[41] The elevators were designed to move at 1,200 feet per minute (366m/min). [422] The building was originally a symbol of hope in a country devastated by the Depression, as well as a work of accomplishment by newer immigrants. Can't find current (2008) owner info. [423], The Empire State Building has been hailed as an example of a "wonder of the world" due to the massive effort expended during construction. NBC's FM station, W2XDG, began transmitting from the antenna in 1940. [213][214] According to historian John Tauranac, building materials were sourced from numerous, and distant, sources with "limestone from Indiana, steel girders from Pittsburgh, cement and mortar from upper New York State, marble from Italy, France, and England, wood from northern and Pacific Coast forests, [and] hardware from New England. [401], Two people have survived falls by not falling more than a floor. [299][319][320] As a result of the attacks, transmissions from nearly all of the city's commercial television and FM radio stations were again broadcast from the Empire State Building. [130][131] This setup, which entailed the installation of the world's first FM transmitter,[131] continued only until October of the next year due to disputes between RCA and Armstrong. Chappell called the mast "a silly gesture", and Lewis Mumford called it "a public comfort station for migratory birds". "[41][181][179] The plans were revised one last time in December 1929, to include a 16-story, 200-foot (61m) metal "crown" and an additional 222-foot (68m) mooring mast intended for dirigibles. [209] On one occasion, when a supplier could not provide timely delivery of dark Hauteville marble, Starrett switched to using Rose Famosa marble from a German quarry that was purchased specifically to provide the project with sufficient marble. [410] The Washington Star listed it as part of one of the "seven wonders of the modern world" in 1931, while Holiday magazine wrote in 1958 that the Empire State's height would be taller than the combined heights of the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramid of Giza. This was solved by creating a temporary driveway for the trucks between 33rd and 34th Streets, and then storing the materials in the building's first floor and basements. [122], The earliest tenants in the Empire State Building were large companies, banks, and garment industries. [74] The building's owners adhere to strict standards in using the lights; for instance, they do not use the lights to play advertisements. ? It was expected that a taller broadcast tower in Bayonne, New Jersey, or Governors Island, would be built in the meantime with the Empire State Building being used as a "backup" since signal transmissions from the building were generally of poorer quality. [175] On November 18, 1929, Smith acquired a lot at 2731 West 33rd Street, adding 75 feet (23m) to the width of the proposed office building's site. [30] The Chrysler Building's developer, Walter Chrysler, realized that his tower's height would exceed the Empire State Building's as well, having instructed his architect, William Van Alen, to change the Chrysler's original roof from a stubby Romanesque dome to a narrow steel spire. [71], According to official fact sheets, the Empire State Building weighs 365,000 short tons (331,122t) and has an internal volume of 37million cubic feet (1,000,000m3). "[418], Early in the building's history, travel companies such as Short Line Motor Coach Service and New York Central Railroad used the building as an icon to symbolize the city. [135] In 1965, a separate set of FM antennae was constructed ringing the 103rd floor observation area to act as a master antenna. [406] Kamal reportedly committed the shooting in response to events happening in Palestine and Israel. The Empire State Building celebrates its 90th birthday this year. [29][37][86], Until the 1960s, an Art Deco mural, inspired by both the sky and the Machine Age, was installed in the lobby ceilings. [181] A revised plan was announced to the public in late December 1929, just before the start of construction. Johnson later filed a federal lawsuit, in January 2014, under the Visual Artists Rights Act alleging the negligent destruction of the paintings and damage to her reputation as an artist. [317] This sparked a series of lawsuits and countersuits that lasted several years,[277] partly arising from Trump's desire to obtain the building's master lease by taking it from Empire State Building Associates. [217][218] The steel structure was topped out at 1,048 feet (319m) on September 19, twelve days ahead of schedule and 23 weeks after the start of construction. [124] The idea, however, was impractical and dangerous due to powerful updrafts caused by the building itself,[267] the wind currents across Manhattan,[124] and the spires of nearby skyscrapers. [101][112], In early 1994, a motion simulator attraction was built on the 2nd floor,[113] as a complement to the