NEW YORK.- The tallest building in New York´s skyline, The Empire State Building, is 75 years old. The building was built during the depression years and for decades it was the world´s tallest building. King Kong has climbed its facade and it has survived a plane crash. To celebrate its anniversary, the building is undergoing a $150 million dollar renovation.

Over 3,000 workers built the Empire State Building in a record time of 15 months. It has been said that builder and speculator J.J. Raskob asked architect William Lamb in 1929, “How high can you build a skyscraper without it falling down?” Lamb answered “320 meters” to which a mast 61 meters high would be added to receive Zeppelins coming arriving from Europe. After a 10 minute customs delay, passengers would descend in seconds to New York´s Fifth Avenue, according to the original plan. On January 22, 1930, work was started on the foundations of the building. Just four months after, a massive steel structure could be seen coming out of the ground. After 11 months, the main construction of 85 floors was done and on March 31 the interior was finished. On the night of May 1, President Herbert Hoover punched the button that would light the building.