From the time the construction began on March 17, 1930, the building's steel frame rose at an average rate of four and a half floors per week. To speed construction, the building's posts, beams, windows and window frames were made in factories and put together on the site. 60,000 tons of steel was brought in from the steel mills in Pennsylvania, 310 miles away, by train, barges and trucks.

This photograph was taken on July 21, 1930, when work had begun on the 40th floor.

William Lamb, an architect at the firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, was chosen to design the Empire State Building. His design was influenced by the perpendicular style of another architect, Eliel Saarinen. He happened to base most of his design on a simple pencil. The clean, soaring lines inspired him, and he modeled the building after it. He also decided that the columns of stone would be easier to put up if they were separated from the windows with metal strips. The strips covered the stone's edges, which meant the stone could be rough-cut at the quarry and then heaved into place without any final cutting or fitting, thus saving a great amount of time. The stonework began in June of 1930, and was completed in November. The windows were attached with metal brackets between the stone columns, with aluminum panels above and below each level.

By October 3, 1930, there were 88 floors finished and only 14 to go. These top floors took the form of a distinctive tower of glass, steel, and aluminum. The tower is about 200 ft. high and topped with a dome.

Located on the 86th floor, 1,050 feet (320 meters) above the city's bustling streets, the Observatory offers panoramic views from within a glass enclosed pavilion and from the surrounding open-air promenade.

Since the Observatory opened to the public in 1931, almost 110 million visitors have thrilled to the awe-inspiring vision of the city beneath them.

Each year over 3.5 million people are whisked to the 86th floor to be where Cary Grant waited in vain for Deborah Kerr in an "Affair to Remember", while Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan had their fateful meeting in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle." The observatory is handicap accessible.

The building, one of New York City's main tourist attractions, offers a variety of activities for its visitors. One can tour the Observatory 365 days per year, day and night, rain or shine for breathtaking views of Manhattan and beyond. Also, there are two restaurants, a sushi bar, three coffee shops, a drug store, a Hallmark card shop, a post office and two banks, in addition to the plethora of restaurants and nightlife activities in the surrounding area.

For the family, there is the New York SKYRIDE, an independently owned and operated simulated helicopter ride and virtual-reality movie theater. There are also several art exhibits for all to view in the lobby, including the addition of items from Fay Wray's private collection of photographs, posters and "King Kong" memorabilia permanently displayed in two lobby showcase windows. Many concerts and holiday-based shows/decorations are scheduled year-round as well as special annual events such as the ESB Run-up and Valentine's Day Weddings.