THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDINGIN PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM:

BCB PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

A STORIED HISTORY

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.

For decades the building’s

tower lights have

broadcasted significant

events through color

schemes projected against

a stark, starless sky.

Photographer Lewis

Wickes Hine was hired

to document the

historic project in 1930.

He brought the skeletal

building to life on film

through the crew of 3400

construction workers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Synonymous with the

Big Apple, the

structure has become

representative of

American prosperity

and ambition.

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.

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.

It has been depicted in movies like Elf

(2003) and Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

as a signal for New York newcomers.

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.

And since 9/11, the Empire State Building has

become even more critical to the New York

cityscape–as a sign of American endurance.

WWW . B C B P R O P E R T Y M A N A G EM E N T . C OM