In 1931, President Herbert Hoover remained comfortably in Washington, D.C., and pressed a button to turn on the lights at New York City’s Empire State Building. The theatrics were staged, of course, as someone in New York flipped the actual switches that symbolized the dedication of the new building.
Erected during the Great Depression and employing up to 3,400 workers a day, the building was a tremendous source of pride for New Yorkers. The completed 102-story building stands 1,454 feet tall — if you count the lighting rod. It was the then-tallest building in the world, a title that has since been claimed by other constructions.
The building has become an iconic part of American culture, famously featuring in the King Kong franchise and welcoming real-life visitors to stand upon its observation decks and look out over the city that never sleeps. The building has undergone many different changes to meet the needs of modern-day inhabitants and visitors. In 2008, renovations began on the lobby that took four months longer than the entire building’s construction did eight decades earlier!
Located in midtown Manhattan at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, the building stands within the geographical boundaries of the city’s 10001 zip code. In 1980, however, the building received its own unique code of 10118 to help route deliveries to the many offices that fill the building’s floors.
Credit : Travel Trivia
Picture Credit : Google
