The Empire State Building Literally Shines Like A Beacon On A Cold New York City Winter Night

The Wild Images Team has stayed in New York City on multiple occasions, usually opting for a hotel in mid-town Manhattan nearby to Times Square and the Broadway Theater District. Such was the case during this visit, when we opted for the Hilton Times Square. Being a Diamond Club member with the Hilton chain brought us several perks, and one of them was the luxury of being reserved in rooms on the highest floors and with the best views. So we were thrilled when we arrived in the evening to find a phenomenal view towering over the Garment District, of which a beautiful image captured during a snow squall is available for sale in our store. While that view is directly south, also from the vantage point of our room, just slightly to the southeast stood the famous Empire State Building, which remained lit through the dark nights. We loved the way that it shone like a beacon during the long, cold winter nights. We even captured images that we will post at a later date of it standing up into the thick clouds, and yet its beam still shines through. The noticeable bright green beams emanating from it mark the original top of the building when it was first built as the tallest building in the world in 1931. The early thirties, as in the early years of the Great Depression. Yes, the tallest building in the world was built during the start of the Great Depression! Naturally, this caused several issues during its construction and subsequent grand opening, not the least of which was the fact that most of the building designed for corporate office space remained unoccupied for the next several years. But the fact that it was the tallest building in the world drew an enormous amount of attention to it, and throngs of people visited it everyday to ride to the top observation decks for a cost of one dollar. The first few years, the revenue generated by tourists visiting the observation decks equaled all of the rent combined! But eventually tenants began to fill up the unoccupied spaces. In 1933, the building became a cinematic and cultural icon when King Kong scaled it to the top with Fay Wray in hand, in a scene that will be remembered forever. The original top, where the bright green beams emanate in the above image, was originally designed to be an airship docking station, where passengers could ascend to the top observation platform and the climb a ladder into the docked airship. However, the first attempt to dock there nearly ended in disaster due to the strong upper level winds that constantly occur around New York City, and the turbulent updraft created by the building itself. After circling around the building twenty five times, followed by the dumping of ballast water to the streets below, winds rocked the airship into a near collision with the Empire State Building, so future plans for an airship docking station were not carried out. Due to some of the unfortunate situations encountered in its opening during the Great Depression, the building did not break even until 1950. It was that same year that the construction of the radio antenna was begun, adding another 222 feet to the structure, and creating the iconic art-deco building that we see today and that dominated our view from our room. As with everywhere else that we travel, we spent our time there wandering the streets by foot. The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos throughout New York such as in the Corning Museum of Glass antique cruets and dishware overlap, then in New York City itself the sudden snow squall over the Garment District, the scene of the Sherry-Netherland towering over a sculpture, and the opposite directed festive view of West 58th Street, each of which is available for sale in our store. Our New York blog posts document the Corning Museum of Glass plate of colorful giant glass fruit, the intricate stained glass vines and bubbles over a figure, and the suspended glass knives in front of a red stack tower, then in New York City itself the Empire State Building shining like a beacon, the perpetual hustle and bustle of Times Square, the impressive bronze Alice in Wonderland sculpture, the memorial bronze statue of legendary Balto and its accompanying dedicated to the indomitable spirit plaque, the animated bronze animals and the Delacorte Clock, The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina with Spongebob SquarePants, the festive view of a large toy train in Rockefeller Center Station, the late night giant holiday lights on the sidewalks, and the piles of giant holiday ornaments in Liholts Pooley Pool. In nearby Pennsylvania, The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos including the postgame fireworks over the Andy Warhol Bridge, the colorful bursts of Independence Day fireworks over the Ohio River, the view as delicate flowers bloom in the Laurel Highlands, and the very early lantana at the University Park Flower Gardens, each of which is available for sale in our store. Our blog posts from Pennsylvania have documented the Halloween moment when hundreds of witches converged on Mellon Park and then later performed a choreographed dance routine, when The Wild Images Team attended an interfaith wedding ceremony during which our Coordinator Christina Orban was a bridesmaid, a look inside of the ornate St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica, the side yard greenhouse vividly reflecting light displays, the scene dominated by vibrant strands of holiday lights on a tree, the many hues of a very festive holiday house along McColly Street, the colorful view of the Bellefonte Historical Railroad Fall Foliage Train, the burst trails of fireworks over the Allegheny River, the red, white, and blue trail fireworks over the Roberto Clemente Bridge, the palette of colors with fireworks bursting over the Ohio River, the hundreds of American flags flying over Blairsville Cemetery, the fall leaves surrounding the Tyrone Division of the Pennsylvania System World War I Monument, the many colors of a flower soaking up sunshine, and the dichotomy created by a floral battle of yellow versus red.

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