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Empire State Building
Rating Details »
Category: Landmarks & Historical Buildings [Edit]
Neighborhood: Murray Hill350 5th Ave
New York, NY 10118
(212) 736-3100
- Nearest Transit:
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34th St-6th Ave (B, D, F, V, N, Q, R, W)
33rd St-Park Ave (6)
33rd Street (PATH)
219 reviews for Empire State Building
i haven't been up this joint since when i was a kid and lived in Brooklyn. Yella and me tried to go up it this past Saturday on our way back to the hotel but they had already shut down for the day.
even without making it up this amazing skyscraper this go round, i can't give this hugely architectural achievement anything less than the best.
shit... this was made back in the days when my grandparents were teenagers. before the interwebs. and cell phones. and commodore 64. even before freaking McDonalds.
plus, King Kong climbed this son of a bitch. respect
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Here's what to expect:
1. First, you wait in a long line outside, sometimes wrapping around the block.
2. Yes! Inside! Must be getting close! However, you head up an escalator and into a long maze of a line, which you eventually realize leads to security.
3. Phew, that's over with. You must be almost there. Except, what's this? Now you're in another huge room, where you weave in and out of a long line for reasons that aren't at all clear.
(I bought tickets online so I got to skip one step. However, if you don't do the same, you'll have to wait in yet another huge line to buy your tickets now.)
4. Next, a smaller room with, you guessed it, another maze of a line. This time it leads to a photo station that you have to pass through for your souvenir picture, whether you like it or not. Oh, Capitalism.
5. Finally! Elevators! But wait, you're not there yet. Another long line awaits before you can get to them.
6. The elevator is opening and you're getting out... finally! Except you're only on floor 80. You must wait in another line to get on another elevator to get to floor 86.
7. Finally, here you are! Looking out, you can see buildings. Kind of. Your view is mostly obfuscated by the hordes of Midwestern tourists taking picture after picture. Still, it's pretty neat to be here; if only there was a way to do it without hours upon hours of waiting...
8. You're ready to leave. That can't be too tricky, right? Wrong. Wait in line for each of your two elevators down.
P.S. This was mid-day on a Thursday. I would imagine weekends and holidays are even more horrible, although it's hard for me to figure out how more horrible would be possible...
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View was amazing and breathtaking but the lines are horrendous! Seriously. I think I counted 8 lines I had to wait in to get to the top. A total of 1 hour and 45 mins of my life waiting and walking through mazes and waiting some more to get to the top. Oh, and I had to walk up 6 flights of stairs to get up to the top to get into another line.
And to top it off, it way too crowded and way smelly... all the Europeans don't brush their teeth nor do they shower so it was a crowd of stank. Don't bother.
Oh yes, there were lines to get out too! Pay for a helicopter ride... way more worth your time and money.
Duh. Classic. Must do at least once.
Getting up to the top was such a pain in the arse. These people working the ticket booths should at least fake a dang smile. You have all these tourists coming in to take in this great landmark and you just have to ruin it with your snide attitude. I think the only nice people we encountered were the ones working the elevators. Them and the big king kong that didn't speak.
You have to ride up the escalator to get to the ticket booth. You're led through this long as$ maze like you're in line for a Disneyland ride. Students get in for $18 and adults get in for $20. Once you get your ticket you're led in and around until you get to take your picture in front of a fake Empire State Building. You need to be quick on your feet because they don't even count to 3 to take your picture. My friend was still getting into place as the lady snapped the camera. When you leave you'll get a chance to view your photo but it's such a rip-off.
You are then led to an elevator that takes you to the 80th floor. From there, you're taken to another elevator that takes you all the way to the top. Unfortunately, our view was somewhat dismal as there were scattered showers and clouds throughout the day. We were still able to get good shots of the Hudson River, Central Park, Financial District, Statue of Liberty, etc. It is absolutely breathtaking when you're up there. I couldn't stop "ooohing" and "ahhing" when I was up there. Such a shameless tourist. All the skyscrapers and landmarks you see from up top is practically indescribable.
