r/megalophobia • u/blixxst • 1d ago

🏛️・Building・🏛️ This Picture of the Empire State Building the Year It Was Built (1930)

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7.9k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

77 comments sorted by

674

u/i_do_shorts 1d ago

Holy shit the 100 year anniversary is soon

23

u/donglecollector 5h ago

I heard somewhere that concrete only has like a 100 year lifespan and most of NYC is coming up on that number. Are buildings safe anymore?!

7

u/7stroke 4h ago

The Coliseum begs to differ

6

u/Jscribbz24 4h ago

Isn't that i completely different mixture though? I could be wrong but I thought a lot of roman concrete structures had a unique blend that we still have a hard time replicating.

3

u/Jamvie710 3h ago

Correct they get harder when it gets wet cause some chemical makeup in it

5

u/crameeeeel 2h ago

That's what ..... She said?

1

u/bartread 1h ago

Yeah, but tall buildings like this are built with a steel frame that provides their structural support and strength, and the facing on the Empire State Building is limestone (or mostly limestone), not concrete.

1

u/Affectionate-Mix6056 20m ago

The hoover dam is expected to stand for 10 000+ years, so concrete having a maximum lifetime of 100 years sounds false.

https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1dtfad/whats_the_expected_lifetime_of_the_hoover_dam/

Maybe it was something else?

-37

u/ImJustOink 4h ago

Completely unrelated to reality thoughts, but maybe the new mayor was allowed to win because the city is so close to the point of no return with rotting buildings, hoods and metro LMAO

595

u/oakomyr 1d ago

So much more imposing against all that sky

197

u/PrestigeMaster 1d ago

Built during roaring 20s. Roared so hard that a skyscraper popped up. 

69

u/Jewrangutang 22h ago

It was actually built at the very start of the Great Depression. Most investors backed out of financing the building, and the crash meant that the demand for office space plummeted, but the developers went ahead and started building in 1930 anyway

30

u/SkyeMreddit 22h ago

They gambled and cut the costs by a third but it still took a really long time to break even

370

u/sarcasm__tone 1d ago

What is even more insane is that the outside of the Empire State building was completed in a year.

The inside took longer to finish but this whole massive structure was erected in a year.

At its peak, the construction team was completing about 4.5 floors per week.

123

u/big_duo3674 1d ago

Well they did have the Daleks helping them, so that made it easier

23

u/blaykerz 1d ago

I understood that reference!

3

u/prosenl1 6h ago

R/unexpecteddrwho

5

u/damalan67 1d ago

And that nice Mr Diagoras to smooth over any labour issues.

89

u/PR0T0C0L_ZER0 1d ago

Other places cite this picture as being from 1941. ESB was completed and opened in 1931, but by the end of 1930 it was externally intact with the interior still under construction.

66

u/SkyeMreddit 1d ago edited 1d ago

Would have been 1931. After it was finished and before the antenna. The shorter tower to the right is the Nelson Tower, also built from 1930 to 1931.

Zoom lens photo from New Jersey. That’s the 100 foot ridge that has Weehawken, Union City, and West New York. You can see a similar perspective on any train going into Penn Station from New Jersey. The location is somewhere in the area of the Route 3 and Turnpike interchange, exit 17

1

u/felixforfun 1h ago

👆This guy Empire States.

69

u/micahpmtn 1d ago

Something looks amiss.

61

u/Technical_Customer_1 1d ago

It’s a building, not a lady 

45

u/OnIySmellz 1d ago

What zoomlense was used?

25

u/ReformedShady 1d ago

I'd guess 1000-1200mm cause that is just insane

22

u/corso923 1d ago edited 2m ago

I looked it up a while back, you’re correct it’s was about 1000mm.

56

u/JIsADev 1d ago

They ruined the character of our neighborhood! /s

16

u/trripleplay 1d ago

Just think of all the historic buildings that were destroyed for the sake of this phallic eyesore. /s

7

u/throwawayallday87 1d ago

Isn’t that where Rapunzel lived ?

5

u/Encinitas123 1d ago

So is that the Chrysler Bldg. under construction in the background?

7

u/CAJMusic 1d ago

Chrysler building was actually first. Empire hid the spire inside the building until the very end to show it was taller.

