Empire State Building vs. One World Trade Center

• Access to the Main Deck, an 86th-floor open deck observation space. This place has been the setting for a whole bunch of movies and television shows, so you’ll likely recognize the space.
   
• Multimedia exhibits including the Sustainability Exhibit and the Dare to Dream Exhibit. The Sustainability Exhibit highlights the Empire State Building’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint by significantly decreasing energy usage, carbon emissions, and energy costs. A must-see exhibit for anyone interested in green building, or environmental issues in general.
   
• The Dare to Dream Exhibit is a fascinating collection of historical documents, photographs, architectural drawings, and more, which all tell the story of how this iconic building was conceived, designed, and constructed in the early twentieth century.
   
• The famous Art Deco Lobby is one of the very few building interiors in New York to be officially designated as a historic landmark. Restored to its full glory in 2009, this stunning lobby features ceiling murals (complete with 24-carat gold leaf) and a 3-D image of the building on the wall above the Fifth Avenue front desk.
   
• The new Visitor’s Center is located on the second floor of the building. Here is where you can introduce yourself to the attraction and learn more about the layout, as well as process your admission.
   
• An elevator ride that proceeds from the 2nd floor to the 86th in less than a minute.

• Access to the building foundation exhibit (on the first floor), which allows you to walk through the bedrock the building is constructed upon.
   
• A SkyPod Elevator ride with a digital time-lapse that highlights 5 centuries of New York City’s evolving landscape.
   
• SEE FOREVER THEATER™, an audio-visual experience that explores NYC’s skyline
• Admission to the main observatory on the 100th floor, which offers panoramic, 360-degree views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and more.
   
• Observatory: Sky Portal, a clear glass floor that allows you to look 100 stories below your feet to the city beneath you. Not for the faint of heart!

The Main Deck of the Empire State Building is on the 86th floor, providing stellar views of Central Park, the Hudson and the East Rivers, the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, and the Statue of Liberty, as well as the wealth of attractions in Midtown Manhattan below. Of course, from the Empire State Building, you can see One World Trade Center.

The observation deck is found on the 100th floor of the One World Trade Center. It offers amazing views of the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, the Flat Iron Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, other buildings in the One World Trade Center complex and the Financial District, and plenty of buildings below from the glass-bottomed viewing deck. And from One World Observatory, you can see the Empire State Building.

Begun in 1930 and officially opening to the world in 1931, the Empire State Building is coming up a century old. The architecture firm Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates was responsible for the design and construction of the building, and the lights were first illuminated by a button pushed by President Hoover - who was all the way in Washington, DC.

It was built as a monument to American industrial progress and was deemed one of the seven greatest architectural achievements in the United States by 1955. The lobby (now restored to its original beauty) was a model of Art Deco architecture and represents some truly impressive artistic contributions to the building.

Today the building is home to a variety of commercial enterprises (including restaurants that are well worth your time and money to visit – even just for a cocktail or two), as well as the observation deck and historical exhibits. It is located on Fifth Avenue.

With the completion of its construction in 2013, One World Trade Center is significantly newer than the Empire State Building. It is currently the second-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the sixth-tallest in the entire world.

This observation deck was created as part of the reconstruction efforts in the wake of the tragic devastation of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Today the building also serves as a primarily commercial site, although it also houses historic exhibits and the observation deck itself.

Each of these attractions is incredibly popular with tourists, but both offer different views and cultural perspectives.

The Empire State Building is a historic structure – perhaps one of the most famous buildings in the world – and boasts an incredible history stretching back to the mid-twentieth century.

One World Observatory is much newer but has a history of its own because of its ties to 9/11. The Empire State Building offers views from further up in Manhattan, so you’ll see more things like Central Park and the famous museums than you could from the One World Observatory.

Conversely, the One World Observatory is near the southernmost tip of Manhattan, so you’ll see more of the water and New Jersey and Brooklyn, and the Statue of Liberty is closer.