# 1930 Empire State Building -The workers



## PrestigeR&D

I have some pictures I thought you may enjoy of what it was like back in 1930 and having the privilege of working on one of the greatest earmarks of NY. The comments with the pictures... is the way I got them... idiots..

Enjoy,,,







 





B,


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## PrestigeR&D

Some more.....:shifty:


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## PrestigeR&D

some more...:shifty:


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## PrestigeR&D

Last one....:thumbsup: 




B,:shifty:


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## bhock

Thanks Bri!
Those are great pics! 
Wonder how many millions of dollars OSHA could sit here and figure up for fines on those pictures alone...:laughing:


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## blackbear

wow.  those guys were in a different league. Balls of steel. wouldn't catch me up there. :no:


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## J.C.

Those guys laying down on that I-beam, that's just crazy. That's certainly a job I would never me able to do.


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## katoman

Thanks for the pics. Unreal. Sure glad I wasn't doing some of those jobs.

Most of those guys have bigger cohonis than I do. And only 5 guys died building that. :sad:

Can you imagine what OSHA would say today? :laughing:


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## Warren

Only took one year to complete also. Unbeleivable!


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## tazmanian

Amazing - i worked down the street from there on 34th street for over 20 yrs. And never got over the sheer size of the building even when i was in meetings on the highest of floors.


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## bhock

I have had the pleasure of working on roofs in NYC. When I was 19 we were working on a building across the street from the Twin Towers,
we were 65 stories high, at lunch we would leave the safety of the covered portion and sit on the nice 7 foot perimeter walkway. The winds that whipped between those 
buildings was amazing, I could not imagine sitting on an I-beam, let alone laying on one!


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## KnottyWoodwork

Makes my hanging ten off the 100' scaffolding seem piddly now...


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## world llc

the problem since then is while the men were out working the women were raising the kids.... 80 years later (about 3 generations?) that kinda work is un-imaginable. not saying i would do that kinda work, just saying there are too many rules and penalty's and politics to do something like that today in that amount of time


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## Willie T

Interesting bit of information about those five guys:

Though rumors of hundreds of people dying on the work site circulated during the time of its construction, official records state that only five workers were killed: one worker was struck by a truck; a second fell down an elevator shaft; a third was hit by a hoist; a fourth was in a blast area; and a fifth fell off a scaffold.


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## Spike2101

Great set of photos! I have one of them hanging in my office. I really enjoy those older photos of large engineering/construction projects (i.e. dams, skyscrapers, large boats, bridges...). 

Even though I am not that old, I feel a sort of nostalgia for when our society actually built things...instead of punching away at a keyboard all day.


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## superseal

I think the shot of the men lunching on the beam was Radio city music hall. I remember having that poster. Not absolutely sure though.


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## nEighter

balls of steel.

wonder what the torque specs are on those bolts?


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## RhodesHardwood

Thanks for sharing those. Those guys have much more balls than I.


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## parkcityframer

I have been known to do some pretty crazy things. I would have been one of them. Can you imagine what would happen to an OSHA inspector that told them they couldn't stand on a 8' ladder without fall protection. Maybe #6? Safety is good but some of the rules should only be for ladies and boys and puppets. The best way to avoid injury from a fall is to not fall. If you are afraid of falling you will fall.


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