observation deck. [384], Despite the damage and loss of life, many floors were open two days later. [109][99], A comprehensive restoration of the building's mooring and antenna masts also began in June 2019. Empire State Realty acquired MerrittView in 1994 for $15.2 million, later adding the sprawling First Stamford Place complex just off Interstate 95 in Stamford. [84] The relief, which was intended to provide a welcoming effect,[13] contains an embossed outline of the building, with rays radiating from the spire and the sun behind it. In a report that Congress commissioned about the transition from analog television to digital television, it was stated that the placement of broadcast stations in the Empire State Building was considered "problematic" due to interference from nearby buildings. [128] The mast serves as the base of the building's broadcasting antenna. Tony Malkin is chairman, president and CEO of Empire State Realty Trust, the real estate investment trust that owns the Empire State Building, as well as 18 other properties in New. [94][328][329] Air conditioning operating costs on hot days were reduced, saving $17million of the project's capital cost immediately and partially funding some of the other retrofits. [277][324] In 2008, the building was temporarily "stolen" by the New York Daily News to show how easy it was to transfer the deed on a property, since city clerks were not required to validate the submitted information, as well as to help demonstrate how fraudulent deeds could be used to obtain large mortgages and then have individuals disappear with the money. Furthermore, the old hotel's granite, wood chips, and "'precious' metals such as lead, brass, and zinc" were not in high demand, resulting in issues with disposal. Real estate developer Seymour Durst recalled that the building was so underused in 1936 that there was no elevator service above the 45th floor, as the building above the 41st floor was empty except for the NBC offices and the Raskob/Du Pont offices on the 81st floor. Who owns the land of the Empire State building? [16] Tenants enter the building through the Art Deco lobby located at 350 Fifth Avenue. [235] According to the writer Jim Rasenberger, Hine "climbed out onto the steel with the ironworkers and dangled from a derrick cable hundreds of feet above the city to capture, as no one ever had before (or has since), the dizzy work of building skyscrapers". [83] The lobby contains two tiers of marble: a lighter marble on the top, above the storefronts, and a darker marble on the bottom, flush with the storefronts. The fifth story contains windows alternating with wide and narrow mullions, and is topped by a horizontal stone sill. The Empire State Building sparked a furious backlash from New Yorkers. After the fall, building inspectors reviewed all of the building's elevators. [191] Stripping the building down was an arduous process, as the hotel had been constructed using more rigid material than earlier buildings had been. According to the building's official website, more than 250 movies contain depictions of the Empire State Building. [2][162][168] Lamb produced the building drawings in just two weeks using the firm's earlier designs for the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the basis. The most accurate or helpful solution is served by Yahoo! Savvy real estate pros will know that today, it's owned by Tony Malkin's Empire State Realty Trust but they might not know the. [40][55] The windows are placed within stainless-steel frames, which saved money by eliminating the need to apply a stone finish around the windows. [195] The plan was to start construction later that year but, on October 24, the New York Stock Exchange experienced the major and sudden Wall Street Crash, marking the beginning of the decade-long Great Depression. [101] There are variable charges to enter the observatories; one ticket allows visitors to go as high as the 86th floor, and there is an additional charge to visit the 102nd floor. [154] The hotel closed shortly thereafter on May 3, 1929. Premium. [252] The lack of renters led New Yorkers to deride the building as the "Empty State Building"[237][253] or "Smith's Folly". [53], The main entrance, composed of three sets of metal doors, is at the center of the facade's Fifth Avenue elevation, flanked by molded piers that are topped with eagles. [119] The simulator received mixed reviews, with assessments of the ride ranging from "great" to "satisfactory" to "corny". [129] Construction of a dedicated broadcast tower began on July 27, 1950,[133] with TV, and FM, transmissions starting in 1951. The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Empire State Building Quiz The primary duo behind the construction of the Empire State Building was John J. Raskob and Al Smith. [15][124][268] On September 15, 1931, a small commercial United States Navy airship circled 25 times in 45-mile-per-hour (72km/h) winds. [81][244] As the tallest