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By
Iwona K. Hoffman
First created for the Bicentennial celebration in 1976 by lighting
designer Douglas Leigh, the light display at the top of the Empire
State Building caught the popular imagination and became a tradition.
In the beginning the lights had to be changed by hand. In 1984 a
new lighting system was installed (204 floodlights and 310 fluorescent
lamps) from the 72nd floor to the top of the tower. Today there
are 1,326 lights. The colors are changed about 45 times a year through
remote controls and special color gels.
| Mouse
over the light bulbs and watch a color show... |
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Police
Memorial Day
St. Valentine's Day; Fire Department Memorial Day
Spring/Easter
Week
St.
Patrick's Day; Earth Day; Rainforest Awareness Day
Columbus
Day
Pulaski
Day; Red Cross Day
Alzheimer's
Awareness Day
"Day
without Art/Night without Lights" AIDS Awareness Day
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The
Empire State Building lights up every day from dusk to midnight,
except for five days a year — Christmas Eve and Christmas
Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and St. Patrick's Day
— when the lights stay on till 3 a.m. It costs about $4.5
million a year to light the building, inside and out.
The lights are usually turned off on foggy nights during spring
and fall for migrating birds, such as the long-tailed sparrow
and the yellow-bellied sapsucker. 
For more details on the lighting schedule, check the ESB
website
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