Empire State vertigo
Building the then-world's tallest building, one rivet at a time
Chris Wild
c. 1930s
Construction of New York City's Empire State Building began in 1929 and finished in 1931. Its opening coincided with the Great Depression and, as a result, much of the office space went unrented, leading to the derisory nickname the "Empty State Building." Earnings from the observation deck made as much as the rental income in its first year. The skyscraper did not become profitable until 1950.Construction involved 3,400 workers, some from Europe, plus hundreds of Mohawk workers (Iron Walkers) from Kahnawake reservation near Montreal. The Mohawk's involvement in high-level construction goes back to 1886 when a group of men were hired to work on a bridge over the St. Lawrence River onto Mohawk land. The tribe members had an aptitude for working at heights. By 1916 many had moved to New York, where they worked on almost all of New York's major projects. From the 1920s to 1960s several Mohawk families moved to Brooklyn, to save their men the long drive home at the end of every week. Mohawk construction workers continue to work on construction sites to the present day.The Empire State's construction work and its workers were a magnet for press and magazine photographers, which is how many iconic images of the construction work were created, like these.
The Mohawks did not have a fear of heights. They would climb up into the span and walk around up there as cool and collected as the toughest of our riveters, most of whom were old sailing ship men. - Company superintendent, St. Lawrence River bridge
A lot of people think Mohawks aren’t afraid of heights; that’s not true. We have as much fear as the next guy. The difference is that we deal with it better. - Kyle Karonhiaktatie Beauvais (Mohawk, Kahnawake), March 2002