The Empire State Building is a definite must for those coming out to NY for the first time.
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How could you not love it?! On a clear day you can see all of New York! Absolutely breathtaking!
I guess we got lucky because we went on a Wednesday and it only took us about 10 minutes to get to the rooftop, the lines were fast, ticket booth racking it up quickly, it was a easy process for us.
Get the city pass to save some money and also go to some other NY must, plus it includes a free audio tour with your guide Tony! He was awesome!
Not only is the Empire State building one of the most breathtaking sites of the City it is also a gorgeous building inside as well. For me this is a must see experience for a New York Visit. As a child we always brought our out of town visitors to the Empire State Building and it is still worthy .The building is a world famous landmark and it is deserves our interest for its lasting beauty . If you like Art Deco style you will love the inside as well, black gold and marble are very prevalent . It is filled with beautiful polished marble tiles that give it a museum quality. Reminds one of old Hollywood movies and vintage art.
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For the most part, I didn't feel New York was that expensive. Food and booze all seemed reasonably priced to me. And then I came to Empire State Building. This place is a total tourist trap.
It had to pay $90 ($45 each) for La Novia and I to wait in line, take a few elevators, and then look at New York for about 10 minutes from the 86th floor. And when that was said and done, we got to the "New York Skyride," which had Kevin Bacon narrating an overhead tour of New York city on some little screen while your seat bucked around a bit.
Anyone over the age of 4 could not possibly enjoy that ride. And seriously, whose idea was it so have Kevin Bacon narrate.
Were there no other "has beens" available?
Sure, people will bait you and say you got to do this at least once just to say you did it. Just tell them, does that mean I should eat poo too? You know, at least one time, just to say I did it?
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Classic New York Landmark, but I wouldn't call it a "Must Do."
The miles and miles of velvet ropes corralling people reminded me too much of Disney World and there was nothing along the way to provide you with any sense of the building's impressive history and importance to the City, State, and Country.
We visited the 86th Floor Observatory at night, which was impressive, and likely the best time to go as there were FAR fewer people than during the daytime (I'm told). They're also open until 2:00 AM. and have VERY friendly/Helpful guards.
We also went to the "Top of the Rock" at Rockefeller Center and, we believe it was the better value; their experience provided a rich history of the building and it's surroundings through pictures and a short film presentation and views that are from multiple levels and includes Central Park.
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Seems overpriced for what it is. Was crowded, and I felt like I was part of a herd of cattle. Not a great experience overall.
20$ to go to the lower observatory - another 15$ for the upper observatory - per person. We went at night - and couldn't see all that much... They are somewhat obnoxious about wanting to sell you more things - a picture of you in front of the building for 26$. They force you to walk through the gift store on your way down. Not only did I feel like part of a herd, but I felt like they were trying to milk money out of us at every opportunity.
Priceless experience!!
If it's your first time in NY, or 2nd, or 3rd, you must go there!
There is not much to tell, you buy tickets at the front desk, then go right to the stair room & start climbing at level 1 all the way to 110.
I'm just playing with ya, they take you up in an elevator!!!
It stops 2 floors prior to the top & than you need to walk in a somewhat weird trail of gift & souvenir shop (trying to get your money), only then they will take a group of people & shove them into the elevator which gets you up for real!
- It is cold & windy any other time than summer, so dress warm!
- Don't go if you're claustrophobic!
- Try to find the right time as the lines can be insane!
I wouldn't know since I visit on a cold day & there were only about 50 tourists.
View is absolutely amazing, day or night.
Makes you realize how huge the city is & how much effort was put into NY's infrastructure.
Once in a lifetime experience & worth every buck!
I disliked the shopping trail at the gift shop, was out of place.
Other than that it could get 5 stars easily.
They should of transform it into an interactive 3D movie screening room with moving seats educate about the history & construction of this place! But that's just me.