building in the world, at that time, and the first one to exceed 100 floors, the Empire State Building became an icon of the city and, ultimately, of the nation. [265], Per the original plans, the Empire State Building's spire was intended to be an airship docking station. This was exacerbated by competition from Rockefeller Center[250] as well as from buildings on 42nd Street, which, when combined with the Empire State Building, resulted in surplus of office space in a slow market during the 1930s. [66], The structure was lit in red, white, and blue for several months after the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. [35] Nevertheless, architecture critic Douglas Haskell said the Empire State Building's appeal came from the fact that it was "caught at the exact moment of transitioncaught between metal and stone, between the idea of 'monumental mass' and that of airy volume, between handicraft and machine design, and in the swing from what was essentially handicraft to what will be essentially industrial methods of fabrication. [176][177] Two days later, Smith announced the updated plans for the skyscraper. [41] Per the final specifications of the building, the corridor is surrounded in turn by office space 28 feet (8.5m) deep, maximizing office space at a time before air conditioning became commonplace. [281] That same year, six news companies formed a partnership to pay a combined annual fee of $600,000 to use the building's antenna,[135] which was completed in 1953. [76][41], Additional elevators connect the 80th floor to the six floors above it, as the six extra floors were built after the original 80 stories were approved. [35][417] Edmund Wilson of The New Republic wrote that the building's neutral color palette made it "New York's handsomest skyscraper". [216][220], Work on the building's interior and crowning mast commenced after the topping out. [277][286] Helmsley, Wien, and Peter Malkin quickly started a program of minor improvement projects, including the first-ever full-building facade refurbishment and window-washing in 1962,[287][288] the installation of new flood lights on the 72nd floor in 1964,[59][60] and replacement of the manually operated elevators with automatic units in 1966. [86][53][89] The western side of the rectangular elevator-bank corridor extends north to the 34th Street entrance and south to the 33rd Street entrance. The company's president, Floyd De L. Brown, paid $100,000 of the $1million down payment required to start construction on the building, with the promise that the difference would be paid later. [165][166][164] Concurrently, Smith announced the construction of an 80-story building on the site, to be taller than any other buildings in existence. [72] Also, on November 26, 2012, the building had its first synchronized light show, using music from recording artist Alicia Keys. It also allows employees to access the mechanical floors located between the 87th and 101st floors. [27] The block directly to the northeast contains the B. Altman and Company Building, which houses the City University of New York's Graduate Center, while the Demarest Building is directly across Fifth Avenue to the east. The 1,050-foot Empire State Building would only be 4 feet (1.2m) taller than the Chrysler Building,[175][179][180] and Raskob was afraid that Chrysler might try to "pull a trick like hiding a rod in the spire and then sticking it up at the last minute. [51] The interior required 1,172 miles (1,886km) of elevator cable and 2million feet (609,600m) of electrical wires. [430], As an icon of New York City, the Empire State Building has been featured in various films, books, TV shows, and video games. [107][108] An observatory on the 80th floor, opened in 2019, includes various exhibits as well as a mural of the skyline drawn by British artist Stephen Wiltshire. [204] Around this time, Lamb held a press conference on the building plans. [122][50][134] From 1951, six broadcasters agreed to pay a combined $600,000 per year for the use of the antenna. [35][124], On July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building, between the 79th and 80th floors. [83][e] At the west end of the lobby, behind the security desk, is an aluminum relief of the skyscraper as it was originally built (without the antenna). The Empire State Building is located on the west side of Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, between 33rd Street to the south and 34th Street to the north. [218][221] Meanwhile, work on the walls and interior was progressing at a quick pace, with exterior walls built up to the 75th floor by the time steelwork had been built to the 95th floor. [84] Subsequent damage to these murals, designed by artist Leif Neandross, resulted in reproductions being installed. [109][99], According to a 2010 report by Concierge.com, the five lines to enter the observation decks are "as legendary as the building itself". [40] The setbacks correspond to the