Empire State Building's coronavirus light show: The New York skyscraper's history of il... - 0 views
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This isn’t the first time a light show at the building hasn’t gone over well. In 1981, to honor the 50th anniversary of its construction, the building’s owners publicized a “laser light show” to dazzle New Yorkers with a “Star Wars effect.”
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Special lights marking particular occasions have been used on the skyscraper for nearly its entire history. In 1932, when it was little more than a year old, a white searchlight at the top marked the election of New York’s governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to the U.S. presidency, according to the City University of New York’s Uniquely NYC blog.
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During the Cold War, “Freedom Lights” were installed — four bright floodlights weighing one ton each. They were meant to symbolize “unlimited opportunities in America,”
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The addition of colored lights started in 1976, with — what else? — red, white and blue to mark the country’s bicentennial. The patriotic lighting was brought back for months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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Plastic gels offered an array of colors for special occasions from 1977 to 2012, when they were replaced by a completely computerized LED lighting system offering more than 16 million colors
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Sometimes colors are chosen as tributes to notable figures who have died, such as former South African president Nelson Mandela in 2013 and, more recently, Kobe Bryant. They were dimmed in 2004 to mark the death of “King Kong” actress Fay Wray.
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In 2002, they were purple and gold to honor Queen Elizabeth II’s 50 years on the British throne; in 2013, blue and yellow to commemorate the European Union; and in 2009, red and yellow to mark the 60th anniversary of communist China — a selection that drew protests over the country’s human rights record.