Yalla Bye!
Some more info:
- The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco skyscraper.
- It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years.
- Following the destruction of WTC in 2001, Empire State Building once again became the tallest building in NY State, third tallest skyscraper in the Americas & the 15th tallest in the world.
- It's currently undergoing a $120 million renovation in effort to transform into energy efficient & eco-friendly structure.
- The project involved 3,400 workers, mostly immigrants from Europe.
- Five workers died during the construction
- The opening coincided with the Great Depression & as a result much office space went unrented.
- 1945, a B-25 bomber, piloted in thick fog crashed into the north side between the 79th & 80th floors.
- 14 people were killed in the incident. Elevator operator survived a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator, which still stands as the Guinness World Record for longest survived elevator fall recorded.
- Building was open for business on many floors on the following Monday.
- more than thirty people have committed suicide from the top. First suicide occurred even before its completion, by worker who had been laid off.
- The fence around the observatory was put up in 1947 after five people tried to jump during a three-week span.
- Elvita Adams jumped from the 86th floor, only to be blown back onto the 85th floor and left with only a broken hip.
- The Empire State Building was the first building to have more than 100 floors, 6,500 windows, 73 elevators,1,860 steps. Total floor area of 2,768,591 sq ft, base is about 2 acres, houses 1,000 businesses & has its own zip code, 10118.
- 21,000 employees work in the building each day, making it the second-largest single office complex in America, after the Pentagon.
- Was completed in one year & 45 days
Enjoy your visit!
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it was my first trip to New York, of course I went to the ESB! My son and I actually went twice, first with my parents on a Thursday night, then when my friend Christine flew in to meet us on a Sunday night. It wasn't very crowded either time, no wait time and only a few other people in the elevator. As you can assume, the view is A-MA-ZING! You can see everything. Most impressive was the view of the Chrysler Building, my absolute favorite building EVER. It was well worth the $20, and if on subsequent trips to New York I'm with a first timer I wouldn't hesitate to pay it again!
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RESIST the temptation to visit. The wait can be hours long, no exaggeration. We had purchased tickets in advance, and so our wait was "only" about one hour. Then you get to the top ......and......so what. Underwhelming. Expensive too. We went mid-week, still no break in the crowd.
I went to the top and it was amazing.. amazing view.
and amazingly windy... which made it cold as hell.
but it was awesome.
Already did Top of the Rock during the day. Following the advice of some native New Yorkers, we did Empire State at night for a different experience. No lines past 11pm on a Sunday. It was still pretty full at top though and had to wait for an opening in the wall to get a look. I would not want to be there during the peak times. It's a classic landmark though, so it must be done at least once in your life.
Better to visit here than the TOP OF THE ROCK.
LONG LINES.
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Ok, so I haven't read through all of the 194 reviews of this before me. If you can imagine that. What a lazy fat ass I am. Butt...
Very quickly:
1. Go once - the views are good if not stunning as it's so high up it's hard to see the city with much clarity or definition
2. Go late - the lines are huge, and even at 10 pm you'll have to wait.
3. If you go earlier than midnight, be prepared that there are lines for tickets, then for the elevator to the 80th floor, then for the elevator to the 86th floor, then to get out on deck. Yeah, I know.
Other than that it's pretty impressive. $22 each impressive. Just about.
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The Empire State BUilding is a must for all visitors. The views are great. I loved the ride in the lobby even more--it was a blast.
I found a terrific website (by accident) that provides great discount ideas to just about every thing in NYC. We saved a bundle. It's http://nyc-visitor-dis....
Have fun!
Yes, the view from the observation deck is beautiful. However, I'm not convinced it's worth the cost and wait you experience.
ZzzzZZzzzzz...
I've climbed the CN Tower in Toronto (until recently was the tallest freestanding building), The John Hancock Centre in Chicago and the Eiffel Tower in Paris so when I was given free passes to the observation deck at the Empire State Building, I was interested to see how it might stack up against the others. It didn't. It was lame.
