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Empire State Building Facts

Read about one of the most famous buildings in the world with our fun Empire State Building facts for kids.

Learn when it was completed, how long it took, how many floors it has and much more. Read on and enjoy a range of interesting trivia and information about the Empire State Building.

The Empire State Building is a skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City, USA.

The building has 103 floors and at roof height is 1250 ft (381 m) tall. The height when including the antenna spire is 1454 ft (443.2 m).

The Empire State Building was designed by William Lamb of the architect firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates.

The contracting construction firm was Starrett Brothers and Eken.

Around 3,400 workers were involved in the construction of the Empire State Building, with official records showing five workers died.

It took just 410 days for the Empire State Building to be constructed, quicker than anticipated.

The building was officially opened on May 1, 1931 when President Herbert Hoover turned the lights on with a push of a button from Washington, D.C.

For 41 years between 1931 and 1972 the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world.

There are 6,514 windows in the Empire State Building.

From street level to the 103rd floor there are 1,872 steps. A race up the stairs to the 86th floor is held annually, the athletes must climb a total of 1,576 steps.

There are 73 elevators in the building, including 6 freight elevators.

Because so many businesses are housed in the building the Empire State has its own zip code, 10118.

The building itself cost $24,718,000 to build, when the cost of the land is included this figure climbs to $40,948,900. This cost was less than half of the total anticipated cost due to the Great Depression.

The Empire State Building has a lightning rod near the top which is struck by lightning around 23 times every year.

There are observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors. These tourist attractions are visited by around 4 million people annually.

The Empire State Building became the tallest building in New York City again after the collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001. In April 2012 the new One World Trade Center surpassed the Empire State Building in height.

Empire State Building Facts

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Fun Empire State Building Facts for Kids - Interesting Trivia & Information

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Empire State Building Facts Read about one of the most famous buildings in the world with our fun Empire State Building facts for kids. Learn when it was completed, how long it took, how many floors it has and much more. Read on and enjoy a range of interesting trivia and information about the Empire State Building.

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The Statue of Liberty for Kids: Famous World Landmarks for Children - FreeSchool

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THE 10 BEST New York City Sights & Landmarks - TripAdvisor

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Top New York City Landmarks: See reviews and photos of sights to see in New York City, New York on TripAdvisor.

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Some kids are obsessed with the subways of NYC. They memorize the maps and know the trains inside and out. Other kids amble along the city streets never giving a second thought to what lies beneath. But at some point every kid wants to know what those big steam chimneys are for and if there really are alligators in the sewers. Here's some really cool places you can start to explore the world beneath our streets.

To get their juices flowing, start by checking out National Geographic's interactive 3D rendering of New York under ground. This is a really cool site that not only shows the layers of what lies beneath the surface of NYC streets, but you can click on each layer and learn more details of how everything works down there. There's also a Myths of the Underground section where kids can test their knowledge of what crazy facts are true or not when it comes to the albino alligators and other NYC subterranean legends.

The next obvious place to start is the NY Transit Museum. Kids can see exhibits about how the subways were built and take part in weekend programs created just for them.

To see more of NYC subway history, check out Forgotten New York's tour of the 28 first subway stations. Forgotten New York is one of my favorite NYC sites and Kevin Walsh has created an excellent photo tour of the beautiful tile and artwork in these old stations. Enjoy the photos or use it as a guide to hunt down the different stations yourself and seek out these little hidden gems of the old NYC subways.

There are several children's picture books which do a nice job of bringing the exotic experience of riding the NYC subways to life in all their multicultural charm. Subway is good for the littlest readers. A light little ride through the rhythms of subway riding. I like My Subway Ride for the way it aptly and poetically depicts what it's like to take a trip through NYC on the subway. The Subway Sparrow is the story of a sparrow that gets caught on the train and how the many different people, speaking different languages, who ride the train work together to help it. Again, a very New York story and one that I think kids will both appreciate and enjoy the way it depicts how New Yorkers come together on the train.

