Posted on 12/28/2014 9:57:26 AM PST by SamAdams76
Observation decks in skyscrapers are always an overpriced "tourist trappy" sort of thing so I try to avoid them in general.
However, I had some family members visiting this week and they insisted upon going to the top of the Empire State Building (a slender and majestic skyscraper that sits on corner of 34th St and 5th Avenue).
Ayn Rand admired this building, which went up rapidly in the 1930s - at the height of the Great Depression - but I digress.
Now last time I went to observation deck of this particular building was back in the 1980s when my new wife and I spend a few days on Manhattan as part of our honeymoon. The Twin Towers were still around at the time and we went to the top of one of those as well. We actually walked the 30+ blocks to get there as we were young and full of energy and didn't want to take a cab if we could help it.
Well, a lot has changed in the nearly 30 years since I was last up on the 86th floor observation deck. There was practically no security and we pretty much pushed a button on an elevator to take us up to the 80th floor where we purchased tickets and took other elevators to both 86th and 102nd floor decks. No muss, no fuss.
Ronald Reagan was our president in those days!
This time around, the experience was quite different. We started out in Times Square which was pleasant enough. Highly recommended to bring the family to Times Square - just stay away from anybody dressed in a costume as they are creepy as hell and just want some of your money so you can take a lame picture with them.
So from Times Square, we walked the 8 blocks over to the Empire State Building, passing by the gigantic Macy's store that takes up an entire block.
As soon as we got past Macy's, the experience went downhill. We were surrounded by shifty looking "third party" vendors of tickets to various NYC attractions, complete with credit card scanners, who wanted to sell us overpriced observatory tickets that also included ferry to Ellis Island and a trip to top of Statue of Liberty.
Now I had a herd of about 10 family members with me so before I could corral them up, some of them already had their credit cards out, making it a done deal that we would purchase $29 tickets for $38 each (which they considered a bargain because Ellis Island ferry and Statue of Liberty trip was included). Unfortunately I did not have time to inform them that logistically, there was no way for us to take in the tour as we were only in the city for one day and it was already coming up on 3pm.
OK, no big deal. So we got fleeced for $9 a piece. About the price of a couple street vendor hot dogs. Welcome to New York! Plus, we should save a little time from having to purchase tickets inside the building - or so we thought.
So as we approach the Empire Street Building, we notice this massive line snaking around the block. Yes, this is the line to get inside the building to visit the observatory.
As noted, it was about 3pm and it takes us about a half hour to get into the lobby of ESB, in which another line snaked along, to where, we knew not.
It was about quarter to 4 before we were allowed to go up the escalator to the second floor where a huge "Space Mountain at Disney" type line weaved up and down the entire space, separated by the type of velvet ropes you normally see in movie theater lobbies.
During all this time, people with $50 "fast pass" tickets were whisked by us. It slowly dawned on us all that as time is money, those $50 tickets we originally snickered at seemed like quite the bargain.
After about a half hour, it became obvious that the line we were in culminated in "airport style" metal detectors, manned by those who were evidently turned down by TSA. As we snaked closer, we were notified over loudspeakers to remove our jackets and belts. Only the loudspeaker voice resembled that of the adults in Charlie Brown cartoons and we couldn't make heads or tails out of what we being said until some brassy lady with a dark blue uniform marched up and down shouting at us to remove jackets and belts.
Once through the phalanx of TSA-rejects with their wands and their expressionless stony faces, we then had to get in yet another line, this time to purchase tickets (which we got to skip) and to get offered "audio guides" which looked like 1970s era Walkie Talkies and rented for $11.
We passed.
Then we had to run a guantlet of useless exhibits showing how the skyscraper was built and other sort of useless facts, such as how many miles of pipes are in the plumbing (7 miles, if you are interested to know). Nothing looked like it was updated since the 1960s.
Most people shoved their way past these exhibits but you had a tiny percentage of overly-earnest tourists (mostly of Asian descent) who gummed up the works by pausing at each exhibits with their "audio guide" devices held up to their ears after having punched in the appropriate three digit code.
After all that, we come to yet another long line. By now it is 4:45pm - we have been standing in lines already for nearly two hours. This line leads to a person taking photographs of each group of tourists against a green background (which in the photos, will make it appear you are standing on the balcony over Manhattan at night).
There is no escaping the photo shoot. You are not simply allowed to walk past the camera without standing for a picture, whether by your self or as part of a group. We are thinking that this is a ruse to have our pictures taken for security purposes - and we are probably right about that.
Once the pictures are taken (with our images temporarily occupying the TV screens shown hanging from the ceilings - until the next group photo takes over), we are stuck in yet another long line.
Eventually, this line ends at a bank of elevators that takes us to the 80th floor. Because the building was designed such that you had to take separate elevators on the 80th floor to go higher.
Once on the 80th floor, you guessed it, another very long line snaking to the other bank of elevators.
However, this time, we were given the option of walking six flights of stairs as opposed to waiting another half hour to get on the next elevator.
Pretty much everybody availed themselves of the opportunity, including little old ladies and pot-bellied out-of-shape men who really should have known better.
So now, after waiting in lines for over two hours, we are now stuck in narrow staircases with sweaty, smelly and out-of-breath people, with the sounds of scuffling feet and raspy intakes and outtakes of bad breath. By the time we got to the 84th floor landing, you had a bunch of people just standing against the wall with their tongues hanging out and making all sorts of disgusting rasping and gasping sounds as they tried to catch their breath in the hot, stale air.
There was actually an elderly lady with crutches attempting to negotiate the staircase. It was crazy!