First of all, the view is obviously spectacular, but it isn't moving. But is that fair to say once you've overlooked Paris? Perhaps not. More on the view in a bit.
We happened to go at the moment where we didn't really have to wait too long but on our way out, the lineups seemed long and unbearable. When you finally get to the FIRST elevator, which goes up maybe 60 or 80 flights, you will be disappointed to discover that it is not a glass elevator. So there is no view as you go up. Weird, right? Then you have to line up again for the second elevator, that only takes you up like eight floors. Also, walled in, so still no view.
Then you get to the top and it's packed. They do a terrible job of making sure it's not crowded. Either way, once you are up there you kind of feel like a caged animal. And it's really hard to take a nice picture up there because of the high concrete walls and awkward fence. Never mind all the people up in your grill. Tourists are annoying and they seem to hit their annoying peak at great heights.
Save your money and get a view from somewhere else. Seriously. this place is underwhelming and pretty boring. I was disappointed but I can't imagine how mad I would have been had I shelled out tons of money to get in. Yeah, it's crazy-expensive.
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If this is your first time in NY , definately go on a clear day and dont miss out. If it is not, try the Top of the Mark in Rockefeller for a different view and cheaper.
Adults cost $20 for the Empire state building and there are often lines after lines after lines.
NOTE: They check student IDs closely. No expired cards here!
Dont listen to all the people trying to sell stuff around there, the new "ride" or the people who promise to go past the lines. Just wait your turn, see it and get out!
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Whoever queues up all day for this is insane. Utterly, completely, irrecoverably insane.
We got there at around 10pm. Our ticket was time stamped at 10:06pm, so we took about 6 minutes to navigate past the first stage of lines. After that, there was a sea of roped corridors. Not for us though, there was nobody here. However, these roped areas could hold thousands of people if they were all in use. That is incredible. I would never do that. It is a building.
So yeah, stage 2 took like, 10 minutes? That included the stupid picture thing you do when walking by. So we got the elevator and my ears popped about eleventy-one times on the way up to the 80th. So that was stage 2. I forgot to mention there was also a bathroom break in there. 10 minutes.
Stage 3, okay, there is a little more in the way of cattle up here, but by no means anything compared to what I am sure it was earlier in the day. After about, ooh, 9 minutes, a guy appeared and said that due to the eleavators taking a while, people were free to climb the 6 floors to observation level 1. We did that, easy as pie. A remarkable amount of people didn't though. Weird.
So here we are, on the 86th. 25 minutes. But we had tickets to 102.
See, if you come at night, there is no point buying the express pass as it isn't needed. You can spend the money on going even higher and having a wisecracking operator on the way up.
So up we went, saw some amazing sights, took some pretty good night shots and had a blast.
After that, we got the chance to go outside on the 86th and see some more sights and take some more shots. And then, we were done. No lines for the way down either. We were out of the building in ten minutes.
The moral is as follows:
Go at night.
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The view, while spectacular, is not worth the money.
If you are short on time, you may as well drop $45 to not have to wait in line since there are at least four separate lines that you have to wait in.
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I didn't go on the tour but even the lobby was nice.
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Here's my view on which features to pay for and which to skip:
* My husband and I both loved the view from the 86th floor: It's not beautiful the way that view from the top of the Eiffel Tower is (because Paris is such a gorgeous city), but you can see so much from the top of the Empire State Building and we enjoyed getting the perspective of the city. We happened to be there on a day that had near-perfect weather, and since the view from the 86th floor is out-of-doors, around the building, it was great.
* It was a waste of money to pay extra for the 102nd floor. It doesn't add anything and it's indoors through plexiglass.
