Few tourist attractions in the world can be considered more popular than the Empire State Building in New York. This building has 102 stories. It is a huge skyscraper. The skyscaper's exact location is where 34th Street West and the 5th Avenue intersect each other. The building is a top-rated tourist destination due to several reasons. One of the significant reasons for this building's popularity has been that it has remained the world's tallest building for more than 40 years. The construction of the Empire State Building was completed in 1931.

The Empire State Building is very popular and is included in the modern wonders list. The inclusion of the impressive skyscraper in this list was decided by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Harold Helmsley is the owner of this building. It is considered to be a historic landmark of National importance.

Architecture

The building site was marked at the end of the 18th century and was developed by John Thomson Farm. A hotel for the elite class was built there, and it was a frequently visited hotel by the elite class of New York at that time.  Later on, the same site was used to build the massive structure of the Empire State Building. The building was designed by the firm Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, and Gregory Johnson was the most important architect involved in designing it. The firm was too quick in producing the first draft of the design. It was produced by the firm in only two weeks. This was a really speedy work, and some other tower to be constructed in Carolina was used to design this building. The design was actually done from the top towards the bottom. John J. Raskob did all the financing of this project. Alfred Smith was the chairman of the construction company. Alfred was the former governor of the city of New York and was deeply interested in the construction of the Empire State Building.

The height of this building is more than twelve hundred and fifty feet. If you include the pinnacles in the building's height, it becomes fourteen hundred and fifty-three feet tall. 85 stories of the building are being used for commercial purposes, while 16 stories act as the tower of Art Deco. An observatory occupies the top of the building. This building is also popular because this was the first building that crossed the limit of 100 stories.  With 73 elevators in place and 6,500 windows in all, the building has 1,860 steps if you start from the street level and try to reach the 102nd floor.

Short history

The construction started with the excavation of the site in 1930. The actual construction started on March 17, which was St. Patrick's Day. Three thousand and four hundred workers were involved in the construction of this building. Most of these workers were immigrants from different parts of the world, but most were Europeans. The official records say that only five workers died during the construction of this building. A grandchild of Governor Smith inaugurated it by cutting the ribbon in 1931. At this time, this building was the tallest in the world. The building competed with two other towers constructed a little time earlier to become the world's tallest building. The Empire State Building was opened to the public in May 1931. The official honor was done by American President Hoover, who pushed a button while sitting in Washington D.C to light the famous skyscraper in New York.

When the building was open to being rented out, the great depression of the United States began. As a result, the building was not rented out properly. For many years to come, there was little income from renting out floors and offices of the Empire State Building. The building became more profitable after 1950. The sale of space increased a lot in the 1950s, and afterward, there was no looking back. The profits from selling the space of the building became greater in amount.

An iconic landmark

For more than forty years, the Empire State Building has been hailed as the world's tallest building, not just in all of the state of New York, but in the world. Today, it remains the fifth tallest building in the world.

Apart from this, the Empire State Building has also been given the prestigious distinction of being recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. After all, the building was constructed when the modern equipment and technology that has led to the rise of modern-day skyscrapers have yet to be developed. The towering building has been designated as a National Historic Landmark since the year 1986.

Some tragedies

This is not to say that the Empire State Building has not had its share of tragedies. On July 28, 1945, the tall skyscraper was hit by a B-25 Bomber, setting fire from the 79th floor all the way up to the Penthouse. Fortunately, the damage was only minimal, and a few days after, the Empire State Building is once again open to the general public.

Few accidents have been associated with this building. The official count says that some 30 or more people have jumped from the top of this building to commit suicide. In 1947 five people tried to commit suicide by jumping off the top of this building within three weeks. There have been few famous suicide attempts. For example, in 1979, Elivata Adams tried to commit suicide by jumping off the 86th floor. The target was not achieved as Adams hit the 85th floor and broke the hip bone.