For over forty years the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world. It opened in 1931.

I walked to the building after a show on Boxing Day evening. The neighbourhood is no longer as salubrious as it once was and late at night there are not too many people around. The walk down Broadway to 34th Street after dark is not recommended. 

The views are spectacular and from the observation deck on the 86th floor I first saw the Statue of Liberty.

Don't expect to be whisked up to the top in quick as dramatic a style as Meg Ryan in 'Sleepless in Seattle'. You have to pass through a tacky gift shop to get to the balcony, which isn't as large as that occupied by Cary Grant on that bleak evening as he waited in vain for Deborah Kerr in 'An Affair to Remember'.

Looking north-west across Manhattan towards the Washington Bridge

102 floors and 1454 feet high

Built in 23 weeks

60,000 tons of steel

6,500 windows

10 million bricks

200 steel and concrete piles support the 365,000 ton building

The lifts, or elevators, travel up at 1,200 feet a minute

1,860 steps to the observation deck on the 86th floor

The building is struck by lightning up to 500 times each year

On a clear day you can see 80 miles

Open until midnight with the last lift at 11.30pm

Over 100 million visitors to the observation decks in 70 years

Source: New York, Dorling Kindersley Travel Guides, 2000