The Empire State Building is an iconic pulse of the New York City skyline, standing apart from the cluster of skyscrapers in the Financial District. How can a simple patch of land–originally a farm, then the site of the Waldorf Astoria, then the base of the tallest skyscraper in the world, for a time–become one of the most recognizable mastheads of New York City?

1. THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
IN PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM:
BCB PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
A STORIED HISTORY

2. The Empire State
Building is an iconic
pulse of the New York
City skyline, standing
apart from the cluster
of skyscrapers in the
Financial District.

3. For decades the building’s
tower lights have
broadcasted significant
events through color
schemes projected against
a stark, starless sky.

4. Photographer Lewis
Wickes Hine was hired
to document the
historic project in 1930.

5. He brought the skeletal
building to life on film
through the crew of 3400
construction workers.

6. His remarkable,
floating
photographs–now
available online in
the NYPL digital
collection–do not
reveal the lengths
the photographer
went to in order to
capture the laborers’
daring feats.

7. Less than two years after it
was opened by President
Hoover in 1931, the Empire
State Building was
immortalized in the 1933
classic movie King Kong.

8. Although the original and
remakes use footage shot
on soundstages and rely
heavily on special effects,
King Kong helped to embed
the Empire State Building
in people’s minds as a
permanent fixture in the
New York City skyline.

9. Even after the World Trade Centers
surpassed its height in the early 1970s,
the Empire State Building went on to
have a long, storied film career.

10. Synonymous with the
Big Apple, the
structure has become
representative of
American prosperity
and ambition.

11. It has featured in the destruction
wrought by dystopian films, like
Independence Day (1996) and
Oblivion (2013), as a symbol of
human achievement pitted against
the destructive forces of alien
invaders and Mother Nature.

12. It has appeared in superhero films, like
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and
Superman II (1980), as a hallmark of
New York pride and perseverance.

13. It has been depicted in movies like Elf
(2003) and Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
as a signal for New York newcomers.

14. It has figured into romcoms
like An Affair to Remember
(1957), When Harry Met
Sally (1989), and–perhaps
most famously–Sleepless in
Seattle (1993), as a crucial
rendezvous, a measure of
long-distance relationships,
and a metaphor for larger-
than-life love.

15. And since 9/11, the Empire State Building has
become even more critical to the New York
cityscape–as a sign of American endurance.

16. W W W . B C B P R O P E R T Y M A N A G E M E N T . C O M