A 102-story Art Deco skyscraper, The Empire State Building in New York City’s Midtown Manhattan. Shreve, Lamb & Harmon designed it, erected between 1930 and 1931. Its name is taken from the moniker “Empire State” given to the state of New York. The structure is 1,454 feet (443.2 m) tall, including its antenna, with a roof height of 1,250 feet (380 m). Until the World Trade Center was constructed in 1970, the Empire State Structure was the world’s highest building; after the latter’s collapse in 2001, the Empire State Building was the city’s tallest tower until 2012. The building will be the seventh-tallest in New York City, the ninth highest finished skyscraper in the United States, the 49th tallest in the world, and the sixth tallest freestanding structure in the Americas by 2020.

Historically, transport businesses like Short Line Motor Coach Service and New York Central Railroad utilized the structure to represent the city. Its fame as a tall building preceded its fame as a fine building, according to architect Paul Goldberger. Click here for more

It is also a famous American symbol. In a 2007 poll, the Empire State Building was named “America’s favorite building.” Initially, the structure was a symbol of optimism and achievement for new immigrants in a nation ravaged by the Depression. According to Benjamin Flowers, the Empire State was “constructed by men (both customers and construction workers) who were new Americans.” Architectural critic Jonathan Glancey calls it “an American design landmark.”

The Empire State Building was acclaimed as a “global wonder” owing to the immense effort put into its construction. The Washington Star named it one of the “seven marvels of the contemporary world” in 1931. Holiday magazine said in 1958 that it would be higher than the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramid of Giza combined. As a result, the American Society of Civil Engineers named it a “Modern Civil Engineering Wonder of the United States” in 1958 and a “Seven Wonders of the Modern Author Ron Miller called the Empire State Building one of the “seven marvels of engineering.” Since its inauguration, it has also been named the Eighth Wonder of the World. The 1963 lobby panels depicted the seven original marvels of the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building’s height and length established the worldwide benchmark for measuring natural and man-made buildings. Discover more about New York

From its rich history to its unusual architecture, there’s a lot to learn about the World’s Most Famous Building. Learn more about what makes this New York institution a must-see. For further information, call (212) 736-3100.