Summary
It was to be a structure like no other: the largest and tallest skyscraper in the world. Initial plans for the Empire State Building called for an Art Deco masterwork to rise 1,000 feet, with 80 stories of rental space. The high-rise was to completely fill the 84,000-square-foot site of the former Waldorf-Astoria, then New York’s most opulent hotel. Hopes were high that the Empire State Building would accelerate Midtown Manhattan’s stride toward commercial prominence, pulling more business uptown. Built in the early years of the Great Depression, during which one out of four New Yorkers was out of work, the Empire State Building’s construction was thought by many to be a foolish undertaking. Yet, it was completed under budget and ahead of schedule, and the commercial colossus has stood through good times and bad as a symbol of daring, beauty, and American invention.
About the Author(s)
Ronald A. Reis has written young adult biographies of Eugenie Clark, Jonas Salk, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams, and books about the Dust Bowl, the New York City subway system, African Americans and the Civil War, and the World Trade Organization, all for Chelsea House.