Empire State Building History

Chrysler vs. General Motors

Born out of a competition between two auto magnates, Walter Chrysler of the Chrysler Corporation and John Jakob Raskob of General Motors, the two corporate heads vied for bragging rights by erecting the two tallest buildings in the world.

Not to be bested by Manhattan’s 1,046-foot Chrysler Building—already under construction in midtown—Raskob cobbled together a group of well-known investors, who chose the architecture firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon to design an Art-Deco skyscraper shortly before the Stock Market Crash of 1929, settling on a building design that largely resembled a pencil.

When Was the Empire State Building Built?

Constructed well ahead of schedule and below its $40 million budget, the Empire State Building was completed in just over a year and held its grand opening on April 11th, 1931. The building was erected at an astonishing, four-and-a-half stories a week.

After President Herbert Hoover symbolically switched on the building’s lights from the White House, the 102-story Empire State Building—derived from New York State’s nickname, the Empire State— stood as the world’s tallest skyscraper for its time, clocking in at 1,250 feet, while her lightning rod topped out at 1,454 feet above the ground.

The building soon filled city residents with a deep sense of pride during the early days of the Great Depression, at the same time employing as many as 3,400 workers a day at the height of construction, although the grip of the Great Depression witnessed a meager 25% occupancy rate a full one year after its grand opening.

In 1972, the Empire State Building was bested as the world’s tallest building by New York’s World Trade Towers, which rose to 1,368 feet, although the Empire State Building again reclaimed its title as the city’s tallest building after the Twin Towers were felled by Islamic terrorists following their ruthless attacks on September 11, 2001.

Tallest Building in the World

Today, bragging rights for the world’s tallest building goes to Dubai’s Burj Khalifa Tower, which soars 2,716 feet into the sky, making the Empire State Building, an enduring symbol of American ingenuity and strength.