NewYorkFirst.com: Empire State Building

Nearest Thing To Heaven.

Human societies have always built great monuments to celebrate their values. The Egyptians had their pyramids. Medieval Europeans had their great cathedrals. For 20th century Americans, it was the skyscraper that best embodied the power and progress that defined their era. In the middle of Manhattan stands a monument of technological achievement, the Empire State Building, the nearest thing to heaven in New York City.

It has attained mythical status. Legends of many kinds have been told of it -- how Henry Ford, learning of the immense excavations required to build it, thought it might have a disastrous effect upon the rotation of the earth (he was wrong), or how a delivery man climbed thirty-one floors with sandwiches for businessmen during the elevator strike (he was tipped $75).

Everybody has gone up the Empire State Building, every visiting film star, everybody's aunt, every serviceman on leave, every child on a school outing. The ride on the vibratory elevators, as they shoot upwards in the longest Uninterrupted Elevator Ride Above The Earth's Surface, offers one of the best-loved of all the city's activities -- taking a photo at the top to send home to Mom and Dad.

Above the Fray.
Reproduced from the original molds, this quadri-faced brass-and-glass lamp celebrates the Empire State Building in all its glamour and grandeur. At 102 floors, it was the tallest building in the world when it was completed, and presided as the tallest building in the world for 40 years. The flamboyant lamp stands 20-inches high and weighs 6 pounds (8-ft cord included).

The Buildings That Came for Dinner.
Exquisite reproductions of New York City's grand dames serve as practical Salt & Pepper Shakers. The 4-inch tall, silver-plated, meticulously-accurate architectural pieces are great gifts for the distinctive tabletop.

Zeppelin Port in the Sky.
A visitor from Philadelphia sent this 1938 penny postcard with an image of the Empire State Building and its nearly forgotten dirigible mooring. The skyscraper's stainless-steel mast was originally intended to serve as a dock for airships where passengers would have unloaded, nearly a quarter-mile above the city streets. The idea was that travelers would board an airship in Europe and be delivered to midtown Manhattan. Only one such craft landing was ever attempted at the Empire State Building. This rare memento has been reproduced front and back, then framed under a white mat, capturing a personal moment in history. Free-standing or hanging wooden frame measures 9 x 11 inches.

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