Exclusive look inside the Empire State Building's $160 million makeover
This article, Exclusive look inside the Empire State Building's $160 million makeover, originally appeared on CBSNews.com
Visitors to one of the most iconic buildings in the Big Apple will soon be taking in a whole new view of the New York City skyline. The Empire State Building is set to open its newly renovated 102nd floor observatory this weekend, complete with 360-degree views of New York City and beyond. It's just one part of the Empire State Building's massive four-year renovation.
"CBS This Morning" co-host Tony Dokoupil got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the multimillion-dollar project that will change how the skyscraper's 4 million annual visitors see the city below it. CEO Tony Malkin is the third generation in his family to run the Empire State Building, but it's safe to say this is no longer his grandfather's skyscraper. Malkin is making changes. Now tourists have something to see closer to the ground. What was once essentially a hallway – and the line to the elevators – is now a multimedia, interactive museum. It pays homage to the building's construction in 1930 and 1931 with recreations of how workers built the tower by hand. The Empire State Building went up in a little more than a year at a cost of $41 million. By contrast, these renovations are a four-year project and cost more than $160 million. Tourism brings in around $130 million to the building each year.
Empire State Building – the movie star
The Empire State Building is an iconic symbol of New York City, and it's also a movie star. Just two years after the building was complete, Hollywood deemed it fit for a king – King Kong that is. The 1933 monster flick was the first of many roles for the skyscraper.
It co-starred with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in "An Affair To Remember," Will Ferrell roamed its famous halls in "Elf," and it was on the observation deck where the final scene played out in the tear-jerking 1993 romantic comedy, "Sleepless in Seattle."
"For so many years it's had this kind of singular silhouette that seemed to anchor Manhattan's incredible concentration of this bristling skyline," said Carol Willis, founder of New York's Skyscraper Museum. "It is the building that represents modernity as New York began to emerge as the world's most modern metropolis."
It went up – all 102 floors of it – in less than 14 months, thanks to the death-defying efforts of thousands of workers. Five people died during construction.
When it opened in May of 1931, it soared more than 200 feet above the nearby Chrysler Building, stealing its status as the world's tallest.
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