tops of elevator shafts, allowing interior spaces to be at most 28 feet (8.5m) deep (see Interior). [121][122] Inside, the elevators would ascend 167 feet (51m) from the 86th floor ticket offices to a 33-foot-wide (10m) 101st-floor[f] waiting room. [86][85] A scale model of the building was also placed south of the security desk. The Empire State's owners and real estate speculators were worried that the twin towers' 7.6million square feet (710,000m2) of office space would create a glut of rentable space in Manhattan as well as take away the Empire State Building's profits from lessees. Then one day his . [347], With the destruction of the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York City, and the second-tallest building in the Americas, surpassed only by the Willis Tower in Chicago. The Empire State Building is a 102-story[c] Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. [280] By this time, the Empire State had been fully leased for several years with a waiting list of parties looking to lease space in the building, according to the Cortland Standard. [98][84][99] The latter two observatories saw a combined average of fourmillion visitors per year in 2010. In late May, when the New York Times journalists Keith Collins and Matthew Haag sent their first email to the company that owns the Empire State Building, New York was expected to fully reopen . The company also owns the nearby Metro Center building adjacent to the Stamford Transportation Center, and a pair of retail properties on Main Street in Westport. [394] On December 16, 1943, William Lloyd Rambo jumped to his death from the 86th floor, landing amidst Christmas shoppers on the street below. [311][312], Prudential sold the land under the building in 1991 for $42million to a buyer representing hotelier Hideki Yokoi[ja], who was imprisoned at the time in connection with the deadly Hotel New Japan Fire[ja] at the Hotel New Japan[ja] in Tokyo. [308] The improvements also entailed replacing alarm systems, elevators, windows, and air conditioning; making the observation deck compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA); and refurbishing the limestone facade. It would remain the world's tallest building for 17 years, until the nearby tower at 40 Wall Street was completed; the Chrysler Building (1930) and the Empire State Building (1931) later dwarfed . [258], Aggressive marketing efforts served to reinforce the Empire State Building's status as the world's tallest. [246][247], At the beginning of 1931, Fifth Avenue was experiencing high demand for storefront space, with only 12 of 224 stores being unoccupied. [210] Starrett Bros. and Eken endeavored to build one floor a day in order to speed up construction, a goal that they almost reached with their pace of 4+12 stories per week;[216][100] prior to this, the fastest pace of construction for a building of similar height had been 3+12 stories per week. [152][153] By the 1920s, the old WaldorfAstoria was becoming dated and the elegant social life of New York had moved much farther north. [70] The computer-controlled system allows the building to be illuminated in ways that were unable to be done previously with plastic gels. [24][25] To the east of the Empire State Building is Murray Hill,[26] a neighborhood with a mix of residential, commercial, and entertainment activity. Going from west to east, there are secondary entrances to 34th and 33rd Streets from the northern and southern corridors, respectively. [227][228][229] According to official accounts, five workers died during the construction,[230][231] although the New York Daily News gave reports of 14 deaths[3] and a headline in the socialist magazine The New Masses spread unfounded rumors of up to 42 deaths. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. No wonder they were known as "air-treaders," or "sky boys." Here's what to know about the brave souls who built the Empire State Building! [82] The three-story-high space, which runs parallel to 33rd and 34th Streets, contains storefronts to the north and south. Per the 1916 Zoning Act, the wall of any given tower that faces a street could only rise to a certain height, proportionate to the street's width, at which point the building had to be set back by a given proportion. [224] The Empire State Building was structurally completed on April 11, 1931, twelve days ahead of schedule and 410days after construction commenced. [352] Additionally, in 2007, the Empire State Building was first on the AIA's List of America's Favorite Architecture. [140] In 2003, a few FM stations were relocated to the nearby Cond Nast Building to reduce the number of broadcast stations using the Empire State Building. [205], The structural steel was pre-ordered and pre-fabricated in anticipation of a revision to the city's building code that would have allowed the Empire State Building's structural steel to carry 18,000 pounds per square inch (120,000kPa), up from 16,000 pounds per