Landmark North America
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a very tall building in New York City. It has 102 floors. Workers built it in just over one year.
The Empire State Building rises 1,454 feet (443 meters) over Fifth Avenue in New York City. Its steel frame went up at about four and a half floors a week, and the whole building was finished in one year and 45 days, opening on May 1, 1931.
Designed by William F. Lamb of Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built by Starrett Bros. & Eken for Empire State, Inc., the 102-story Art Deco office tower went up between March 17, 1930 and May 1, 1931. The official site says it was the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years.
Photo: Domenico Convertini from Zurich, Schweiz, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is in New York City, in the United States.
It is a skyscraper, a building so tall it seems to scrape the sky. It has 102 floors. People work in offices inside it. Visitors ride elevators to the top to look out over the city.
The Empire State Building stands on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, the busy center of New York City. It is a skyscraper with 102 stories, and with its antenna it reaches 1,454 feet, about 443 meters.
The building does two jobs at once. Many businesses have offices inside, and visitors ride up to two observation decks, on the 86th and 102nd floors, to see the city spread out below. Its style is called Art Deco: strong straight lines, steps near the top and shiny metal trim.
The Empire State Building occupies the block of Fifth Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets in Midtown Manhattan. Its official figures give 1,250 ft (about 381 m) to the 102nd floor and 1,454 ft (about 443 m) to the tip of the antenna, with a 103rd level above the public floors.
The building works as an office tower, with 2.8 million rentable square feet and its own ZIP code, 10118, and as a visitor attraction, with observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors and exhibits on the 2nd and 80th. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated it a landmark in May 1981, and the National Park Service recognized it as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
- Height to the antenna tip
- 1,454 ft (about 443 m)
- Built
- March 17, 1930 to May 1, 1931
- Stories
- 102
- Windows
- 6,514
A race to the sky
Long ago, a hotel stood on this spot.
A group of business people planned a new building there. They took down the old hotel. Their tower would have more than 100 floors.
In 1928, the old Waldorf Astoria hotel on Fifth Avenue was sold and torn down to make room. In 1929, businessman John Jakob Raskob and his partners formed a company called Empire State, Inc., and chose Alfred E. Smith, a former Governor of New York, to lead it.
Their tower became the first building with more than 100 floors. It opened on May 1, 1931, when President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington, D.C., and turned on its lights. The official site says it stayed the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years. Two years later, it starred in the film King Kong.
The site of the original Waldorf Astoria was sold in 1928, and in 1929 John Jakob Raskob, a former General Motors executive, formed Empire State, Inc. with Coleman du Pont, Pierre S. du Pont, Louis G. Kaufman and Ellis P. Earle, naming former Governor Alfred E. Smith to head it. It was a speculative office tower, built to rent.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission's 1981 report describes a contest of heights with the Chrysler Building: according to the building's rental manager, Hamilton Weber, the originally planned 86 stories were only four feet higher than the Chrysler, so a mast was added that raised the building to 1,250 ft. Two weeks after the project was announced, the stock market crashed, and in the early Depression years many offices stayed empty; the report says the million or so visitors a year who paid a dollar for the observation deck helped save it from bankruptcy. The report adds that it remained the world's tallest building until the 1970s, when the Sears Building in Chicago took the title.
Built in 410 days
Building started in 1930.
Workers fixed big steel beams together, floor by floor. The tower grew very fast, more than four floors every week. On some days, 3,400 people worked on it. It was finished in about one year.
Building began on March 17, 1930, and the official site gives the time it took as one year and 45 days, or 410 days of construction. Architect William F. Lamb of the firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon led the design, and the builders were Starrett Bros. & Eken.
The steel frame rose about four and a half stories a week. Smithsonian magazine says as many as 3,400 workers were on the job on a single day, many of them immigrants from Europe, along with hundreds of Mohawk ironworkers. The photographer Lewis Hine took pictures of them high above the street.
Construction ran from March 17, 1930 to May 1, 1931. The owners' program, as the Landmarks Preservation Commission's report sets it out, was a fixed budget, no office more than 28 ft from window to corridor, as many such floors as possible, a limestone exterior and completion by May 1, 1931. Starrett Bros. & Eken raised the steel frame at about four and a half stories a week.
Smithsonian magazine reports as many as 3,400 construction workers on any single day, many of them European immigrants, and hundreds of Mohawk ironworkers; at least five workers died during the building. The company commissioned Lewis Hine to photograph the work, with a special cage that swung him out into the air. The final cost was $40,948,900. The steel frame carries the load; the facade is Indiana limestone and granite trimmed with aluminum and stainless steel, and some 10 million bricks went into the building.
