Home to the Empire State Building, Times Square, Statue of Liberty and other iconic sites, New York City is a fast-paced, globally influential center of art, culture, fashion and finance. The city's 5 boroughs sit where the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean, with the island borough of Manhattan at the "Big Apple's" core.
The Empire State Building was completed in 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression. Upon completion, it became the tallest building in NY, surpassing the recently completed Chrysler Building, which had held the title for less than a year. Because of the ongoing Depression and the building's distance from public transportation, the Empire State Building had difficulty finding tenants, and for many years it was derisively referred to as the "Empty State Building." In fact, tenants were so few that in its first year of operation, the Empire State Building Observatory made as much money ($2 million) as the building's owners made in rent. It wasn't until the early 1950s, when the building was sold to Roger L. Stevens and his business partners, that the building began to be profitable.
