Instant Cities: New York

New York › Places and landmarks

Empire State Building

The Art Deco tower on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, the tallest building in the world from 1931 to 1970.

See it in 3D Watch the tour

Photo: Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Empire State Building went up in just over a year, from March 1930 to its opening on 1 May 1931, on the site of the old Waldorf-Astoria hotel. It has 102 floors, its roof stands at 381 metres and its mast reaches 443 metres. For almost forty years nobody built higher.

Its stepped shape comes from New York’s zoning law, which made tall buildings step back as they rose so that light could reach the street. Visitors ride up to the open deck on the 86th floor, and every night the lights at the top change colour for a holiday, a team or a cause. In the film of 1933, King Kong climbs it. Visit it in 3D ›

More in New York

Times SquareThe crossing of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, under walls of lit screens, at the heart of the Theater District. Chrysler BuildingThe Art Deco tower on 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, with a crown of steel arches and a needle on top. Grand Central TerminalThe great railway station on 42nd Street, with its hall under a ceiling of stars and its clock of opal. New York Public LibraryThe marble library on Fifth Avenue, guarded by the two stone lions Patience and Fortitude. Rockefeller CenterThe Art Deco towers between Fifth and Sixth Avenue, with the golden Prometheus, the skating rink and the Christmas tree. Bryant ParkThe green lawn behind the Public Library, with its plane trees, its green chairs and in winter its ice rink. St. Patrick’s CathedralThe Gothic cathedral of white marble on Fifth Avenue, facing Rockefeller Center. Macy’s Herald SquareOne of the largest department stores in the world, on 34th Street, where the Thanksgiving Day Parade ends. Statue of LibertyThe copper statue in the harbour, a gift from France, that greeted the ships of the immigrants. Central ParkThe great park in the middle of Manhattan, four kilometres long, just north of the game’s map. Yellow cabsThe yellow taxis of New York, which you hail from the kerb with a raised hand. New York pizzaThe big, thin pizza sold by the slice, to be folded in half and eaten on the street.