FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2023-82 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (May 1, 2023) – In today’s edition of Fun with Maps from Steve Kovacs, we open the doors to the 92 year history of an iconic tall building in NY City.    

The Tallest

It was called one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

It was the tallest building in the world for 41 years, until the World Trade Center surpassed it in 1972.

It had many famous visitors, most indoors, but also King Kong who climbed up on its exterior.

We are of course talking about the Empire State Building, which opened its doors on May 1, 1931.

This 102-story building in Midtown Manhattan took slightly over 11 months to complete from groundbreaking.   It has 66 elevators (yes, you must change elevators at certain floors to go all the way to the top), speeding at 1200 feet/minute.

This art deco building was constructed with civil engineering calculations using slide rules, with pencil and paper to work out logistics of material deliveries, and with no help from fancy computer software.

I seriously doubt that the Empire State Building could be constructed today in 11 months… 

Freedman’s ‘Supervue’ view of Manhattan is presented here from two years after the Empire State Building was finished.  The building is in the center of the image.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.