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Here is a video I did today from the 102nd Floor:

By QUEENSNY121

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MealLIT7rsI

Here is the video from the 86th floor shot today:

BY ME QUEENNY121:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p0oEXmtiMw

Does anyone know if the top floors (up to 83) will go back to being offices after the WTC takes over the broadcasting duties?

Scary about that man jumping though, even though there are slight setbacks, if he fell out enough he or a body part could have still killed someone else on the street.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYguy (Post 6102380)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8262/8...52ca735a_h.jpg

Just the place where I would like to read an unabridged history of the ESB.

More on the 103rd floor ... (with more recent pics etc):

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/guide/in...tate-building/

Quote:

“People come for many reasons. Some people because it’s romantic, because it’s a must-see, because they want to enjoy the view from above, because they want to propose to their girlfriend because they’ve seen it in the movies,” Ghazi said.

Every list you’ll see will tell you that there are 102 floors at the Empire State Building. But, in reality, there are 103. We were fortunate enough to get access to this area, which is off-limits to the general public.

http://cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.co...pg?w=930&h=617

Quote:

So, how did we get there?

First we had to go up to the 102nd floor observatory pod, which is open to the public, though it costs more than just visiting the 86th floor outdoor observation deck.

Interesting fact: When the Empire State Building was initially conceived and constructed, there was no antenna atop it. The top of the building was envisioned as a mooring mast for airships, with passengers disembarking on to the 103rd floor and the 102nd floor serving as customs and official port of entry into the United States.

But due to the strong air currents in New York, that proved to be impossible. The antenna was added in 1950 and brought the building up to 1,467 feet.

When we got to the 102nd floor, we made a hard right out of the elevator and there was a door to our left.

That is oh so very cool, I love seeing the mechanical insides and workings of buildings like that, the kind of things most people don't get to see.

I love when they feature skyscrapers like this...

• Video Link

Some of the images in this thread are just ridiculously good. The ultimate tower.

There's been a bidding war going on...

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/06/...1b-plus-offer/

Joseph Sitt’s Thor Equities piles on Empire State Building with $2.1B-plus offer

http://s13.therealdeal.com/trd/up/20...ingJoeSitt.jpg

June 27, 2013
By Adam Pincus

Quote:

Retail-focused real estate investor Joseph Sitt, CEO of Midtown-based Thor Equities, has become the latest bidder for the Empire State Building, topping an earlier offer of $2.1 billion, his representative Jason Meister, a broker and vice president at commercial firm Avison Young, told The Real Deal.

Meister submitted the all-cash offer via email at about 4 p.m. to Thomas Dewey, a partner at the law firm Dewey Pegno & Kramarsky, which represents Malkin Holdings, the company that controls the tower, he said.

Sitt is at least the third individual or group to offer to purchase the iconic 102-story tower at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. The first publicly announced bid was from Rubin Schron, president of Cammeby’s International, for $2 billion on June 18. That was followed with a bid from a joint venture between of Joseph Tabak of Princeton Holdings and Philip Pilevsky of Philips International, revealed yesterday.

The building has about 127,256 square feet of retail that fronts Fifth Avenue and 33rd and 34th streets. The current tenants are coffee chain Starbucks, discount apparel store Strawberry, restaurant Heartland Brewery, drugstore Walgreens and others.

The Malkin family’s Malkin Holdings is leading an effort to convert the Empire State Building and other properties into a real estate investment trust. The proposed REIT, Empire State Realty Trust, has gained the votes of approximately 90 percent of investors of the Empire State Building.

Thor Equities owns a string of properties along Fifth Avenue, and many others in the Meatpacking District, Soho and Brooklyn. Sitt, in a telephone interview with The Real Deal, declined to comment on the bid, or elaborate on who his partners could be.

Meister, who also represented Schron in his bid, would not comment directly on Sitt’s offer. But, he said, “It makes sense. [The Empire State Building] is one of the most iconic buildings in the world and Joe owns a lot of retail along the Fifth Avenue corridor. It’s a logical asset for Joe to buy.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1382365

Empire State Building Light Show

Quote:

The iconic skyscraper premieres an epic LED light show choreographed to the grand finale of the Macy’s Fireworks. While Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” play out the closing five minutes of the extravaganza, the lights mirror the fireworks with colorful ripples, sparkles and strobes. Free. Show begins at approximately 9:50 p.m. 34th St., between Sixth & Seventh Aves. See macys.com/fireworks.