Decks, setbacks and a mast
The building gets thinner near the top, like steps.
High up, there is a deck where you can stand outside in the wind. Even higher is a deck behind big windows. A tall pointed mast stands on the very top.
Look at the building's shape. A wide five-story base holds a tall tower that steps in as it rises. These steps are called setbacks. Long strips of windows run from the bottom to the top, and the tower has 6,514 windows in all.
The 86th floor has an open-air deck about 320 meters up, and the 102nd floor has a deck behind floor-to-ceiling glass about 381 meters up. On a clear day you can see parts of six states. The mast on top was first meant as a place for airships to tie up. Lightning strikes the building about 25 times a year.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission describes a tower rising from a five-story base with setbacks at the 21st, 25th, 30th, 72nd, 81st and 85th floors, and continuous vertical strips of windows in metal surrounds between limestone walls, with very little ornament. The report notes Lamb's reliance on stacked masses, vertical window strips and simple materials.
The metal-faced mast above the 86th floor was planned as a mooring point for dirigibles, with passengers to step off onto an open landing 100 stories up; the report notes that the strong updrafts at 1,250 ft made this impractical, and the mast is now the base for a broadcasting antenna. In 1950 a new 222 ft antenna raised the spire to 1,472 ft; the building's official height today is 1,454 ft. Inside, the Fifth Avenue lobby ceiling shows a sky of 23-karat gold stars, sunbursts and gears. It was covered over in the 1960s and recreated from 2007 in about 20,000 hours of work.
- Open-air deck (86th floor)
- 1,050 ft (about 320 m) up
- Enclosed deck (102nd floor)
- 1,250 ft (about 381 m) up
- Stairs to the 102nd floor
- 1,860
- Elevators
- 73 (Otis)
The building today
Today, people still work in the building every day.
Visitors come from all over the world to see the view. At night, the top shines in bright colors.
The Empire State Building is still a busy office building, and its official site says millions of people visit its observation decks every year. Since 1978, runners have raced up more than 1,500 steps in the yearly Run-Up.
At night the top of the tower glows. Colored lights began in 1976, red, white and blue for the United States' 200th birthday, and since 2012 LED lights can show 16 million different colors. A big energy-saving makeover, announced in 2009, upgraded the elevators, the heating and cooling and all 6,514 windows.
The building remains both a working office tower and an attraction; its owners say its observation decks draw millions of visitors a year. Colored floodlights were first installed in 1976 for the U.S. Bicentennial, and an LED system able to display 16 million colors was unveiled in 2012.
In 2009 the owners announced an energy-efficiency retrofit covering elevators, climate systems and all 6,514 windows. The building's sustainability page says the retrofit, carried out from 2010, guaranteed a 38 percent cut in energy use with a three-year payback. The Empire State ReBuilding program also restored the Art Deco lobby and recreated more than 12,000 feet of historic glasswork.
Amazing facts
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Lightning hits the building about 25 times a year.
The Empire State Building is struck by lightning about 25 times every year.
The building's official figures give about 25 lightning strikes a year.
-
The building has its own zip code for mail.
The Empire State Building has so many offices that it has its own ZIP code: 10118.
With 2.8 million rentable square feet of offices, the building has its own ZIP code, 10118.
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The mast on top was made for airships.
The mast on top was first planned as a place for airships to tie up, but the winds up there were too strong.
The mast was planned as a dirigible mooring point; the Landmarks Preservation Commission's report notes that updrafts at 1,250 ft made passengers' descent impractical.
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There are 1,860 stairs to the 102nd floor.
Climbing to the 102nd floor takes 1,860 stairs, but most visitors ride one of the building's 73 elevators.
The official count is 1,860 stairs to the 102nd floor and 73 Otis elevators.
Words to know
- skyscraper
- a very tall building with many floors
- setback
- a step where a tall building gets narrower as it rises
- Art Deco
- a style from the 1920s and 1930s with bold lines, steps and shiny metal
- steel frame
- a skeleton of strong metal beams that holds a building up
- observation deck
- a high floor where visitors can look out over a city
- dirigible
- an airship: a large flying balloon with engines that can be steered
Discovery challenge
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Which city is the Empire State Building in?
In which city does the Empire State Building stand?
Which city's Midtown is home to the Empire State Building?
- Chicago
- New York City
- Los Angeles
Show the answer
New York City
New York City! It stands on a big street called Fifth Avenue.
It stands on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, in New York City.
It fills a block of Fifth Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets in Midtown Manhattan.
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How long did it take to build?
How long did it take to build the Empire State Building?
How long did construction take, from March 17, 1930 to the opening?
- About one year
- About ten years
- About fifty years
Show the answer
About one year
About one year! The workers built it very fast.
