A view of the Empire State Building from the observation tower of the RCA Building, which is now known as Rockefeller Center. A Times photographer took this photo in 1933, two years after the Empire State Building opened and adopted the title of World's Tallest Structure.

At 11:30 a.m. on May 1, 1931, President Hoover pressed a button, switching on the lights of the Empire State Building. A number of guests were later invited to the 86th floor for a view of New York. "Few failed to exclaim at the smallness of man and his handiwork as seen from this great distance," The Times reported. "They saw men and motor cars creeping like insects through the streets; they saw elevated trains that looked like toys."