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A Kid's Guide to New York Underground: Subways and Beyond

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Some kids are obsessed with the subways of NYC. They memorize the maps and know the trains inside and out. Other kids amble along the city streets never giving a second thought to what lies beneath. But at some point every kid wants to know what those big steam chimneys are for and if there really are alligators in the sewers.

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One World Trade Center (also known as One WTC or Freedom Tower) is the main building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The building is 1,776 feet (541 m) tall making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. Since late 2013, it is the tallest building in the United States. It opened in late 2014. It is mostly used for offices. People can view the city from an observatory near the top. The building was designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

The building has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The building was built on the spot where the original 6 World Trade Center used to be.

Construction for the building started in 2006. On April 30, 2012, One World Trade Center became New York City's tallest structure, when it surpassed the height of the Empire State Building. On May 10, 2013, the last piece of the skyscraper's antenna was put on, making the building's height 1,776 feet (541 m). The height of the building was done on purpose to refer to the year when the Declaration of Independence was signed, 1776.

On March 26, 2009, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) said that the building would be officially known by its legal name of "One World Trade Center", rather than its colloquial name of "Freedom Tower".[15][16][17] The building has 94 stories, with the top floor numbered 104.

The new World Trade Center complex will have five high-rise office buildings built. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, located just south of One World Trade Center where the original Twin Towers stood, was also built. The construction of the new building is part of an effort to memorialize and rebuild following the destruction of the original World Trade Center complex.

Height controversy

On November 8, 2013, architects in Chicago and New York City began debating about the height of the One World Trade Center and the Willis Tower. They were saying that there was a possibility that the Willis Tower is taller than the One World Trade Center.

On November 12, a committee agreed that the antenna on top is part of the building, so One World Trade Center is taller than the Willis Tower.[18]

Even after removing the antennas from the measurement, One World Trade Center is about 325 feet (99 m) taller than the Willis Tower.

Gallery

One World Trade Center Media

References

1. Westfeldt, Amy (March 26, 2009). . ↑ Freedom Tower has a new preferred name. Silverstein Properties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009https://www.webcitation.org/5hBhzvIg8?url=http://www.wtc.com/news/freedom-tower-has-a-new-preferred-name.

2. Stanglin, Doug (May 10, 2013). . ↑ Spire permanently installed on WTC tower. Gannett Company https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/10/world-trade-center-spire/2149449/.

3. Moore, Jack (November 3, 2014). . ↑ "World Trade Center Re-opens as Tallest Building in America". International Business Times (One World Trade Center). Archived from the original on September 4, 2015https://web.archive.org/web/20150904120549/http://onewtc.com/news/world-trade-center-re-opens-as-tallest-building-in-america.

4. ↑ Brown, Eliot (January 30, 2012). "Tower Rises, And So Does Its Price Tag". The Wall Street Journal.

5. . ↑ One World Trade Center to retake title of NYC's tallest building. Fox News. April 29, 2012http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/29/one-world-trade-center-to-retake-title-nyc-tallest-building/.

6. ↑ 9.0 "One World Trade Center - The Skyscraper Center". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. September 11, 2015. 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5

7. ↑ "Office Leasing". One World Trade Center.

8. ↑ "Elevating One World Trade Center". ThyssenKrupp Elevator.

9. ↑ "One World Trade Center". WTC.com. Silverstein Properties. September 16, 2015.

10. ↑ "The Louis Berger Group and Hill International to Provide Program Management Services for Downtown Restoration Program and WTC Transportation Hub". Hill International, Inc. August 13, 2004. Archived from the original on March 31, 2015.

11. ↑ "One World Trade Center". SkyscraperPage.. Retrieved January 17, 2012.

12. . ↑ "Port Authority And Vantone Industrial Sign First Lease For One World Trade Center (The Freedom Tower)". Press release. March 26, 2009https://www.panynj.gov/port-authority/en/press-room/press-release-archives/2009_press_releases/port_authority_andvantoneindustrialsignfirstleaseforoneworldtrad.html.

13. ↑ "One World Trade Center taller than Willis Tower". Examiner.com.

Other websites

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One World Trade Center facts. One World Trade Center (also known as One WTC or Freedom Tower) is the main building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The building is 1,776 feet (541 m) tall making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.