Day 5 - Empire State Building

When I was a kid I fell in love with King Kong and I was deeply disturbed by his untimely and unnecessary death. So, when I was in NYC I HAD to visit the Empire State Building!

Afternoon sun sure made the building look pretty.


We got lucky and the wait was not bad. This is the small crowd we had to deal with to get up to the top of the building.


View looking south towards the business district. You can see the Flat Iron building and the arch at Washington Square.


Looking North.


I see Macy's.


We live here. The top of the Empire State Building is almost better than Google Earth!

Look, it's me. "I'm sorry King Kong.....it was so wrong."

United States Post Office.

Side view....it is enormous.

Brian wanted to go to B&H to buy film. I am so glad we did. It was an adventure itself.

B&H Photo Video, founded in 1973 is the largest non-chain photo and video equipment store in the United States. B&H opened as a storefront film shop on the Lower East Side run by Herman Schreiber and his wife, Blimie (the store's name comes from their initials). The store quickly outgrew its space. B&H moved to a large loft on West 17th Street in the Photo District in the 1970s. Catering to the needs of neighborhood artists, B&H expanded to selling film equipment as well as photo products. In 1997 the store moved to its present location. It now has a staff of over 1,500 employees. B&H's flagship store is located in West Midtown Manhattan at 420 Ninth Avenue (at the intersection with 34th Street). On Tuesday October 30, 2007, B&H opened a second floor above its original sales floor making a total of 70,000 sq feet of sales space. The first floor encompasses pro lighting, binoculars and scopes, video, audio, darkroom, film, and both home and portable entertainment; the second floor focuses on both analog and digital photography, computers, printers, scanners, and related accessories. Schreiber and many (most) of the store's employees are observant Satmar Hasidic Jews who close the store on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. The website is open but orders are not taken or shipped between Friday evening and Saturday evening and on Jewish holidays. Surpassed only by the Diamond District in terms of Orthodox employment, the company is a vital part of the community's financial health, with hundreds of Orthodox Jews on staff.

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See the overhead conveyors. When you purchase something they put it on the conveyor which takes it up to the front. You then have to stand in line and pay the checker then stand in another line to show your receipt and pick up your merchandise.

The store is massive and I am sure this system is in place for a good reason.

Yes, all the employees were wearing yarmulke. (aka traditional Jewish beanie hat)