of the top floors while also positioning these floors away from the noisy streets below. The setbacks are located at the 21st, 25th, 30th, 72nd, 81st, and 85th stories. The setbacks correspond to the tops of elevator shafts, allowing interior spaces to be at most 28 feet (8.5 m) deep (see § Interior ). The setbacks were mandated by

11544-514: The use of aluminum spandrels obviated the need for cross- bonding , which would have been required if stone had been used instead. The building was originally equipped with white searchlights at the top. They were first used in November 1932 when they lit up to signal Roosevelt's victory over Hoover in the presidential election of that year . These were later swapped for four "Freedom Lights" in 1956. In February 1964, flood lights were added on

11655-477: 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. The building's Art Deco architecture , height, and observation decks have made it

11766-419: Was built on the 2nd floor, as a complement to the observation deck. The original cinematic presentation lasted approximately 25 minutes, while the simulation was about eight minutes. The ride had two incarnations. The original version, which ran from 1994 until around 2002, featured James Doohan , Star Trek's Scotty , as the airplane's pilot who humorously tried to keep the flight under control during

11877-569: Was burned in a swamp elsewhere. Much of the other materials that made up the old hotel, including the granite and bronze, were dumped into the Atlantic Ocean near Sandy Hook , New Jersey. By the time the hotel's demolition started, Raskob had secured the required funding for the construction of the building. The plan was to start construction later that year but, on October 24, the New York Stock Exchange experienced

11988-424: Was financed primarily by Raskob and Pierre du Pont, while James Farley 's General Builders Supply Corporation supplied the building materials. John W. Bowser was the construction superintendent of the project, and the structural engineer of the building was Homer G. Balcom. The tight completion schedule necessitated the commencement of construction even though the design had yet to be finalized. Demolition of

12099-406: Was inspired by the plans and designs of the original Empire State Building. According to a 2010 report by Concierge.com , the five lines to enter the observation decks are "as legendary as the building itself". Concierge.com stated that there were five lines: the sidewalk line, the lobby elevator line, the ticket purchase line, the second elevator line, and the line to get off the elevator and onto

12210-413: Was sketched within two hours, the night before the plan was supposed to be presented to the site's owners in January 1930. The New York Times reported that the spire was facing some "technical problems", but they were "no greater than might be expected under such a novel plan." By this time the blueprints for the building had gone through up to fifteen versions before they were approved. Lamb described

12321-546: 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

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