Empire State Building

Homestalgia Archive

Community memory · 1931–today · Aug 7, 2026

Verified

Built in 410 days on the site of the original Waldorf-Astoria, the Empire State Building rose at times four and a half floors a week, with 3,400 workers. It opened in May 1931 into the Depression so empty that people called it the Empty State Building; observatory receipts were an important early revenue source. On July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber lost in fog hit the 79th floor, killing fourteen — and elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a 75-story fall in a severed car, still the record. King Kong put it in the world's imagination in 1933.

Source: Empire State Building, official building history; New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Empire State Building designation report (1981); Guinness World Records, Betty Lou Oliver elevator-fall record; King Kong (RKO Radio Pictures, 1933)