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| 1709 Empire State Building (1) |
The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper, with a roof height of 381m (443m with antenna spire included), located in Midtown Manhattan, on Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets. Its name is derived from the nickname for New York City, the Empire State. It stood as the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years, from 1931 until the topping out of the World Trade Center's North Tower in late 1970. Following September 11 attacks in 2001, it was the tallest building in New York, until 2012. Designed in the distinctive Art Deco style, it is generally thought of as an American cultural icon.
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| 1710 Empire State Building (2) |
The skyscraper was designed by William F. Lamb (from Shreve, Lamb and Harmon), which produced the building drawings in just two weeks, using its earlier designs for the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, and the Carew Tower in Cincinnati. The general contractors were The Starrett Brothers and Eken. Excavation began on January 22, 1930, and the construction itself started symbolically on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day). The project involved 3,400 workers, mostly immigrants from Europe, along with hundreds of Mohawk iron workers. Governor Smith's grandchildren cut the ribbon on May 1, 1931.
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| 1711 Empire State Building lighting at the top in the colors of the american flag |
The building has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators, and there are 1,860 steps from street level to the 102nd floor. It takes less than one minute by elevator to get to the 80th floor. From there, visitors can take another elevator or climb the stairs to the 86th floor, where an outdoor observation deck is located. On the 102nd floor there is a door with stairs which lead into the 103rd floor. This was originally built as a disembarkation floor for airships tethered to the spire. A broadcast tower was added in the early 1950s, in order to support the transmission antennas of several television and FM stations. As of 2007, approximately 21,000 employees work in the building, making the Empire State Building the second-largest single office complex in America, after the Pentagon.
In 1964, floodlights were added to illuminate the top of the building at night. Since 1976 the spire has been lit in colors chosen to match seasonal and other events, such as St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, Independence Day and Bastille Day. The floodlights bathed the building in red, white, and blue for several months after the destruction of the World Trade Center. During 2012, the building's metal halide lamps and floodlights were replaced with LED fixtures, increasing the available colors from nine to over 16 million. The computer-controlled system allows the building to be illuminated in ways that were unable to be done previously with plastic gels. Also, on November 26, 2012, the building had its first ever synchronized light show, using music from recording artist Alicia Keys.
About the stamps
On the postcard 1709
The first three stamp are part of the definitives series American Design (2002-2007), about which I wrote here. The last two are part of the series Modern Art in America: 1913-1931, about which I wrote here.
On the postcard 1710
The stamp is a Global Forever First-Class Mail International stamp, about which I wrote here.
On the postcard 1711
The first stamp is part of Wedding series, about which I wrote here. The last is part of the series Medal of Honor: World War II, about which I wrote here.
References
Empire State Building - Wikipedia
Sender 1709, 1710, 1711: Denise
1709: Sent from Jericho (New York / United States), on 28.03.2014
1710: Sent from Jericho (New York / United States), on 04.01.2014
1711: Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 26.12.2013
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