The Empire State Building, New York

King Kong's very own the Empire State Building got its name from the nickname of the state - New York, the Empire State.

The Empire State Building - A distant view

View from the Hudson river

When measured from tip to toe, the Empire State Building is the fourth-tallest building in the United States.

The structure was named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

All credits of my visit to this massive man made structure go to my colleague Dave.

I was on a business trip to the US along with few of my colleagues. We were staying in New Jersey. Every evening after work, we used to take the train to New York and roam around.

One day, Dave brought a Dodge truck with him and took us all for a joy ride to the city of New York. He took us straight to the Empire State building.

Empire State Building - Interior lobby

Deck @ 86th Floor and Top Deck @ 102 Floor are the two areas for the visitors.

The lifts in the building are fast and you can experience it when it starts and stop. It was the month of September 2009 and it was very windy @ The Deck, 86 floor. We could see the entire city from here. The view was breathtaking!

View 1 from the Deck, 86th floor

View 2 from the Deck, 86th floor

View 3 from the Deck, 86th floor

View 4 from the Deck, 86th floor

Another view of the Empire State Building from the Hudson river

After taking a few shots here we moved to the Top Deck. That was the highest man made structure that I stood on in my life so far. Thank you Dave for this wonderful trip!

When to visit: It is open all 365 days a year from 8:00 am to 2:00 am; there are souvenir shops and custom photogrpahy to explore from .

Tip: Carry spare batteries; mine died and I had to borrow Dave's camera.