square inch (110,000kPa), thus reducing the amount of steel needed for the building. [272][273], By the 1940s, the Empire State Building was 98 percent occupied. [103], The 86th floor observatory contains both an enclosed viewing gallery and an open-air outdoor viewing area, allowing for it to remain open 365 days a year regardless of the weather. [87] At both ends of the northern and southern corridors, there is a bank of four low-rise elevators in between the corridors. [30] Atop the 102nd story is the 203ft (61.9m) pinnacle, much of which is covered by broadcast antennas, and surmounted with a lightning rod. "[106], As an icon of the United States, it is also very popular among Americans. [156][157] The Astor family decided to build a replacement hotel on Park Avenue[148][158] and sold the hotel to Bethlehem Engineering Corporation in 1928 for $1416million. [60] The lights were shut off from November 1973 to July 1974 because of the energy crisis at the time. Despite the economic downturn, Raskob refused to cancel the project because of the progress that had been made up to that point. [129][130] Specifically, NBC wanted to install more TV equipment in the room where Armstrong's transmitter was located. [435][432] The building has also been featured in other works, such as "Daleks in Manhattan", a 2007 episode of the TV series Doctor Who;[435] and Empire, an eight-hour black-and-white silent film by Andy Warhol,[435] which was later added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. Empire State Building New York, New York A soaring and important legacy for the city with a historic business transaction led by Trump Towering over 5th Avenue and W 34th St, this iconic 102-story skyscraper is named after New York state's nickname, the Empire State. [325], Starting in 2009, the building's public areas received a $550million renovation, with improvements to the air conditioning and waterproofing, renovations to the observation deck and main lobby,[90] and relocation of the gift shop to the 80th floor. [298] The following year, the Ostankino Tower succeeded the Empire State Building as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. As of 2022[update], the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, the ninth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, the 54th-tallest in the world, and the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. [332] The ESRT was a public company, having begun trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange the previous year. [54] Organizations are allowed to make requests through the building's website. Prize; Association Gives Its Medal and Diploma for Building's Architectural Excellence", "Few Shops Vacant on Fifth Avenue; Survey Discloses Only Twelve Stores Available in the Business Blocks", "Neighborhood Report: Midtown; A Fixture at the Empire State", "Jack Brod, Early Tenant of Skyscraper, Dies at 98", "British Flier, on Wedding Trip, Gets Bond As 5,000,000th Empire State Tower Visitor", "Throng Strains Necks as Blimp Tries to Kiss Empire State Mast", "Blimp Moored to Tower of Empire State Building", "Moors to Empire State; Small Dirigible Makes Brief Contact While Traffic Is Jammed Below", "Empire State Building Has a Tangled History", "Ben Tobin, 92, Investor in Hotels And in Real Estate", "Ben Tobin, Bought Or Built Notable Broward Buildings", "Empire State Building Will Change Hands", "Deal Is Closed On Empire State; Col. Henry Crown Increases His Ownership to 100% in Famed Office Structure", "Empire State Building Given Special Award", "Empire State Sold; Price Is 65 Million; Empire State Building Bought By Syndicate for $65,000,000", "New Buyer to Sell Empire State To Prudential in Leaseback Deal", "Tower at Empire State Getting First Cleaning", "World Trade Center Becomes World's Highest Building By 4 Feet", "Trade Center 'Topped Out' With Steel Column 1,370 Feet Above Street", "355 Million World Trade Center Backed by Port Authority Study; 355 Million World Trade Center Backed by Port Authority Study", "Jackhammers Bite Pavement to Start Trade Center Job", "World Trade Center tower surpasses Empire State", "Timeline: World Trade Center chronology", "Panel Creates a Historic District in Manhattan's East 60's and 70's", "Trump Plans Revitalization of Empire State Building", "Streetscapes: The Empire State Building; A Red Reprise for a '31 Wonder", "Perspectives; The Empire State Building's Two-Front Campaign", "Advocates of Disabled File Complaint About the Empire State Building", "Empire State Building to provide better access for disabled", "Donald Trump's Failed and Fraught Attempt to Own the Empire State Building", "Company News; Trump Sues Empire State Building Management Company", "Helmsley, in a Countersuit Against Trump, Alleges a Conspiracy as Big as the Empire State", "With Helmsley Death, Wife Faces Battle for Empire", "1 World Trade Center Will Reclaim the Sky in Lower Manhattan", "It's official: 1 WTC