Empire State Building In a separate transaction, the land underneath the building was sold to Prudential Insurance for $29 million. Helmsley, Wein, and Malkin quickly started a program of minor improvement projects, including the first-ever full-building facade refurbishment and window-washing in 1962, the installation of new flood lights on the 72nd floor in 1964, and replacement of the manually operated elevators with automatic units in 1966. The little-used western end of the second floor was used as a storage space until 1964, at which point it received escalators to the first floor as part of its conversion into a highly-sought retail area. In
Empire State can be seen throughout the state. Manhattan's Empire State Building opened in 1931 and was the world's tallest building until the completion of the north tower of the World Trade Center in 1970. Following the September 11 attacks, the Empire State Building once again became the tallest building in Manhattan until One World Trade Center claimed the title in April 2012. 1939 New York World's Fair dubbed the span between the Trylon and N.Y. State Exhibit as The Empire State Bridge. The main offices of state government are located at the Empire State Plaza (ESP) in Albany, the state capital.