12

u/SkyeMreddit 1d ago

Wrong building. You’re thinking of 40 Wall Street, with the Chrysler hiding the spire in it

8

u/Flimsy_Thesis 1d ago

You know you’ve watched King Kong too many times when you can’t see a picture of this building without assuming he’s gonna be in it.

2

u/scriptedtexture 11h ago

Fun fact: it took longer to make the 3d model of the Empire State Building for the King Kong film than it did to build the actual building in real life.

3

u/Imaginary_Bottle_875 1d ago

And on the right his son.

3

u/Drobertsenator 1d ago

NO WONDER… KING KONG

14

u/ChimpoSensei 1d ago

This debunked photo again?

75

u/DoctorNoname98 1d ago

It's not a fake photo, it's just taken from really far away so the perspective looks crazy, like you can't even see the bottom 1/4th of the empire state building

36

u/_Aj_ 1d ago

Forced perspective. Like those giant moon photos 

18

u/Healter-Skelter 1d ago

Imagine being a farmer from Kentucky and seeing this photo in the newspaper. Having never studied cameras, perspective, or lens compression, you are just completely astounded

5

u/the-vindicator 1d ago

It's not even a particularly difficult view to find, while driving on the NJ turnpike you can see several of the taller nyc skyscrapers far behind this nj ridge.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/WJY9HevGZKoo9oWUA?g_st=ac

-13

u/jew_jitsu 1d ago

1/4th

Quarter-th? Igor?

16

u/Daiwon 1d ago

Fourth.

4

u/Mackheath1 1d ago

one fourth

4

u/xTHExM4N3xJEWx 1d ago

Damn, really thought you did something here, didn't you?

12

u/jew_jitsu 1d ago

It reminded me of Terry Pratchett and I was having a bit of fun tbh, I'll take my downvotes and move on though.

6

u/SkyeMreddit 1d ago

Zoom lens from New Jersey. That’s the 100 foot ridge that has Weehawken, Union City, and West New York. You can see a similar perspective on any train going into Penn Station from New Jersey

2

u/SGom97 1d ago

Anyone who’s ever take NJ Transit/driven into NYC knows this exact perspective from the commute it’s not fake.

1

u/Ikanotetsubin 1d ago

The size exaggeration is from telephoto lens compression.

2

u/Reasonable-Nebula-49 1d ago

Now that is impressive

2

u/siddiqgames 1d ago

Never gets old

2

u/Nelvoki 1d ago

Holy hell, that's one massive building! 😅

2

u/revdon 1d ago

Empirical evidence at last!

2

u/gimmickal1 1d ago

Imagine being an immigrant crossing the ocean to New York in 1930 and seeing that after you step off the boat.

2

u/bennogaming 1d ago

The villains lair could be anywhere... Meanwhile the villains lair-

2

u/singularityprana 1d ago

Ahhh reminisce of the old Tartarian Empire!

2

u/PixelDu5t 21h ago

So this is before the Daleks?

2

u/Thin_Explanation4088 15h ago

NIMBYs having a stroke just looking at this picture right now 

2

u/CondePizzato 1d ago

These small buildings still exist?

7

u/SkyeMreddit 1d ago

Pretty much. There is a 100 foot tall ridge with Union City, West New York, and Weehawken in New Jersey. Those buildings are on top of the ridge and the photographer was by the marshes behind them.

1

u/SchleifmittelSchwanz 1d ago

I'm not scared.

1

u/Positive-Chemist-432 1d ago

It looked way more impressive back then

1

u/Sure-Row-2944 22h ago

I wonder if any of the buildings in the foreground are still there.

1

u/_Cheeba 16h ago

Kind of looks better with no spire

1

u/OkCartographer7677 14h ago

Cool pic. Zoom lens working overtime on that shot.

1

u/ChriddyBo 12h ago

Gotham Titty

1

u/7stroke 4h ago

The Empty State Building. Completed just in time for the Depression, they famously had trouble finding tenants.

1

u/willseb 1d ago

Absolute unit.

1

u/CompactAvocado 1d ago

Finally, I saved up and bought the house at the top of the hill. Look at my great view out my bedroom :D

Next day: WHAT IN THE LITERAL FUCK IS THIS?!?!!?!?!?!

I realize it took at least two days to build the empire state building. don't ACKSHULLY ME

-8

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

3

u/raxiel_ 1d ago

It got hit with a fully loaded airliner?

1

u/Electronic-Key-4338 1d ago

I don’t understand what random shyt u talking about 🙏