Empire State Building

The real estate between 34th street and 33 street on Fifth Ave. had been home to the Astor's.  The famous Mrs. William Astor lived at 34th and Fifth.  Because her ballroom could only accommodate 400, N.Y.'s social elite were listed as 'the 400'.  Her nephew was at 33rd.  The nephew built the Waldorf Hotel on his site, ruining the neighborhood; so Mrs Astor built the Astoria Hotel on her corner and moved uptown.  So  they created the Waldorf-Astoria so I could have my prom.
The Empire State Building was planned during the booming 1920s by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon but completed in1931.  It is constructed in the Art deco style of the time.  It cost $40,948,900 then, about $500,000,000 today.  It was largely vacant in the early years.  They say fees to the observation deck paid the bills.  The bills for building the Empire State Building were paid by one man, John Jacob Raskob, KCSG, 1879-1950.
Born in Lockport, NY, his grandfather was an immigrant from Germany and his father sold cigars.  After High School he went to a local Business School but had to drop out when his father died in 1898.  He worked as a secretary to support the family.
1911 ... hired as a personal secretary to Pierre DuPont
1914 ... appointed Treasurer
1918 ... Vice President for Finance of DuPont and General Motors.  He was an early investor in GM and engineered DuPont's ownership of 43% of GM.
In the 1928 Presidential campaign he supported Al Smith for President.  Chairman of the Board, Sloan supported Herbert Hoover.  Raskob was asked to resign.  He sold his stock, built the Empire State Building, and made Al Smith President ... of the Empire State Building Company.
The KCSG after his name signifies that he is a knight of the Catholic Church.  He was given the title for his philanthropy, not because of the 13 children his wife had.  Another member of the KCSG is Rupert Murdoch.

3000 men rose the framework at a rate of 4 and a half stories per week to 102 stories total and 1454 feet.
In 1951 the Raskob Estate sold the building for $34 million
Today $550 million is being spent on renovations with $120 million being used to make the building Greener
It has its own zip code  10118
In 1945, a plane crashed into the building, killing 14 people.  It also resulted in Betty Lou Oliver surviving a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator.  That still stands as the Guinness World Record.  Anyone want to go for 76. 
It was the tallest building for 42 years until the World trade center in 1973
There have been over 30 suicides.  The first was by a worker before the building was completed.  He had been laid off.  Evelyn McHale on 5/1/47 jumped from the 86th floor, landed on a U.N. limo and her curiously intact body was photographed.  It was later used by Andy Warhol for his painting 'Suicide'.  Elvita Adams on 12/2/79 jumped from the 86th floor only to be blown back and land on the 85th floor with a broken hip.
In 2/24/97 a Palestinian gunman shot 7 people, killing one and wounding himself.
There have been 110 million visitors to the Empire State Building.  Named America's favorite building in a poll by the American Institute of Architects, designated a National Landmark and listed as one of the 7 wonders of the Modern World.  But I've never liked that name!