The silhouette of the Empire State Building dominates the Manhattan skyline at sunset. It was the world's tallest building from 1931 to 1972.

The Empire State Building revolutionized the construction of tall buildings with its innovative project management. Construction began on March 17, 1930 and was completed just one year and 45 days later. The building's framework rose at an astonishing rate of 4 ½ stories per week. During construction of the Empire State Building, its peak workforce amounted to 3,000 workers. Portions of the building were prefabricated off-site and assembled in place in order to achieve this remarkable construction schedule.

Developed by the firm of Raskob & Smith, the Empire State Building was designed by architects Shreve, Lamb, & Harmon Associates and built by contractors Starrett Brothers & Eken, Inc. The structural engineer was Homer Gage Balcom, a pioneer in designing tall structures to account for lateral wind forces, who also designed the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Railroad Terminal, and Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Located on the original site of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which was demolished to make room for the new skyscraper, the Empire State Building was designed in the Art Deco style with setbacks along the height of its tower. The building's tower was originally intended to be a mooring mast for dirigibles but only a few airships actually docked because winds near the top made landings dangerous. The mast was later used for the base of a 225-foot antenna that was added in 1950. The building currently has public observatories on the 86th and 102nd floors and on a clear day visitors can see points up to 80 miles away.

In 1933, the Empire State Building was featured in "King Kong" when the gorilla scaled the building in an attempt to escape his captors. An inflatable version of King Kong was affixed to the tower in 1983 during the fiftieth anniversary of the motion picture. During a dense fog in July 1945, a B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building but did not seriously damage the structure.

Red, white and blue lighting illuminates the top of the Empire State Building on the Fourth of July. The lighting pattern changes throughout the year to mark holidays and special events.

President Herbert Hoover first lit up the tower's lights by pushing a button in Washington, DC when the building was first opened in 1931. Since then, the tower lights have evolved from revolving beacons to floodlights to colored patterns. Since 1976, the top 30 floors of the Empire State Building have been illuminated each night in a colored lighting scheme. Different color combinations are used to honor national holidays and special events.

On July 18, 2001, ASCE presented the Empire State Building with a plaque designating it one of the top ten civil engineering Monuments of the Millennium. The plaque was presented by ASCE President Robert Bein in a ceremony attended by national representatives from ASCE, the Met Section and the New Jersey Section. The award was accepted on behalf of Helmsley-Spear, Inc. by Hani Salama, P.E., Director of Operations for the Empire State Building. ASCE previously named the Empire State Building as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World in 1996 and one of America's Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders in 1955.

The Met Section also held a reception for President Bein on July 17, 2001 at the Cornell Club, which was attended by many current and past Met Section Board members as well as representatives from the New Jersey Section. Elmer Isaak, Past President of the Met Section (1970-1971) sponsored the event.