Love this brief view walking from the station to work every morning looking north up W. Broadway.

http://www.urbanimpressionist.com/mi...ding-from-.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYguy (Post 6182431)

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1382365

Empire State Building Light Show

sigh. The one day when going around shouting 'MURICA is acceptable, a fireworks display can't end with a timeless patriotic march or hymn. Songs like New York New York and Empire State of Mind are better for the beginning of the show
It's good to hear Lady Liberty is re-opening, glad I managed to make a day-trip down there last summer to take in the views of Lower Manhattan and the WTC before Sandy struck in October. Hopefully earthcam will get the live harborcam up for us to watch the beacon on top of 1 WTC's spire shine brightly.

I was wondering if the best place to catch both the ESB light show coordinated with the Fireworks on the Hudson would be at the Top of the Rock observation deck ...

Yes more than likely, that would be the best place.

Some video I captured on July 4...

• Video Link

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/ny...orks.html?_r=0

The Empire State Building, Now in 16 Million Colors

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...ticleLarge.jpg

By MARC SANTORA
July 5, 2013

Quote:

The Empire State Building threw itself a bit of a dance party on Thursday night.

As fireworks exploded in a spectrum of colors over the Hudson River for the 37th Annual Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, it was a new light show atop the world-famous building that caught many people’s attention.

Whether it was grand or garish is a matter of opinion, but it was certainly different.

When a new LED lighting system was installed on the building in 2012, it promised the opportunity to light up the skyline with 16 million colors. There have been several light shows since then that showed what the system could do. But on the Fourth, when all eyes were turned skyward, it seemed that every one of those colors illuminated the building at some point.

“I know the Macy’s fireworks are amazing but the Empire State Building lights are stealing the show!!” Damien Basile posted on Twitter.

When the new lighting system, from Philips Color Kinetics, was installed, it replaced an older system that required colored gels to be placed on top of static lamps to light up the building. Now, the colors can be programmed remotely to change at the stroke of a key. They also glow up to eight times brighter than the old lights.

The building’s owners have promised to maintain strict standards on how the new lights will be used. For instance, no advertising is allowed. However, the Fourth of July offered an opportunity to show off a bit.

“Partnering the world’s most famous building with the world’s most famous fireworks spectacular can only happen in New York City,” said Anthony E. Malkin, whose family controls the building, in a statement. “As the iconic feature of the New York City skyline, we are honored to have this opportunity to add our unmatchable LED lights to the celebration.”

For those who prefer a more subdued palette, the schedule for lighting on the building calls for white/white/white until the end of the month.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1391038

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopo...5/75380890.jpg

Usher lights The Empire State Building in celebration of Independence Day on Wednesday in New York City.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...=ITP_newyork_2

Topping Expectations at the Empire State Building

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0710181000.jpg

July 10, 2013
By RALPH GARDNER JR.

Quote:

Many years ago—it must have been in the late '40s or early '50s—my father visited the Empire State Building's antenna. He went far higher than anybody else—except those who serviced the broadcast equipment, soaring 1,454 feet over Manhattan—is allowed to go. He was working for the New York Times back then. And my hunch is that he was accompanying one of the newspaper's photographers, though I can't find any mention of the story in the Times' online archives. However, I have a vivid recollection of him telling me about it, and even seeing the article along with a vertiginous photograph.

My goal all these years has been to climb into the antenna, too. It didn't happen when I visited the world's greatest building Tuesday afternoon. But I got closer than most, and closer than my stomach cared to go. My host was Anthony Malkin, the president of Malkin Holdings, which controls the Empire State Building along with a lot of other New York real estate.

"I was born in 1962," he told me as we stood in the lobby. "My grandfather, father and Harry Helmsley bought the building in 1961."

I was curious whether, growing up, Mr. Malkin was as obsessed with the building as I was. I spent endless hours making models of the Empire State out of Lego bricks. It was a perennial source of conflict and sibling rivalry with my younger brother Johnny. I'd pile up the bricks, only to have him come over and "accidentally" topple the structure, giving me an excuse to pummel him until Marie O'Grady, our baby sitter who I always suspected of secretly preferring Johnny, came to his rescue and separated us.

