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Flashback: Empire State Building
By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 24, 2009
Modified Sep 24, 2009
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circa 1957
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 24, 2009
Modified Sep 24, 2009
Share
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Yesterday we looked at the newly renovated lobby of the Empire State Building, and all its Art Deco glory made us nostalgic. LIFE magazine images are often good for curing that; they even have a whole gallery of the building being made by hand. Enough to make you reread The Fountainhead.
One of those men putting his blood, sweat and tears into the construction of the 1930's era building, however, was the first to kill himself by jumping off it before its completion. 29 more have followed since. Another was 23-year-old Evelyn McHale, whose 1947 plunge resulted in the World's Most Beautiful Suicide.
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building
construction
empire state building
history
nostalgia
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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