102ND & 86TH FLOOR OBSERVATORIES | Empire State Building | #empirestatebuilding | #kingkong #ny

The Empire State Building is a 102-story[c] Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, 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 stood as the world's tallest building until the construction of the World Trade Center in 1970; following the latter's collapse in 2001, the Empire State Building reverted to being the city's tallest skyscraper until that title was surpassed in 2012. As of 2022, the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, the ninth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, the 54th-tallest in the world, and the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. The site of the Empire State Building, in Midtown South 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. The building's Art Deco architecture, height, and observation decks have made it 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 American cultural icon: it has been featured in more than 250 TV shows and movies since the film King Kong was released in 1933. The building's size has become the global 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 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. Site The Empire State Building is located on the west side of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, between 33rd Street to the south and 34th Street to the north.[16] Tenants enter the building through 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.[1] Although physically located in South Midtown,[17] a mixed residential and commercial area,[18] the building is so large that it was assigned its own ZIP Code, 10118;[19][20] as of 2012, it is one of 43 buildings in New York City that have their own ZIP codes.[21][b] The areas surrounding the Empire State Building are home to other major points of interest, including Macy's at Herald Square on Sixth Avenue and 34th Street[24] and Koreatown on 32nd Street between Madison and Sixth Avenues.[24][25] To the east of the Empire State Building is Murray Hill,[26] a neighborhood with a mix of residential, commercial, and entertainment activity.[27] The block directly to the northeast contains the B. Altman and Company Building, which houses the City University of New York's Graduate Center, while the Demarest Building is directly across Fifth Avenue to the east.[28] The nearest New York City Subway stations are 34th Street–Herald Square, one block west, and 33rd Street at Park Avenue, two blocks east.[d] There is also a PATH station at 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue.[26] New York Skyride In early 1994, a motion simulator attraction was built on the 2nd floor,[117] as a complement to the observation deck.[118] The original cinematic presentation lasted approximately 25 minutes, while the simulation was about eight minutes.[119] 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 a storm.[120][121] After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the ride was closed.[118] An updated version debuted in mid-2002, featuring actor Kevin Bacon as the pilot, with the new flight also going haywire.[122]