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 Education Department Building New York State Education Department Building The New York State Education Department Building (commonly known as the State Education Building) is a state office building in Albany, New York. It houses offices of the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and was formerly home to the New York State Museum and New York State Library. Designed by Henry Hornbostel and opened in 1912, the building is known for its expansive colonnade. The State Education Building was designed by Henry Hornbostel and contracted and built by M. F. Dollard Construction between 1908 and 1911. It was the "first major building constructed