Empire State Building

I just posted about bringing the girls to the San Gennaro feast and now I want to share photos of our visit to the Empire State Building. One of my early jobs (I was in my early 20's) was in an office in the ESB. It was really nice to go back and see it again. :-)

Construction began on began on March 17, 1930 and was the center of a competition between Walter Chrysler (Chrysler Corp.) and John Jakob Raskob (creator of General Motors) to see who could build the tallest building. By October 3, 1930, there were 88 floors finished and only 14 to go. These top floors took the form of a distinctive tower of glass, steel, and aluminum. The tower is about 200 ft. high and topped with a dome. In 1986 The Empire State Building was recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Many movies have been filmed at the ESB over the years.

This is the north side of the observation deck (86th floor). The Met Life building and the Chrysler Building are both visible. In the background is The Bronx and Westchester County.


Looking west, you can see the Hudson River and the state of NJ in the background. It's overlooking some neighborhoods such as Hells Kitchen and Herald Square.


Looking south towards Downtown Manhattan, you can see both the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge crossing over the East River. The gapping hole in between the tall buildings in the back is where the Twin Towers should be.


And finally, looking east at the East River you can see the Queens in the background.


Billy and the girls: