Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In New York Harbor.
&
212/363-3200
(general info), or 212/269-5755 (ticket/ferry
info). www.nps.gov/elis, www.ellisisland.org, or www.statuecruises.com. Free
admission (ferry ticket charge). Daily 9:30am-5:15pm (last ferry departs around
3:30pm). For subway and ferry details, see the Statue of Liberty listing on p. 131
(ferry trip includes stops at both sights).
Empire State Building
It took 60,000 tons of steel, 10
million bricks, 2.5 million feet of electrical wire, 120 miles of pipe,
and seven million man-hours to build. King Kong climbed it in
1933—and again in 2005. A plane slammed into it in 1945. The
World Trade Center superseded it in 1970 as the island's tallest
building. And in 1997, a gunman ascended it to stage a deadly
shooting. On that horrific day of September 11, 2001, it once again
regained its status as New York City's tallest building, after 31 years
of taking second place. And through it all, the Empire State Build-
ing has remained one of the city's favorite landmarks and its signa-
ture high-rise. Completed in 1931, the limestone-and-stainless-steel
Streamline Deco dazzler climbs 102 stories (1,454 ft.) and now har-
bors the offices of fashion firms, and, in its upper reaches, a jumble
of high-tech broadcast equipment.
Always a conversation piece, the Empire State Building glows
every night, bathed in colored floodlights to commemorate events of
significance—red, white, and blue for Independence Day; green for
St. Patrick's Day; red, black, and green for Martin Luther King Day;
blue and white for Hanukkah; even blue for the New York Giants'
Super Bowl appearance in 2008 (you can find a lighting schedule
online). The familiar silver spire can be seen from all over the city.
The best views, and what keeps the nearly three million visitors
coming every year, are the ones from the 86th- and 102nd-floor obser-
vatories. The lower one is best—you can walk out on a windy deck
and look through coin-operated viewers (bring quarters!) over what,
on a clear day, can be as much as an 80-mile radius. The panorama is
magnificent. One surprise is the flurry of rooftop activity, an aspect of
city life that thrives unnoticed from our everyday sidewalk vantage
point. The higher observation deck is glass-enclosed and cramped.
Light fog can create an admirably moody effect, but it goes with-
out saying that a clear day is best. Dusk brings the most remarkable
views and the biggest crowds. Consider going in the morning, when
the light is still low on the horizon, keeping glare to a minimum.
Starry nights are pure magic.
In your haste to go up, don't rush through the three-story-high
marble lobby without pausing to admire its features, which include
a wonderful Streamline mural.