Finally we get to the 86th floor observatory. The sun was shining brightly when we entered the building nearly 2 1/2 hours ago. Now there is only the tinge of a sunset we missed and Manhattan is spread out below us in shimmering lights.
It would be a great view if we could actually get to edge but there were hundreds - probably thousands - of tourists that so crammed the observation deck that it was all we could do to turn sideways and inch our way around the platform. Meanwhile, you had a group of mall-cop types in uniforms telling us to "move along, move along".
There were so many people on the deck that I seriously feared that the building might tip over if we did not properly balance our collective weight around the observation deck (however, no problem on that count).
After about 20 minutes, we finally decided we had had enough and after squeezing in a few obligatory photos that were not obstructed by other people, we headed for the elevators to go back down.
However, it was not quite as easy as pushing the button and going down to the bottom. First ,we had to go back down to the 80th floor and get herded through about a quarter mile of gift shop. Then we had to get past the pushy vendors trying to sell us the photo they took of us earlier for $20.
Once past that, we got literally pushed into an elevator that took us to the bottom and we were unceremoniously shunted out to the street outside, where we saw even longer lines waiting to get in.
So all in all, the Empire State Building observatory is a colossal ripoff. However, the rest of our day in NYC went exceedingly well. Especially the Heartland Brewing and Chophouse on 43rd Street where we all had dinner. After a couple of Oatmeal Stouts, I was feeling good about NYC once again.
The only disappointment was it was kinda rainy, so we couldn't go outside onto the deck. But it was pretty much floor to ceiling glass, so we could still see out over the city. There was a bank of pay phones up there at the time, so it was pretty cool to be able to call my mom from the top of the Empire State Building.
The Empire State Building. Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.
It was in the mid-90’s last time I went up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building. My experience then was in most ways very different. I was struck by the red hanging banners with which the ground floor lobby was festooned; combined with the large posters and the grand architecture, my first reaction was that it looked like some alternate reality Nazi Germany from the original Star Trek television series. Quite beautiful but somehow ... fascist.
There was little in the way of a line until the 80th floor elevator switch, and even then it wasn’t really all that bad. The view was nice, quite breezy up there with the wind blowing up. I was informed that in past, less enlightened days, people would toss handkerchiefs and such off to watch it come wafting back. Not anymore with the security fencing, the building attracts nuts.
The budding behavior to match the graphics was on display at the restrooms, though. Chunky, rude ethnic women in too-tight blue uniforms barking orders to the tremendous line, single file, men and women all lined up together. Men’s room, women’s room, didn’t matter. A toilet in any of them became unoccupied, in went the next person. So very fair for men to have to wait just as long as women, you see.
All in all I enjoyed it since I love architecture. The old setup for dirigibles was fascinating although I can’t imagine coming off a passenger blimp tied to the top of a building of that height and marching down some sort of ramp that no doubt would have been shifting in the ever-present wind. But, I hated the mentality of the people running the show. I see it’s only gotten worse.
In all honesty, I’d have enjoyed seeing the Chrysler Building more, up close and from a similar vantage point, but to my knowledge that was not possible.
From experience, which informed me on more than one occasion that “I should have known better”, I have not much sympathy for bad experiences of people trying to go places in Manhattan where so many tourists want to go.
Symbols like the Empire State Building reflect very little of what Manhattan as whole is really like, for living or otherwise. Yes the view is great, but its better and more worth the expense from a helicopter tour.
I always tell visiting tourists that to see and enjoy Manhattan well, simply avoid anything, other than Broadway Shows, if it’s located between 34th & 59th Street and between 9th and 5th Avenue. Not even a single one of the best restaurants in town are located there.
There are certain remote places out west where, given enough money, I’d build my enclave and watch the river roll by for the rest of my days.
Hmmm. Put those back in, add a cell phone jammer to force their use and charge $20 to make a 2 minute phone call.
Some people would live nowhere else. I've been exposed to both country and city living so I can see the upsides of both (as well as the downsides).
I think what appeals to city dwellers is the fact that everything they could every want is close at hand - well, maybe except for space and privacy.
Never give your camera to someone else to take your picture, especially if there are naked pictures of your wife already on the camera.
Definitely Christmas week had a lot to do with the crowds. A lot of people are in town for the New Year’s Eve celebration. Now that’s one night I would rather not be in NYC!
I thought of this when I saw your headline: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Empire_State_Building_shooting
FUNYC
Went to the 86th & 102nd floors at 13 in 1963. I can still remember PanAm helicopters ferrying passengers across at the PanAm Building. What’s that called these days?
Paternal Grandfather took me to NYC back when I was 12 or 13, so end of The Fifties. Had a blast! Had my first beer with Grandpa. I discovered that I didn’t like heights while at the observatory, later reaffirmed at the parachute drop on Coney Island!
I don’t know what to say to this. Go to NYC at Christmas time and be outraged by lines. Also outraged that once you get below Macy’s, the area looks seedy. It’s always looked seedy (old buildings, Korean businesses). It picks up again in Chelsea.
No kidding. It will be under control in a couple of weeks.
I forget the hotel we stayed at but it was something along the lines of a Best Western. There were mice. But we didn't care, we were in our mid-20s and the whole trip was an adventure for us.
Because there are shows, museums, points of interest. You should try it sometime.
Smart people know to keep out of Manhattan Christmas through New Years. It’s a zoo. Smart NYers avoid midtown during the same time or make sure they travel by train. A good guide book will warn about the Christmas season.
And try London if you think New York City tourist “traps” are expensive!
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