New attraction in New York: Take a break like the skyscraper workers

The roof terrace of Rockefeller Center, the legendary high-rise ensemble in New York City, is one of the most spectacular viewing points in the world. To the south you can see the overwhelming skyscraper Tetris of Manhattan with the Empire State Building in the middle. No less impressive is the view north along the super-narrow Steinway Tower at 111 West 57th Street and across Central Park to Harlem.

The spectacular view makes the platform „Top of the Rock“ one of the most popular attractions in the mega-metropolis. It gets particularly crowded on the 260 meter high terrace when the sunset causes the sparkling skyscraper facades to shimmer in romantic colors.

40,000 construction workers risked their lives

But what gets overlooked when you look, marvel and take photos is the impressive work of around 40,000 construction workers who built the complex of 19 skyscrapers during the economic crisis in the 1930s.

The daring men, mostly workers from Ireland, but also Italians, Scandinavians, Germans and Mohawk indigenous people, balanced over the steel beams with tools and building materials, often without any security. One wrong step or movement could have resulted in death.

Without the fearless immigrants, the construction of the 70 floors of Rockefeller Center would not have been possible, nor would the construction of the other high-rise buildings in Manhattan. But the story of the heroic immigrants who, despite their life-threatening work for the millionaire Rockefeller family, had to live in poor neighborhoods and often dreamed of prosperity in vain, was never told to the public.

Photographer helps nameless workers achieve world fame

But sometimes a photo says more than 1000 words. For a marketing campaign in 1932, a photographer – possibly Charles Clyde Ebbets – photographed eleven construction workers taking a lunch break on a suspended steel beam on the 69th floor of the RCA skyscraper, now known as 30 Rock.

The fearless workers chat, smoke and eat as if it were a normal cafeteria. They sit without any security at a height of 250 meters against the dramatic backdrop of the growing city. The picture was printed a few days later in the New York Herald Tribune newspaper.

Today the photo is known all over the world. It is printed on countless posters and calendars and adorns the walls of countless living rooms as a motif. It is all the more astonishing that most of the men in the photo are still unknown to this day. It was only after 2012 that the New York Times and later a documentary film team found out the names of some of the workers.

New attraction recreates steel beam scene

A new attraction at Rockefeller Center is now dedicated to the history of the steel workers of the time. There are two imitation steel beams on the viewing platform, on which visitors initially sit as normal. Then the supposed benches are raised a few meters like in a ride and rotate 180 degrees.

Intrepid tourists can recreate the world-famous photo from the 1930s – unlike back then, but with sufficient security precautions. The supports rotate above the glass terrace boundary, but also at a sufficient distance from the edge.

The attraction called “The Beam” (translated: the beam) has been open since December 1st and must be on the Website Rockefeller Center can be booked in advance. Price for adults (including observation deck visit): US$40.

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