The Empire State Building stands as an elegant, iconic fixture of the New York City skyline. Built in the art deco style of pre–World War II New York, it is currently the tallest building in New York, the third tallest skyscraper in the U.S., and the 15th tallest in the world.
Completed in 1931, the 102-story building reaches 1,454 feet at the top of its antenna spire. The roof itself is 1,250 feet high, or slightly less than a quarter of a mile above street level.
Wikipedia reports some interesting facts on the Empire State Building:
- It was the first building to have more than 100 floors. It has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators, and it takes 1,860 steps to climb from street level to the 102nd floor.
- The base of the building covers roughly 2 acres.
- The inside of the building has 70 miles of pipe and about 9,000 faucets.
- It weighs approximately 340,000 tons. The exterior was built using Indiana limestone panels.
- It cost $40,948,900 to build.