* We're happy we paid the extra for the audio tour, which is geared to 6 stop-points around the perimeter of the 86th floor. There are no stop points on the 102nd floor.) We found some of the audio to be excess blabber, giving details about the narrator's upbringing -- I guess that was supposed to add atmosphere but we found it uninteresting -- but the audio also gave good information on the views from all 4 sides. My husband and I paid for 2 audios, and that was good -- even though there aren't earphones, it would have been very hard to hear if we had shared one audio machine.
* It was a big-time waste of money to buy the map.
My husband and I went yesterday (Monday) at about Noon. I was brought up in NYC but was at the top of the Empire State Building only once, when on a class trip as a kid. I didn't remember it at all. We hadn't planned to go, but there we were in NYC looking at New Yorker Magazine to find out which museums had exhibits of interest, and it suddenly occurred to us to go. We're really glad we did. The lines didn't bother us -- actually from the time we entered the building to the time we left, it took about 2 hours, which didn't seem excessive for a popular tourist attraction. Part of the fun of it was that going was spontaneous for us rather than planned.
It was okay. Little Family had the NYC City Pass, so we used those tickets. Went later at night (1030 PM - J, the 5YO was cranky as HELL, but I figured we were technically on 730PM PST) on our 2nd night in NYC.
We got in straightaway thanks to pre-purchasing the tickets and the line to the elevators was reasonable. Wait time=about 10 minutes.
Had a good time listening in on the French Family's convo (Didn't let them in that I understood what they were talking about....Good Lord! I thought I had problems!) on the way up to the Observation Deck. Had to pin my lips together so as not to give them "Dear Abby"-like advice. Would have not gone over well, I imagine.
Got to the OD, went outside, took in the spectacular NYC nighttime views for approximately 30 seconds or so. Apparently you cannot hold your child so much as 15 feet near the railings because of high winds and the like. So I was scolded by an ESB employee, and took my 5YO inside (he was cranky and fussing about the wind, so I was glad to distract him somewhat). The Husband, E, promptly followed suit a good 5 minutes later. He did get some amazing shots with the camera of the views, but he hates crowds and jostling with a passion that borders on the unreasonable. And baby, there was a gang of that going on outside! There were more people on the Deck than at Disneyland on the 4th of July.
We headed downstairs and straight (thanks to my Eagle Eye-Sight) into the Walgreen's located in the lobby downstairs for a bribe-ice-cream-cone for J (that subway ride and walk back to the hotel were going to be long with him whining), and some cheap(ER) souvenirs. Don't hit up the ESB gift shop, save some money at Walgreens downstairs! And they have better snacks too!
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Two hours to be herded up a few elevators to find a mess of more herds trying to move around a tight space? Then another hour to try to get back down?
No thanks.
It wasn't what I expected. The views were decent, and I got some pretty cool photos, but it was just way too crowded for me to ever want to go back.
Skip this and head over to NBC's Top of the Rock. It was much less crowded and and the views were equally stellar if not better.
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I do not follow the rules of the Empire State Building. I spit off the roof and I toss plenty of pennies. I haven't figured out how to be truly classy and wizz off the roof.
Anyways, I didn't like the lines to get to the top but it's a great view. Worth the hassle and price.
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*PART TWO OF THE "NEEDS NO REVIEW" SERIES*
The Empire State Building needs no review.
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Such a tourist trap. I felt a little claustrophobic cause of all the people. The views are great though. It wasn't worth the $20
Yay! You know how sometimes touristy things can be a bit annoying? Yeah, well this one wasn't. The staff in this building are all so friendly it's amazing, considering the amount of people they deal with each and every day.
The line moves very fast which is great since there is no getting around the line, it's there every single day I suppose...
Everything is very clearly explained: audio tour, map, or just a ticket, or any combination of those....only go to the 86th floor or also to 102, it's easy as pie.
You aren't rushed, you can hang out up there and even go back and forth to 86 and 102 a few times if you like.
Of course, the view is spectacular, the history of the building is interesting, and well, it's a must do, even for a girl from Boston who probably should have done this loooong ago!!!