It took one year and 45 days, or 410 days of construction.
One year and 45 days: from March 17, 1930 to May 1, 1931, with the frame rising about four and a half stories a week.
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Which floor has the deck where you stand outside?
Which floor has the open-air observation deck?
Which observation deck is open to the air, at 1,050 ft?
- The 86th floor
- The 102nd floor
- The 103rd floor
Show the answer
The 86th floor
The 86th floor! You can feel the wind up there.
The 86th floor deck is open to the air. The 102nd floor deck is behind glass.
The 86th floor deck at 1,050 ft is open-air; the 102nd at 1,250 ft is enclosed, and the 103rd is not open to the public.
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About how many times does lightning hit it each year?
About how many times a year is the building struck by lightning?
What is the building's official figure for lightning strikes a year?
- About 2
- About 25
- About 2,500
Show the answer
About 25
About 25 times every year!
Lightning strikes it about 25 times a year.
About 25 strikes a year, according to the building's official figures.
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What was the mast on top made for?
What was the mast on top of the building first planned for?
What was the mast above the 86th floor originally designed to moor?
- Airships
- Rockets
- Kites
Show the answer
Airships
Airships! But it was too windy up there.
It was planned as a place for airships to tie up, but the strong winds made that too hard.
Dirigibles. The Landmarks Preservation Commission's report notes that updrafts at 1,250 ft made the scheme impractical.
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Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Natural wonder
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Experiments to try
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if buildings had different foundations? A building's whole weight presses down through its foundation onto the ground. A wide foundation spreads that weight out, like snowshoes on snow. In our model, a 200-tonne building on sand is safe on a 40-square-meter footing. Shrink the footing to 8 square meters and it presses five times harder, more than the sand can take, so the building would sink and could crack or tilt.
- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if you counted the seconds after lightning? You see lightning almost at once, but its thunder travels at the speed of sound, about 343 meters per second. The National Weather Service says thunder takes about 5 seconds to travel a mile, so counting the seconds tells you how far away the lightning was. In our model, thunder from 1,700 meters away arrives after about 5 seconds.
- Watch What If? Lab What if elevators did not exist? Elevators carry people up tall buildings in seconds. But before safe elevators, most buildings were only a few floors high. Imagine a world without them: shorter buildings, many more stairs and cities that spread out instead of up.
Explore next
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New York City
New York City sits where the Hudson River meets a great harbor on the Atlantic coast. It has been the largest city in the United States since 1790. About 8.8 million people lived in its five boroughs in 2020, among skyscrapers, bridges and parks.
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Landmark
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. France gave her to the United States as a sign of friendship. The sculptor Auguste Bartholdi shaped her copper skin, Gustave Eiffel designed the iron frame inside, and she was dedicated in 1886.
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- Watch Try it What If? Lab What if you counted the seconds after lightning? You see lightning almost at once, but its thunder travels at the speed of sound, about 343 meters per second. The National Weather Service says thunder takes about 5 seconds to travel a mile, so counting the seconds tells you how far away the lightning was. In our model, thunder from 1,700 meters away arrives after about 5 seconds.
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Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Willis Tower
Willis Tower, first called the Sears Tower, is a skyscraper in Chicago finished in 1973. It is 442 meters tall and was the tallest building in the world for about 25 years. Its clever 'bundled tube' design was made by engineer Fazlur Khan and the firm SOM.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate New York City and describe what the Empire State Building is used for.
- Explain how a steel frame let workers build a very tall tower quickly.
- Name the building's main parts: base, setbacks, observation decks and mast.
- Discuss the workers who built it, including immigrants and Mohawk ironworkers.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- The building went up at about four and a half floors a week. What do you think a team needs to work that fast?
- The mast was built for airships, but it never really worked. Why might a good idea fail when it meets the real world?
- Why do you think the building's owners paid a photographer to take pictures of the workers?
Try at home or in class
- Stack boxes or blocks into a tower that steps in as it rises, then compare how steady it is with a straight stack of the same height.
- Count the windows on one side of your home or school, then talk about how someone could count the 6,514 windows of the Empire State Building.
Key vocabulary: skyscraper, setback, Art Deco, steel frame, observation deck, dirigible
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Empire State Building Facts: Height, Floors & Figures , Empire State Building (official site)
- Empire State Building History: 1928 to Today , Empire State Building (official site)
- Empire State Building Architecture: The Art Deco Icon , Empire State Building (official site)
- Sustainability , Empire State Building (official site)
- Empire State Building designation report (LP-2000), 1981 , New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
- When the Empire State Building Was Just an Architect's Sketch , Smithsonian Magazine
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.