NEW YORK | The Empire State Building | 1,472' Pinnacle | 103 FLOORS | 1931

[CarlosV]

DSC_3865 copy by Ceva321, on Flickr

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by hunser

I get dizzy just looking at that photo. But considering the people who jump off the "protected" 86th floor, it's probably better this isn't generally more open to the public.

[dp197]

Great pics guys

Here's some of mine below, They're not as good as some of the other posted in this thread!


Manhattan From The Sky by DeanP197, on Flickr


Empire State Building by DeanP197, on Flickr

[NYguy]

That ledge doesn't look so bad in these pics...

Only Make Believe NYC









Wish I had this model...

[NYguy]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...498319504.html

The Empire State Building's Luster Returns



By ADA LOUISE HUXTABLE
November 10, 2011

When the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell in 2001, it seemed like the end of the race for the sky. It was inconceivable that anyone would want to build, or inhabit, such a conspicuous terrorist target again...But history is rich in ironies; if the age of the skyscraper was over, it was only because the age of the superskyscraper had already begun.

I, for one, am not in thrall to size; build very big and you can build very bad—and the very bad will be inescapable. I always felt that the twin towers disrupted New York's scale and skyline without compensating grace. They were more a sign of the Port Authority's zealous desire to enter the city's high-stakes real-estate game—while overreaching its transportation mandate—than an indicator of New York's greatness.

So where does the Empire State Building fit in the age of the superskyscraper? The record today is held by Dubai's Burj Khalifa, at more than twice the Empire State Building's 1,250 feet—a height almost as nostalgic as its dirigible mooring mast. Eighty years old, the Empire State Building is a city and national landmark....An iconic image is about much more than the brutal breaking of scale. Architecture transforms and fixes a city's identity; symbolic architecture is more than a conspicuous addition. New York has massed its generic glass towers around its two enduring Art Deco masterpieces—the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, and one of the most successful works of skyscraper place-making in recent history, Rockefeller Center. Try imagining the city without them. This dramatic combination has given New York an internationally recognized signature style.

...What has received less attention than the building's "greening" is how it was returned to its 1930s Art Deco style, much of which had been lost to a misguided 1960s makeover....

[CarlosV]

Tutti Frutti


DSC_4157 copy by Ceva321, on Flickr

[NYguy]

Funny video clip...
http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/...8A%2FN+Blog%29

[uaarkson]

Randy's Donuts LMAO

[NYguy]

^ The ESB could have used a little backup....where was the Chrysler?...


http://www.newyorkology.com/archives...floor_of_2.php

High in the Sky: 103rd floor of Empire State Building



May 2, 2011

Currently the tallest building in New York City, the Empire State Building opened up its 103rd deck to NewYorkology as part of a behind-the-scenes tour of its $550 million renovation project.

The normally off-limits 103rd floor is usually only seen by 30 to 40 celebrities each year, and more prosaically, people working with its television and radio transmitters and antennas. If you clamber up the narrow staircase behind the unmarked, locked door on the 102nd floor — and venture past the signs warning of high levels of radio-frequency radiation — you find yourself on a walkway encircling the small room. It’s wide open to the elements, with no fences and only a knee-high wall separating you from the void. It was fortunately calm on the day NewYorkology visited — clinging to the wall in a stiff wind would be scary.


The 102nd floor of the Empire State Building is as high as the public can go. It’s completely indoors, and access is provided to visitors who spend an extra $15 to visit. (The main public outdoor observation deck is on the 86th floor and costs $23 for an adult ticket.)

That extra $15 gets you a ticket on the single manually-operated elevator that takes you to the 102nd floor — the elevator has an altimeter with height markings instead of floor numbers — into a space that was originally designed as a dirigible boarding area. After early tests with Navy dirigibles, the winds and updrafts proved too unpredictable, and the plan was abandoned. The 102nd floor observatory is a cozy space crowded with the original Carnegie structural steel beams that support the building’s spire, and you can gaze out through single-pane windows. (The scratched-up, graffiti-laden glass of years past has been replaced, and the most you’ll encounter is a couple of smudges.)

Stairway to the 103rd floor



Indoors on 103



Looking north from 103



Looking west from 103



Looking up from 103



A ladder to the space above the 103rd floor

[tele75]

Awesome.

[CarlosV]

The mighty Empire State building still holds the record for the longest span as the tallest building in the world! 40 years!


DSC_4384 copy by Ceva321, on Flickr
...


DSC_4382 copy by Ceva321, on Flickr

[CarlosV]

DSC_4452 copy by Ceva321, on Flickr

[NYC4Life]

Nice close-up of the 103rd floor observatory. Just thinking of being up there gives me the chills.

[Dylan Leblanc]

anyone have 3D glasses?

[NYguy]

^ I need to find my old pair, just for that.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/ny...g-profits.html

Nice View, and the Profits Surpass All Horizons



By CHARLES V. BAGLI
December 24, 2011

The owners of the Empire State Building like to promote it as the most famous office building in the world. But the real moneymaker at the 102-story skyscraper is not the 2.7 million square feet of commercial space occupied by tenants like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It is the view.

The decks attract four million visitors a year and generated $60 million in profits in 2010, while the owners made little if any money on the office space, according to newly disclosed documents that offer a rare glimpse at the building’s balance sheet.

In Chicago, the owners of the Willis Tower, formerly named the Sears Tower and the tallest building in the United States, unveiled glass balconies for the observation deck in 2009 that allowed visitors to look straight down, 1,353 feet, onto South Wacker Drive. Since then, attendance has jumped 28 percent, to an estimated 1.4 million this year. Top of the Rock, the observatory at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, reopened six years ago after a long dormancy and now pulls in 2.5 million visitors a year and a $25 million profit, according to real estate executives who have been briefed on the project.

Eight companies are vying to operate what would be the largest and highest observation deck in the city — the one at 1 World Trade Center, the 1,776-foot tower under construction in Lower Manhattan.

It remains to be seen whether the observatory at 1 World Trade will undercut the performance of the Empire State Building’s, or establish a new market among the millions of tourists expected to visit the 9/11 memorial and museum downtown. But the Empire State Building prospectus does warn that competition from 1 World Trade and Top of the Rock “could have a negative impact on revenues.”

[Amanita]

Any time I'm in NYC, I always go to both ESB and Top of the Rock. Both have their own charms and are worth checking out.

[hunser]

^^ And every year there's something new to discover, meaning new skyscrapers being built.

http://hisblog.ryanandheidi.com/2011...g-midtown.html

[NYC4Life]

I was on the 86th floor observatory back in 2005. Even then the views were amazing. Can't wait to go back and see those views with all the new towers that have been added since.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Amanita

Any time I'm in NYC, I always go to both ESB and Top of the Rock. Both have their own charms and are worth checking out.

That is true. I love the ESB and the deck there, but the GE offers something the ESB doesn't include: the picture perfect view of the ESB itself. (BTW, that last pic is not top of the rock)

[Amanita]

I know ToTR is also a sweet place to go for views further up midtown. It's got its own charms. And I have advised fellow travelers that if they, or anyone in their party has issues with standing for long periods, or gets tired easily, than ToTR is the better choice- the lines are shorter, and once you're up there, there's lots of places to sit down when a break is needed. Not so much with ESB, where there are no rest spots anywhere up there.