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The view is amazing!!
The wait, not so much.
Go at night, its really pretty then!
There is nothing I can tell you that 195 other people haven't said, except that no matter how grossly overpriced, aggravating, anticlimactic, and overrated the constantly under renovation Empire State Building is, you can't say you've been to NY without going. So cough up the money for the tickets, and your souvenirs and your corny Empire State photographs, buy some peanuts and wait in line. The view is worth some of it.
Honestly, $20 just to take me to the top?
Sounds like a rip off to me. Maybe next time when I have money to actually make it rain then it wouldn't bother me so much but until then, no thank you.
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Holy moly, I had completely forgotten how absurdly long it takes to get to the top.
Step 1: wait in outside line to be let into the the building. 5 minutes later...
Step 2: wait in line to go through metal detectors. 30 minutes later...
Step 3: wait in line to buy tickets (~$20 for base price). 30 minutes later...
Step 4: wait in line to get on an elevator to go to the top...NOT! Just to the 80th floor. 30 minutes later...
Step 5: wait in line to get on another elevator to go to the 86th floor. 10 minutes later...
Step 6: absolutely breathtaking 360 view of NY. reminiscence about past and present NY memories. take pictures. enjoy the wind gusts. herd past tourists. 15 minutes later... (yeah, there's really not much to do past that time)
Step 7: skip the line to walk down 6 flights. 2 breathless minutes later...
Step 8: wait in line to get back down to the lobby. 5 minutes later...
Step 9: hightail it out of the building and chuckle silently about the suckers still waiting in line.
Step 10: sit. pee. eat. enjoy the rest of the Big Apple.
Ok, those were supposed to add up to about 3 1/2 hours. My math may be off. It was a long day.
We all know you have to come here at least once. That said try and come on a nice day when all sides are open and there is good visibility. Also it is very different in the daylight and after dark. I was up there once when there was fireworks after a ball game.... wow looking down on fireworks!
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I was shocked by the crowds waiting to go up to the overlook at the 86th floor. By 10:30 on a Sunday morning there were easily 500 people in line-- maybe more!. I'm guessing they had at least a 2 hour wait. This would have been a special hell for us. We don't like kids, or crowds, and especially not whiny, rude tourists.
Fortunately, even with a bit of skepticism, we'd purchased "express" tickets online (https://tickets.esbnyc...): $45 instead of the usual $20. THE BEST $25.00 WE EVER SPENT. And the weird thing? There were only 2 or 3 other parties who'd done the same when we were there.
I don't get it. The people waiting in line are the same ones who'd spend several thousand $$ taking their little darlings to Disney or $50 on some tacky handbag from a street vendor. Yet they'll waste the better part of a beautiful day in the city to standing in line? Makes no sense.
So what does that extra cash get you? You walk in--in front of everyone--no waiting. You get on the elevators--no waiting. You arrive at the overlook happy and relaxed--'cause you haven't been waiting all day to get there!
And it gets better: the express lane extends to the trip down--no waiting there either!
So what about the overlook? The views are incredible. I understand sunset is awesome and so is night-time. If you go there on your last day in the city, you'll get to see all the other places you visited. It's great for helping the 1st timer get a sense of the big picture. None of that is so great however, to waste hours standing in line.
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Before you were lit
Men ate lunch on your girders
The first cloud city
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I was anticipating on going to the top of the Empire State Building because it was part of my awesome New York Pass that I purchased which included the 'tour'. However ... I was disappointed on the day I went because there was basically zero visibility and we had a show to catch so I decided to forfeit the 30 minute experience of going up to see basically nothing due to the low clouds.
However, I did spend quite a few minutes inside browsing through the rows of stores that the Empire State Building housed as well as grabbed a latte ... it was a pretty cool experience and I definitely wouldn't mind going back.
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The last time I have been to this landmark, there was no air conditioning inside and there were lots of people. This is more fun to go with close friends and not a family member.
