Meandering Midtown

After lunching with Spencius, I head back towards at Pat Rice's office to get my bearings. Fortunately she works right across the street from the Empire State Building, so all I have to do is look up for direction. She also told me during the lunch hour the tourists literally lay in the street to get picture of the Empire State Building. I thought it'd be fun to laugh, point, and take pictures of the silly tourists. Sadly, there were no tourists in the street, just buildings.

 

So in my non-tourists fashion, I crack open my Michelin Green Guide to New York City. In all fairness, it was required reading for a class I took, so technically I was doing field research. Yeah that's it, research.

Fortunately, it has a two mile walking tour that, coincidentally, starts at the Empire State Building.

Empire State Building Fast Facts:

• At a height of 1,454 ft, it was the world's tallest building for four decades.
• Stands on the site of the two former Astor mansions as well as the site for the original "Waldorf" - "Astoria" hotels.
• On March 17, 1930 construction began. Under the direction of architects Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates, and with a peak labor force of 3,000 men, framework rose at a rate of 4 ½ stories per week.
• The top floor was intended as a "mooring platform for dirigibles" (aka blimp landing pad) atop the building, until someone realized that was a lawsuit waiting to happen.
• In 1980, the Empire State Building received its own zip code: 10118
• If you're looking for a challenge you can always Run-Up the Building with the New York Road Runners.
  

Heading uptown, I hadn't scheduled time for shopping, but in accordance with field research observation and documentation procedures (aka walking and taking pictures) I did note signs of a rebounding economy, at least on Fifth Avenue.