So what was the top of the empire state building originally used for ... ?

[MindMover]

The Empire State building was built at a time when great, big airships called zeppelins were still in use. For this reason, the Empire State building was constructed with these zeppelins in mind, and the point was meant to be a docking zone for a zeppelin!

Although the spike was an attempt to be practical, now—with zeppelins long out of style—it is simply interesting architecture. Unfortunately, the zeppelin landing was only ever used once. Because the Empire State Building was so tall, winds were high at the top of the tower, and docking there was too dangerous to be practical.

The other problem is that it was also pretty close to the end of the age of airships. The Empire State building is well-known architecturally, not only for its point, but also for its shape. Rather than be a large rectangular prism, like the soon-to-be popular International Style, the Empire State building was made with a series of indentations.

Because of these indentations it has a distinctive appearance, and was actually designed especially well considering its height. It was so well-designed that a B-25 bomber that crashed into the building did not severely damage the structure.

http://www.omg-facts.com/History/The-top-of-the-Empire-State-building-was/52166?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Historic NY]

1. King Kong too...

[Politicalboi]

2. Damn it

I wanted to say King Kong. Has anyone seen any video of the construction. Those guys walking on the beams that could fall at any moment at 50 plus stories. Simply amazing.

[longship]

5. Google Mohawk skyscraper

The native Americans, specifically from the Mohawk tribe did a lot of the high steel work on many of NYC's tall buildings. Look it up.

[jberryhill]

3. "Whatever happened to Fay Wray?"

[steve2470]

4. photo of 1945 bomber crash

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-25_Empire_State_Building_crash

[HooptieWagon]

13. Thats looks like a good bit of damage.

Thanks for the pic - hadnt seen one before.
A B-25 is a light bomber... pretty small aircraft, really. Small enough for Dolittle to fly off a carrier, before there were catapults. I imagine a modern jet - 727, 737, - would do far more damage... possibly even bringing the building down, as the Trade Center was. I dont think any building could be designed to withstand that kind of impact, within any reasonable budget.

[Lint Head]

6. I think it's a corporate phallic symbol.

From the beginning of civilization power and money needs to show it has the biggest and tallest of them all.

[Archae]

7. There is a practical side as well.

Can you imagine how much space 100 stories of a single building would take up, spread out 1-3 stories tall?

[Lint Head]

8. Yep. The more renters and owners you can pack into a city block the more money one makes.

In the US most of those tall buildings are only occupied from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Greed is extremely tall.

[HooptieWagon]

14. Just the cost of the land,

in a densely populated city, would make such a design ecomonically unfeasible. The office rents would be astronomical.

[Odin2005]

16. I hate this Freudian crap

Not everything long is a phallic symbol and not every large, rounded object is a copy of a boob.

[Lint Head]

17. I did not say "everything" long is a phallic symbol and not every large, rounded object is a

copy of a boob or even intended that. I dislike assumptions. If you think rich folks don't get into pissing contests and take pride in who has the most money, houses, biggest buildings, yachts and most expensive jewelry you're kidding yourself. It is not Freudian. It has to do with testosterone and greed. The meme, "Mine is bigger than yours." is a statement I hear all the time and I know quite a few folks that have power and money. The context of my statement is apropos.

[Myrina]

19. +100

[ailsagirl]

9. It's a beautiful building-- especially at night

Interesting information!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

10. Uh, folks, that is the Chrysler Building, not the Empire State.

[ailsagirl]

12. Oops-- looks like I've been admiring the Chrysler Building all these years

Never been to NY-- west coast only

I have updated my pic--thanks for the correction!

[woo me with science]

15. My god, tickets to visit the observation deck START at $25????

I am shocked. It wasn't nearly that much when I visited years ago.

So much for poor people being able to see it.

[Shagman]

11. went to the top a couple of years ago ...

crossed that off my bucket list!

The lobby is worth a tour too.

[struggle4progress]

18. It's true! I saw it in "Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow"!

http://gawker.com/5004308/a-zeppelin-never-docked-on-the-empire-state-building

But some cynics still say this image is a collage!

[Myrina]

20. Um, how are the passengers/crew supposed to disembark?

That first step's a mighty biggun.