WATCH: ESB Featured on Daily Mail’s “World’s Busiest” | ESRT

The Empire State Building, lovingly called the “World’s Most Famous Building,” is an international icon. From its innovative construction and industry-leading retrofit to its starring roles in films and television shows, ESB is an aspirational brand and an exceptional example of Art Deco majesty.  

“The Empire State Building has a mythic proportion to it, and that’s what draws people to it,” Empire State Realty Trust Chairman and CEO Anthony E. Malkin said in the video. “It’s also a functioning 2.8 million square feet of offices with approximately 100 thousand square feet of Observatory and 60 thousand square feet of restaurants and amenities. It is a broadcast center for radio and television. It actually fulfills a number of commercial purposes, but in people’s minds, it’s the dream.”  

The building not only houses several notable tenants – which include LinkedIn, Shutterstock, and JCDecaux, among others – it draws millions of visitors to its iconic Observatory Experience. ESRT invested $165 million to reimagine the guest experience that added a dedicated guest entrance on 34th Street, an interactive museum with nine galleries, a redesigned 102nd Floor Observatory, and new staff uniforms. The Empire State Building Observatory was voted the number one attraction in the world in Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Awards: Best of the Best Things to Do, with thousands of reviews that lauded the unmatched views of New York City, the interactive exhibits, diverse ticket options, and excellent service. 

“When people come here, they’re very excited, because [ESB] is on their bucket list,” said Renita Edmond, VIP ambassador at the Empire State Building Observatory. “They want to come to the most iconic building in the world. They want to come to New York, the most exciting place in the world. My job is to make that happen.”

ESB is more than a symbol of hope, strength, and ingenuity – it is a global leader in sustainability and indoor environmental quality. Though ESB is one of the most energy efficient buildings in the world through ESRT’s modernization work, the quality begins with its bones. 

“They put [the Empire State Building] up in a year,” said Nicholas Martone, assistant chief engineer at the Empire State Building. “We have original fittings here today that are still good from 1930. You just don’t see that today. It’s amazing how well built this place [is].” 

The building underwent a groundbreaking deep energy retrofit that included renovation of the central chiller plant; onsite refurbishment of all 6,514 double-glass windows; reflective insulation behind each radiator; and regenerative braking technology in each elevator to optimize energy usage and increase efficiency. This work allows the Empire State Building’s team of engineers to leverage the technology to monitor the building’s performance and adjust as needed. 

“We have a customized screen and interface that we’ve developed for our engineers to take millions of data points in real time and digest it into actions [to make sure] the building is running as well as it can all the time,” said ESRT SVP, Director of Energy and Sustainability Dana Robbins Schneider. “These machine learning intelligence tools enable the people who run this building to make well-informed decisions that would otherwise be impossible.”

The Empire State Building upgraded its tower lighting system from floodlights to one-of-a-kind LEDs which allow for custom combinations of over 16 million colors. The world-famous lights define the New York City skyline as they illuminate each night to commemorate holidays, events, and special causes. Tony Malkin reflected on the upgrade. 

“When we first got it installed, [it was] a bit like buying a Formula One race car – you have the car, but you don’t have a driver. What are you supposed to do with this thing?” Malkin said.  

The company recruited renowned lighting designer Marc Brickman and his Tactical Manouevre team to choreograph the first of many Music-to-Light Spectaculars at the building, set to Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” and “Girl on Fire.” 

The Empire State Building’s tower lights shine daily from sunset to 2 a.m. Fans can text CONNECT to 274-16 to receive real-time information about the building’s tower lights.