I wondered whether Mr. Malkin had any similar experiences—either with creating homemade models of the building, or getting into fisticuffs with siblings over craft projects. Also, if my family owned the Empire State Building I think I'd wear it on my sleeve. I'd own every cast iron model of the building available—though not the ones of King Kong clinging to the antenna, which I consider kind of cheesy—and I'd consider myself the coolest guy in class, despite whatever my other limitations; in my case, they were social, academic, physical and psychological.

Mr. Malkin didn't seem to share my passion for the building, at least growing up. "It was in the background," he stated tersely.

But these days he's clearly excited about the place, pointing out seemingly every detail, fixture and molding from the building's 2008-09 renovation. His enthusiasm might also have had something to do with an IPO his company is planning, which includes the Empire State Building. He started with the lobby's ceiling, whose aluminum and 23-carat gold-leaf machine-age murals were reproduced, after decades of neglect behind plastic panels and florescent lights.

"We went back to the original lighting," he explained.

This was all very interesting and beautiful. Indeed, the last time I visited the Empire State Building, with ornithologist Andrew Farnsworth during last fall's bird migration, I noticed that the lobby shone.

But a problem that the Empire State Building has, and that's shared by few others, is that every tourist's focus is on reaching the top. I realize I shouldn't speak for everybody. But part of the building's triumph as a piece of architecture, and the reason it appealed to my atavistic 5-year-old-boy brain, is that form transcends function and enters the realm of fantasy, though the lobby now contributes its part, too.

Your eye and imagination are directed ever upward. Whenever I'm in the neighborhood I pause on the street to bask in the building's great bulk and height. I can't think of any other building on Earth that so embodies raw power, though never at the expense of elegance and grace.

As lovely as the lobby now is, I had as much desire to pay attention to it as I would the waiting lounge of a spaceport 500 years from now as I awaited my flight to the outer planets. It's all about reaching your destination.

I don't think Mr. Malkin fully appreciated my eagerness to board an elevator as soon as possible. Though because my photographer and I were his guests, we wouldn't have to loiter on long lines to reach the observation deck.

Mr. Malkin insisted on showing us an art deco light fixture along a second-floor catwalk that had been part of the building's original specs but never installed before; the handsome red-veined, gray marble-clad lobby, for which Beyer Blinder Belle, the renovation's architects, had to go abroad to find marble that matched the original New York State stone; he even drew our attention to the building's stores, restaurants and pubs. "It's a campus," he exulted, "an urban environment."

He also took us briefly outdoors and onto 33rd Street—approximately the opposite direction from where I wanted to go—to show us elements of the building's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design reboot. "This is the largest elevator-replacement project in the history of the world," he proclaimed. "Original equipment from 1930 being replaced by state-of-the-art elevators; the braking mechanism stores power used to start the elevators again."

We were eventually whisked through the security lines, making it to the 86th-floor observation deck where we boarded another elevator to 102, but not before Mr. Malkin pointed out the colorfast linoleum on the second-floor visitor's entrance.

It was from there that we mounted a steep flight of stairs that took us to the 103rd floor, a cramped space filled with electrical equipment and copper wiring servicing the antenna. I wasn't expecting there would be an outdoor catwalk traveling the entire circumference of the pinnacle. That's also recently been upgraded with a railing. Nonetheless, the railing isn't any more than waist high. (I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it.)

"Do you want to go clockwise or counterclockwise?" Mr. Malkin inquired.

I have no fear of heights, per se. But I have a surpassing fear, one might go so far as to describe it as a phobia, about falling off tall buildings. I tried to hide my unease—there was a lovely breeze blowing, making the location perhaps New York's coolest on an oppressively hot and humid summer day—but I also made a point of not letting go of the railing as we moved around the catwalk.

Jean-Yves Ghazi, the director of the observatory, who joined us, told me that Tom Cruise had visited before the railing was added. "There's a picture of him sitting on the ledge," he explained, describing the actor, unlike me, as "fearless."

Mr. Malkin said he wasn't worried about the next generation of skyscrapers, several of which will probably exceed the Empire State Building's height within the next few years, possibly stealing some of its thunder. He noted the centrality of its location, poised between the almost completed World Trade Center, shining to our south in the afternoon haze, and to the north the Midtown skyline.

I took his word for it. I wasn't interested in looking down.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0710181037.jpg

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0710181118.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYguy (Post 6194979)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...=ITP_newyork_2

So first they made the wall higher, and now they added a railing too. I'm not afraid anymore! :P

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