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Book: I'll Be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol Interviews by Kenneth Goldsmith
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Authors: Kenneth Goldsmith
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quarter of a mile above the streets.
I could distinguish landmarks as far away as 25 miles and was able to gaze as far as 50 miles into five states . . . Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.
GM: What were some of New York’s landmarks that you were able to see from atop Empire State?
AW: To the north the RCA Building stands out against the 840 acres of Central Park. The Hudson River to the left leads to upper New York State and New England. The Bronx is in the background.
From the northwest corner of the 86th floor Observatory, visitors look into Times Square (center) and the bustling piers along the Hudson River, where giant ships from all over the world tie up.
Looking northwest from the top of Empire State, the visitor looks down on such landmarks as the United Nations Building (center) on the bank of the East River and the Chrysler Building (left). The Borough of Queens is in the background.
By night, New York becomes a honeycomb of light, dazzling and unbelievable in its beauty. This view from the northwest corner of the 86th floor observatory looks down into Times Square and the heart of the theatre district.
GM: What do you know about Empire State’s TV Tower?
AW: At the 102nd story level of the Empire State Building–on a space the size of a pitcher’s mound–a 22-story, 222-feet, 60-ton mast-like structure stretches upward to a height of 1,472 feet into the clouds. It is the world’s most powerful and far-reaching TV tower. From here all seven of the New York area’s television stations transmit their programs to a four-state sector in which 15 million persons live and own more than 5,200,000 TV sets. Programs transmitted from the Empire State Building, in other words, reach an area in which one of every ten persons in the United States lives.
GM: Andy, can you brief me on some of Empire State’s vital statistics in comparison with other structures of similar nature?
AW: The internationally known Empire State Building is the world’s tallest building. Comparative statistics show that the 1,472-feet-high Empire State Building towers over such other international structures as the 984-feet-high Eiffel Tower, the 555-feet-high Washington Monument, the 480-feet-high Pyramid of Cheops, and the 179-feet-high Leaning Tower of Pisa.
GM: What can you tell me about Empire State’s huge floodlights?
AW: The spectacular lighting of the tower portions of the Empire State Building allows the world-famous silhouette of the world’s tallest building to occupy the same dominant position on the horizon of nighttime New York as it does during the day. Basic light source for this gigantic floodlighting task is a 1,000-watt, iodine-quartz lamp which is in the same family of lamps as those used to illuminate missile launching pads at Cape Kennedy. The floodlights, which are distinguished for their high intensity, long throw, and fine beam control capabilities, are strategically located on various setbacks of the building so as to do the best job of illumination without interfering with the famous nighttime view from the Observatory.
GM: Before the floodlights were installed to coincide with the World’s Fair, was there a time when Empire State had four powerful beacons?
AW: Yes; you are quite correct. Visible from the Observatory are the four Freedom Lights, the world’s most powerful beacons, which have made the Empire State Building the tallest lighthouse in the world . . . a landmark to sea and air travelers alike. A bronze plaque inscribed with famed author MacKinley Kantor’s 168-word tribute to the Freedom Lights is located on the western terrace of the 86th floor Observatory.
GM: What about Empire State’s interior decoration?
AW: “The Eight Wonders of the World,” the eight original art works in the lobby of the Empire State Building, which were created by artist Roy Sparkia and his wife Renee Nemerov, have become a prime additional attraction at Empire State since
I could distinguish landmarks as far away as 25 miles and was able to gaze as far as 50 miles into five states . . . Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.
GM: What were some of New York’s landmarks that you were able to see from atop Empire State?
AW: To the north the RCA Building stands out against the 840 acres of Central Park. The Hudson River to the left leads to upper New York State and New England. The Bronx is in the background.
From the northwest corner of the 86th floor Observatory, visitors look into Times Square (center) and the bustling piers along the Hudson River, where giant ships from all over the world tie up.
Looking northwest from the top of Empire State, the visitor looks down on such landmarks as the United Nations Building (center) on the bank of the East River and the Chrysler Building (left). The Borough of Queens is in the background.
By night, New York becomes a honeycomb of light, dazzling and unbelievable in its beauty. This view from the northwest corner of the 86th floor observatory looks down into Times Square and the heart of the theatre district.
GM: What do you know about Empire State’s TV Tower?
AW: At the 102nd story level of the Empire State Building–on a space the size of a pitcher’s mound–a 22-story, 222-feet, 60-ton mast-like structure stretches upward to a height of 1,472 feet into the clouds. It is the world’s most powerful and far-reaching TV tower. From here all seven of the New York area’s television stations transmit their programs to a four-state sector in which 15 million persons live and own more than 5,200,000 TV sets. Programs transmitted from the Empire State Building, in other words, reach an area in which one of every ten persons in the United States lives.
GM: Andy, can you brief me on some of Empire State’s vital statistics in comparison with other structures of similar nature?
AW: The internationally known Empire State Building is the world’s tallest building. Comparative statistics show that the 1,472-feet-high Empire State Building towers over such other international structures as the 984-feet-high Eiffel Tower, the 555-feet-high Washington Monument, the 480-feet-high Pyramid of Cheops, and the 179-feet-high Leaning Tower of Pisa.
GM: What can you tell me about Empire State’s huge floodlights?
AW: The spectacular lighting of the tower portions of the Empire State Building allows the world-famous silhouette of the world’s tallest building to occupy the same dominant position on the horizon of nighttime New York as it does during the day. Basic light source for this gigantic floodlighting task is a 1,000-watt, iodine-quartz lamp which is in the same family of lamps as those used to illuminate missile launching pads at Cape Kennedy. The floodlights, which are distinguished for their high intensity, long throw, and fine beam control capabilities, are strategically located on various setbacks of the building so as to do the best job of illumination without interfering with the famous nighttime view from the Observatory.
GM: Before the floodlights were installed to coincide with the World’s Fair, was there a time when Empire State had four powerful beacons?
AW: Yes; you are quite correct. Visible from the Observatory are the four Freedom Lights, the world’s most powerful beacons, which have made the Empire State Building the tallest lighthouse in the world . . . a landmark to sea and air travelers alike. A bronze plaque inscribed with famed author MacKinley Kantor’s 168-word tribute to the Freedom Lights is located on the western terrace of the 86th floor Observatory.
GM: What about Empire State’s interior decoration?
AW: “The Eight Wonders of the World,” the eight original art works in the lobby of the Empire State Building, which were created by artist Roy Sparkia and his wife Renee Nemerov, have become a prime additional attraction at Empire State since
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