The Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931. As of January 5, 2026, it’s 94 years, 8 months, and 4 days old
bong_cumblebutt on
That is a crazy perspective
WillowFables on
One of a kind photos
SoftSeductn on
This photo really shows how fast NYC transformed in just a few decades
PowerPulsex on
I had no idea the skyline was that small back then. Incredible.
zetleig on
This picture is taken from the New Jersey side, the buildings in the foreground are all in New Jersey
StarThornz on
1930 NYC must have felt so different with this beauty dominating the skyline!
VelvetChaix on
Well this makes it much more obvious why it was so much of an engineering masterpiece
ramriot on
An interesting geological fact about Manhattan is that most of the early skyscrapers were built south of 14th Street because the underlying bedrock was close to the surface.
The Empire State building is a singular anomaly in early skyscrapers being between 33rd & 34th Streets. This is because it sits atop a literal mountain peek of bedrock surrounded on most sides by deep soil & clay.
BogdanPradatu on
The tower of mordor
velvetrevolting on
Oh, so it was impressive. Damn, wow.
Idontliketalking2u on
There’s a DR who episode where the daleks are building that
15 Comments
The Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931. As of January 5, 2026, it’s 94 years, 8 months, and 4 days old
That is a crazy perspective
One of a kind photos
This photo really shows how fast NYC transformed in just a few decades
I had no idea the skyline was that small back then. Incredible.
This picture is taken from the New Jersey side, the buildings in the foreground are all in New Jersey
1930 NYC must have felt so different with this beauty dominating the skyline!
Well this makes it much more obvious why it was so much of an engineering masterpiece
An interesting geological fact about Manhattan is that most of the early skyscrapers were built south of 14th Street because the underlying bedrock was close to the surface.
The Empire State building is a singular anomaly in early skyscrapers being between 33rd & 34th Streets. This is because it sits atop a literal mountain peek of bedrock surrounded on most sides by deep soil & clay.
The tower of mordor
Oh, so it was impressive. Damn, wow.
There’s a DR who episode where the daleks are building that
Wowsers
Doesn’t look like that now
That is WILD. Thanks for this!
Any idea what the other building on the right is?
