Empire State Building endures at 75

NEW YORK – Born in the Great Depression, it has weathered economic hardship, world war, labor strikes, murder, terrorist fears and even a plane crash.

The Empire State Building, once the tallest building in the world and again the tallest in New York City, turns 75 years old on Monday.

A yearlong celebration is planned for the building, consisting mainly of monthly light shows, according to Lydia Ruth, spokeswoman for the corporation that runs the building.

Like London’s Crystal Palace and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Empire State Building represented in its time “what we were capable of,” says Carol Willis, an architectural historian and founder-director of lower Manhattan’s Skyscraper Museum.

Construction of the Empire State Building was one of the most remarkable feats of the 20th century. It took only 410 days to build – by 3,400 workers, many of them desperate for work at the height of the Depression. The work force was made up largely of immigrants, along with hundreds of Mohawk Indian iron workers.

The 1,453-foot tower opened on May 1, 1931, with President Herbert Hoover pressing a button in Washington to turn on its lights. Architect William Lamb, the chief designer, messaged former New York Gov. Al Smith from a ship at sea: “One day out and I can still see the building.”

Built of steel and aluminum and faced with granite and Indiana limestone, it was for 40 years the world’s tallest edifice until surpassed in 1972 by the World Trade Center. It again became the city’s tallest after airliners flown by terrorist hijackers destroyed the 110-story twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001. It now ranks ninth in the world, and second in the United States behind Chicago’s Sears Tower.

Its 102 floors are topped by a 200-foot tower designed as a mooring mast for dirigibles. The mast was never used because of dangerous updrafts, but it did serve movie “King Kongs” as a perch for swatting fighter planes.

Out-of-towners still flock to its 86th-floor observation deck where city sounds fade to a distant hum and the view on a good day extends west to Pennsylvania and as far north as Massachusetts. Visitors have included Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth II, Cuban President Fidel Castro, Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev and Lassie.

On July 28, 1945 – three weeks before the end of World War II – an Army B-25 bomber lost in morning fog crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building, killing three crew members and 11 people in the Catholic War Relief Office on the 70th floor.

The impact shook the building, one of the plane’s engines flew out the other side and crashed onto a roof far below, and an elevator operator survived a 1,000-foot plunge. The 14 deaths matched the number of workers killed in construction.

In 1997, a mentally disturbed man killed a Dutch tourist and wounded seven others on the observation deck, then killed himself.

The toll of other suicides is uncertain; a young man who climbed the observation deck fence and jumped to his death in 2004 was variously reported as either the 31st or the 34th. At least two would-be suicides survived when wind gusts blew them back onto the building.

Just this past week, a daredevil tried to parachute off the building but was stopped by officers.

Along with “King Kong” movies, the skyscraper was featured in such films as “An Affair to Remember” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” In one of Japan’s “Godzilla” films, the flying monster Rodan borrowed King Kong’s perch to wail at the moon. Andy Warhol set up a camera several blocks away in 1964 and shot “Empire,” an 8-hour, 6-minute silent film of the building from a single perspective, punctuated only by intermittent flashes of light.

It absorbs about 100 lightning strikes a year but does not, as is popularly supposed, sway in the wind. The tower’s rigid frame allows it to move less than two inches.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Olivia Vanni / The Herald 
The Mukilteo Lighthouse. Built in 1906, it’s one of the most iconic landmarks in Snohomish County.
The Mukilteo Lighthouse. Built in 1906, it’s one of the most iconic landmarks in Snohomish County. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mukilteo mayor vetoes council-approved sales tax

The tax would have helped pay for transportation infrastructure, but was also set to give Mukilteo the highest sales tax rate in the state.

South County Fire plans push-in ceremony for newest fire engine

Anybody who attends will have the opportunity to help push the engine into the station.

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring gives the state of the city address at the Marysville Civic Center on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Marysville council approves interim middle housing law

The council passed the regulations to prevent a state model code from taking effect by default. It expects to approve final rules by October.

x
State audit takes issue with Edmonds COVID grant monitoring

The audit report covered 2023 and is the third since 2020 that found similar issues with COVID-19 recovery grant documentation.

Bothell
Bothell man pleads guilty to sexual abuse of Marysville middle schoolers

The man allegedly sexually assaulted three students in exchange for vapes and edibles in 2022. His sentencing is set for Aug. 29.

Larsen talks proposed Medicaid cuts during Compass Health stop in Everett

Compass Health plans to open its new behavioral health center in August. Nearly all of the nonprofit’s patients rely on Medicaid.

‘Voter friendly’ election ballots set to go out for Snohomish County voters

Materials will include some changes to make the process easier to vote in Aug. 5 primary.

Community members gather for the dedication of the Oso Landslide Memorial following the ten-year remembrance of the slide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
The Daily Herald garners 6 awards from regional journalism competition

The awards recognize the best in journalism from media outlets across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Kathy Johnson walks over a tree that has been unsuccessfully chainsawed along a CERCLA road n the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest on Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Granite Falls, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How Roadless Rule repeal could affect forests like Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie

The Trump administration plans to roll back a 2001 rule protecting over 58 million acres of national forest, including areas in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie area.

Edmonds police officers investigate a shooting that occurred at 236/Edmonds Way Thursday in Edmonds, Washington. (Edmonds Police Department).
Jury convicts Edmonds man in fatal shooting of rideshare driver

After three hours, a 12-person jury convicted Alex Waggoner, 22, of second-degree murder for shooting Abdulkadir Shariif, 31, in January 2024.

Jake Goldstein-Street / Washington State Standard
Angelina Godoy, director of the University of Washington Center for Human Rights, speaks to reporters alongside advocates outside Boeing Field in Seattle on Tuesday.
Deportation flights at WA airport up dramatically this year, advocates say

Activists also say King County officials aren’t being transparent enough about the flights in and out of Boeing Field.

Smoke shrouds the hilltops as the Bolt Creek Fire burns through thick forest in 2022 on U.S. Highway 2 near Index. Members of the public can now view video feeds from artificial-intelligence-assisted cameras placed in 21 high-risk wildfire locations around Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Online feeds from WA’s wildfire detection cameras are now available

Members of the public can now view video feeds from artificial-intelligence-assisted cameras… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.