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
New York State Historic Markers local history. First created to commemorate the American Revolution the markers were loved by the public and deemed a success. Although no longer funded by the State, markers are still being installed throughout New York State today by individuals, town and county governments, and historical organizations. The Walton East Branch Foundry (one of the companies that casts the markers) reports creating up to 100 markers per year. The State Historic Marker Program was started in 1926 by the New York State Education Department to acknowledge the Sesquicentennial of the American Revolution. During this time over 2,800 small blue cast iron