is New York's new tallest building", "Terror Makes All the World A Beat for New York Police", "Partnership in Deal for Empire State Building", "Making Sense of New York, From 86 Stories Up; Views From the Empire State Building, Mapped Out in Steel", "Helmsley Caves In Empire State Bldg. [51] The building also contains 6,514 windows. The Empire State Building is the ultimate trophy property. These storefronts are flanked by tubes of dark rounded marble and topped by a vertical band of grooves set into the marble. [193][194], By the time the hotel's demolition started, Raskob had secured the required funding for the construction of the building. The movie, which depicted a large stop motion ape named Kong climbing the Empire State Building, made the still-new building into a cinematic icon. . [141] Eleven television stations and twenty-two FM stations had signed 15-year leases in the building by May 2003. [399], Only one person has jumped from the upper observatory. [78] A December 1930 feature in Popular Mechanics estimated that a building with the Empire State's dimensions would still stand even if hit with an impact of 50 short tons (45 long tons). [399][400] By then, sixteen people had died from suicide jumps. [264][129] From the outset the building was in debt, losing $1million per year by 1935. The building measured at 1,050 feet tall, four feet taller than the nearby Chrysler Building. [432] In his book about the building, John Tauranac writes that its first documented appearance in popular culture was Swiss Family Manhattan, a 1932 children's story by Christopher Morley. ", "Top of the Empire State To Get New Floodlights", "ESB to light up with NYCFC, Red Bulls colors", "LOOK: Empire State Building lights up blue and orange for Islanders win", "Empire State Building turns blue as silent tribute", "Empire State Building pays tribute to Kobe Bryant with purple, gold lights", "Bathed in New Lights, Empire State Building Will Star in More Vivid Show", "The Empire State Building, Now in 16 Million Colors", "Empire State Building lights up to broadcast election results", "Empire State Building Light Show: LED Display Synchronized To Two Alicia Keys Songs Over Manhattan", "How Eminem and Jimmy Kimmel Took Over the Empire State Building", "Overhead, a Lobby Is Restored to Old Glory", "Artist Files Suit Over Missing Empire State Building Paintings", "Empire State Building Plans Environmental Retrofit", "Empire State Building To Get Modernized Elevators", "Empire State Building's 80th floor renovations offer new visitor experience", "Empire State Building Observation Decks Generate Startling Profits", "3.3 Million Were Expected at Trade Center Attraction; a Million Haven't Shown Up", "City That Never Sleeps is Full of Unexpected Treasures", "No Longer The Tallest, 'Most Famous' Building in World", "The Empire State Building's view just got even better", "The Empire State Building: Renewing the Affair", "Empire State Building completes $165M revamp with new observatory", "Empire State Building Tickets Observatory and Optional Skip the Line Tickets", "Travel Advisory: Empire State Building; New York on One Floor", "Feud Over Views From the Empire State Building", "Inaccessible New York: Up To The 103rd Floor Of The Empire State Building", "Here's The View From The Private 103rd Balcony of the Empire State Building", "Raising the Glass at the Empire State Building", "Broadcast Antennas On The Empire State Building", "Appraiser's 'Inside' Helped Sell Empire State Building", "One World Trade Center readies for broadcasters", "Coleman Du Pont Purchases The WaldorfAstoria; Sale of Hotel Announced by George C. Boldt, Who Relinquishes Control Today", "Largest Office Building to Replace Waldorf-Astoria", "Catharine Street as Select Shopping Centre Recalled in Lord & Taylor's Coming Removal", "FACTBOX-History of New York's Empire State Building", "Smith To Help Build Highest Skyscraper; Ex-Governor Heads Group That Will Put 80-Story Office Building on Waldorf Site", "Enlarges Site For 1,000-foot Building; Empire State Adds 75 Feet in 33d Street to the Waldorf Hotel Plot", "Razing Of Waldorf Started By Smith; Ceremony on Roof Marks the Beginning of Demolition of Historic Hotel", "Approves $27,500,000 For Smith Project; Metropolitan Life Grants Loan to the Empire State Building Company", "Steel Contract Let; Empire State Building to Require Total of 50,000 Tons", "Excavating Finished For Smith Building; Steel Construction on Empire State Structure Here Will Begin on March 15", "Standards For Steel Eased In New City Law; Bill Signed by Walker Allows 18,000-Pound Stress to the Square Inch", "Greatest Skyscraper Rises On A Clockwork Schedule; The Empire State Building Soars Upward, as a Modern Army Daily, Defeats Time, Far Above the Throngs on Fifth Avenue", "Smith Lays Stone For Tallest Tower; 5,000 Witness Ceremony as Former Governor Wields Trowel at Empire State Building", "Workers Raise Flag 1,048 Feet Above Fifth Av.