The Building for the Empire State (Empire State Building)

Member Name: DixieChick101

Product:	Empire State Building
Date:	26/08/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing views, cheap for what you get. Good security

Disadvantages: Lots of queuing, but it is all for the security that they're quite strong on.

==================
Empire State Building
==================

I think everyone has heard of the Empire State Building, it got its name because one of New York's nicknames is 'The Empire State', and this building is pretty much the monument of New York. For over forty years it was the tallest building in the world, until the North Tower of the Trade Centre was built. It lost its title for almost 30 years until the destruction of the world trade centre in 2001, and now remains as the tallest building in New York City however not in the world anymore, and definitely not in America as the Chicago Willis Tower over towers it.

==================
Brief History
==================

Designed by Gregory Johnson back in 1930, the building was actually designed from the top down. The contractors of the building was originally the Starrett Brothers and Eken, and they began work on January 22nd 1930. It took 3,400 workers to complete the project and according to our guide on the tour bus 5 people died when making the building.

The building was actually constructed for a competition called the 'Worlds Tallest Building', the other two buildings fighting for the name were 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, both of which I'm sure you've heard of.

It only took 410 days for the construction to be completed and was open in May of 1931, with Herbert Hoover turning on the lights. The Empire State Building however was erected during the Great Depression, and it wasn't until after World War 2 that it began to make a profit.

When on the bus I found out for the first time that in 1945, the Empire State Building was hit by an airplane, only around 15 people died, I actually can't remember if it was a terrorist attack or just a plane going wrong, but I found it quite weird that I had never heard of it before. The guide also told us that the Guiness World Record for longest survived elevator fall happened in this event, which was also quite amazing.

==================
Observation Decks
==================

This is what we all flog to go and see when we go to New York, we all want the chance to go up to the Observation Deck and to see Manhattan from this great height. The 86th observation deck offers tourists and locals alike the chance to see Manhattan and the rest of New York from a 360 degree angle. You can go to the 102nd observation deck however I believe that is more money.

==================
My Experience
==================

We went about 10-11 o'clock on a Wednesday morning and it was packed, royally packed. People were very polite though and took the pictures they wanted and then moved onto the next bit of the deck allowing you to go and have a look, well some people stood there for weeks taking pictures of their 20 children all doing at least 10 posses each with the Manhattan Skyline behind them.

When you get into the Empire State Building, you have to first go up an escalator before you get to the first queue line. This can change though as I have heard that the queue can go out onto the street in the most busy times of the days. The queue only took about 5/10 minutes at most to get through and then you reach the first batch of security. We didn't realise they'd be security and we were all dressed up to the nines in metal jewellery and belts and a lot of different things. We had to take all of this off before queuing up again to get your tickets.

You are able to skip this line if you've booked your tickets online, however you only miss one queue out of A LOT depending on the day, it may be worth it as this was the longest queue of the lot but it's not a problem to stand there for 10 minutes. Your tickets will then get checked and then you get put in another queue and this time it's for a picture.

We had our picture taken, but by the time we stood in front of the green screen, and gone to pose, she had already taken the picture and was screaming at us to move along. Lets just say they lost their $28 or whatever price it was they were asking for, for this one. At this point as well you could buy a small mobile phone like machine which tells you all about what you're looking at, we ignored this, but when we were up there, people were using them and we got a little jealous about that.

Then you get in the lift and then you're up on the observation deck, and the views are just amazing. I kinda wished we went at night as well, but with a $20 ticket, it is a little bit much, plus we didn't have the time.

The views were amazing, here is a brief outline of what you will see when you get up there:

North- I think the only ones worth looking for is the Chrysler Building and the Met Life Building. Nothing much else is on this side, however it was where I got my best picture of the whole holiday. One of which I'm thinking of sending into a travel photograph competition.

East- Here you'll be able to see Queens, other than that there's nothing else here really, it is a beautiful view though.

South- Here you'll be able to see the likes of Wall Street, and the statue of liberty. Even though it is one of the most beautiful parts of the city, for some reason these were the weakest pictures that we actually got in the end, there seemed to be some sort of fog over this part of the City.

West- The only real things here are the following: One Penn Plaza, World War 2 aircraft carrier and the ferry service between Manhattan and New Jersey. Gorgeous pictures but nothing much to talk about.

Make sure you take the time to get some amazing pictures, it is one of the best views in Manhattan and you really are able to see almost everything. It is only $20 to get in which in our money is about £12, which isn't too much when you consider what you are getting to see and what you'll be able to say you've done.

====================================
Empire State Building vs Top Of the Rock
====================================

These two are the two observation desks in Manhattan, I can't be sure if there is more or not, but these are the main two that I've heard about. They both ask for the same fee to go up to the observation deck at just $20 each, however the Empire State Building is the fourth tallest building within the States whereas the Top of the Rock is the 9th.

You would think then, you will get the best views from the Empire State, however in my opinion you would be wrong. Not only did we feel a lot safer at the Top of the Rock observatory deck, but because of the Empire State Building, we got some gorgeous pictures of that portion of Manhattan.

You do get better views of Central Park and Empire State Building from the Top of the Rock and overall it was the better of the two due to the fact we got a lovely picture taken of us, just like the 'Men on a Girder' poster that I adore, but we weren't rushed everywhere. It was about 6 when we went but I think it is a lot less of a tourist attraction compared to the ESB.

Overall, I recommend seeing both, however you will get better views from Top of the Rock

==============
Final Opinion
==============

It is one of the most in demand tourist attractions in New York, which means it gets VERY busy, however that did not call for the way we were rushed everywhere due to the fact we were with a disabled person. Some of the lovely helpers there helped my nan around and allowed her to skip queues, but some, especially when we had the picture taken didn't seem to give two craps. They didn't let us get ready and pose for the photo, which meant it was their loss not ours, as if it was a good photo they would have probably got $25 from us as well.

It will probably be best for you to book your ticket, however we went about 10-11 and it was just normally busy, it didn't take us too long to queue and we weren't too bothered with them at all.

I think if you haven't seen it already, then it is a great opportunity to see it. If you can afford to go twice, then I would recommend doing so, once in the day and then at night, as night time is supposed to be just gorgeous. I think next time I'll go, I'll do it again, but this time at night.

Fantastic, well worth $20, and you do get some great views.

(C) Kirsty 2009

Hope you enjoyed it. I hope you can see why I couldn't include this in the original New York review.

I'm not sure if this is allowed, if It isn't I'll take it out, but if you haven't read my New York review, and want to know a little bit more about this wonderful state, then please have a look. It'll be much appreciated.

Summary: If you get to go to New York, go and have a look at this wonderful building.