If the Empire State Building’s good enough for King Kong, it’s good enough for me!

IF it’s good enough for King Kong, it’s good enough for me.

I’ve been to New York four times, and each time, I’ve gone up the Empire State Building.

You have to.

It may not be the tallest building in the world any more, or even America, or even Manhattan.

But it’s one of the most iconic and instantly recognisable, and each year, four million of us flock to the 86th-floor observation deck.

The only flaw in the view from this perch more than 1,000 feet above the sidewalks of the Big Apple? You can’t see this Art Deco beauty.

But while the observation deck was an instant hit, the Empire State Building itself certainly wasn’t, as the $2 million raised by sightseers in its first year matched the amount made in rent.

In fact, nowadays, the Empire State makes more money about $90 million a year from observation deck ticket sales than from renting office space.

It was dedicated on May 1, 1931 and took another 20 years before it turned a profit.

In fact, so many of its floors remained vacant after it opened, it was nicknamed the “Empty State Building”.

You would have thought businesses there are no residential apartments, only offices would have flocked to have the world’s tallest building as their address but they stayed away in their droves.

It was opened during the Great Depression and what commerce there was didn’t fancy Fifth Avenue, between West 33rd and 34th Streets.

It was a poor location, far from public transportation hubs such as Grand Central and Penn Stations, but as the economy recovered, the building filled up.

Looking at it, you’d think you can’t improve on perfection but they did, spending $550 million on a renovation during 2010 that turned it into one of the most energy-efficient buildings.

Some of the money went on replacing its floodlights with the LEDs that are responsible for turning it into an ever-changing visual delight dominating the New York skyline.

When Frank Sinatra turned 80, the building was bathed in blue for Ol’ Blue Eyes, while it turns tennis-ball yellow for the US Open.

In 2004, when Kong actress Fay Wray died, the lights were turned off and the Building stood in darkness for 15 minutes.

And by the way, whoever had the bright idea of having 1930s airship passengers disembark via a gangplank moored to the top of the Empire State needed a check-up from the neck up.

Even if you could stave off the vertigo, the updrafts created by the Building’s size and slab-like sides caused so much turbulence, it would have been a terrifying prospect.

Best left to the big gorilla.