Free Republic

Public Relations: The Empire State Building this week will illuminate red and yellow, celebrating China's 60 years of communist rule. There are many things to appreciate about China, but communism isn't one of them. What was the Empire State Building thinking in lighting up in celebration of China's long communist rule? Amid all the charming reasons the classical 102-story skyscraper colors the Gotham sky at night — the 70th anniversary of "The Wizard of Oz," El Museo del Barrio's reopening, Columbus Day and Gabrielle's Angel Foundation, according to its Web site — China stands as a negative outlier. Cynics call...

In one of the biggest heists in American history, the Daily News "stole" the $2 billion Empire State Building. And it wasn't that hard. The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up a batch of bogus documents, making a fake notary stamp and filing paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property. Some of the information was laughable: Original "King Kong" star Fay Wray is listed as a witness and the notary shared a name with bank robber Willie Sutton. The massive ripoff illustrates a gaping loophole in the city's system for recording deeds,...

In what has been described as one of the biggest heists in American history, the Empire State Building was reportedly stolen this week by a New York City newspaper in less than 90 minutes. The New York Daily News drew up fake documents, created a bogus notary stamp and filed paperwork with the city and successfully took ownership of the $2 billion property on Monday.

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York's iconic Empire State Building is to be lit up green from Friday in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid, the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar marking the end of Ramadan, officials said. "This is the first time that the Empire State Building will be illuminated for Eid, and the lighting will become an annual event in the same tradition of the yearly lightings for Christmas and Hannukah," according to a statement. Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month, is expected to be celebrated in New York from Friday, depending...

The third-tallest building (previous to 9/11) of course in New York is lit up to honor the Muslim holiday...seems to me like something is wrong with this?

The city's quintessential skyscraper is also the country's most beloved building, according to a new survey. The Empire State Building, the famed marvel of steel and stone at Fifth Ave. and 34th St., was named America's favorite work of architecture in a public poll released yesterday by Harris Interactive and the American Institute of Architects. "It's one of those places you have to go see," Ian Molyneux, 26, of Manchester, England, said yesterday as he took in the sweeping view atop the 1,454-foot-tall skyscraper. "When you go back home, everyone's going to ask if you went to the Empire State...

Gunman shoots 7, kills self at Empire State Building'A popping noise,' then bloodshed, bedlamNEW YORK (CNN) -- A man opened fire Sunday on an observation deck of the Empire State Building, killing one person and wounding six before shooting himself in the head, authorities said. The gunman, a 69-year-old Palestinian, was taken to a hospital where he died more than five hours later, according to New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's press office. The man muttered something about Egypt seconds before he began shooting shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday on the 86th floor observation deck of one of the world's best-known...

The following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian professor Abd Al-Sabour Shahin, which aired on Saudi Channel 1 on August 8, 2005. Shahin: Our enemies weave many lies about us, which we are not necessarily aware of. For example: One day, we awoke to the crime of 9/11, which hit the tallest buildings in New York, the Empire State Building (sic). There is no doubt that not a single Arab or Muslim had anything to do with these events. The incident was fabricated as a pretext to attack Islam and Muslims. The plan was to take over the world's...

Tourists venturing atop the Empire State Building have been disturbed to see horrible images of Sept. 11 greeting them in the gift shop. Two 9/11 tribute booklets adorn the top of the display stand, where news magazines and entertainment periodicals are stocked. The color pictures on the covers of the booklets show the Twin Towers engulfed in flames. There are terrified people running from the scene, and one shot actually captures the second plane plowing into the South Tower. "It's disturbing," said Alma Sanguinetti, 70, who was visiting from San Francisco.

NEW YORK -- A man jumped to his death Friday from the 86th-floor observation deck at the Empire State Building, one of Manhattan's busiest tourist destinations, police said. The apparent suicide forced police to briefly close the landmark on Fifth Avenue to tourists in New York for the holiday weekend. The man apparently climbed over a security fence that encloses the observation deck before leaping off. He hit a landing on the sixth floor, where he died instantly, police said. No identification was found on his body. At least 31 other people have committed suicide at the Empire State Building...

September 4, 2004 -- Al Qaeda plans to use fuel-laden trucks to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building and one of the tunnels to New Jersey between Sept. 24 and Oct. 10, an anonymous tipster recently warned federal authorities. Homeland security officials took the tip seriously enough to pass it on to the Police Department and other government agencies this week, law-enforcement sources told The Post.

John "Jack" Lundberg - Obituary AP Mar. 10, 2004 WATERTOWN, Wis. (AP) - John "Jack" Lundberg, believed to be one of the last surviving steelworkers who built New York's Empire State Building, died Wednesday. He was 97. The Empire State Building, at 102 stories, was completed in 1931 and for years stood as the world's tallest skyscraper before other structures surpassed it. Lundberg, whose death was confirmed Friday by the Pederson Funeral Home, also worked on the Chrysler building and Rockefeller Center in New York and the John Hancock Tower in Boston. The Discovery Channel and the BBC both interviewed...