{"id":331767,"date":"2026-08-28T12:44:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/331767\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:44:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:44:41","slug":"one-vanderbilt-dethrones-empire-state-building-as-king-of-nycs-observation-decks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/331767\/","title":{"rendered":"One Vanderbilt dethrones Empire State Building as king of NYC’s observation decks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Look out, King Kong! By at least one major metric, One Vanderbilt\u2019s Summit<\/a> has overtaken the Empire State Building Observatory\u2019s 95-year reign as king of the city\u2019s sky-high viewing decks.<\/p>\n

Summit, just five years old, brought in more dough in the first half of this year than the iconic Empire State decks for the first time, according to filings by the buildings\u2019 publicly traded owners.<\/p>\n

Summit\u2019s $55.651 million operating revenue for the first six months of 2026 topped last year\u2019s $53.541 million over the same period. The 3.9% increase was tucked into landlord SL Green\u2019s supplement to its second-quarter earnings report.<\/p>\n

One Vanderbilt has overtaken the Empire State Building Observatory\u2019s 95-year reign as king of the Big Apple\u2019s sky-high viewing decks. Getty Images<\/p>\n

In comparison, Empire State Observatory revenue for the first half of 2026 plunged to $42.7 million from $57 million in the first half of 2025, according to Empire State Realty Trust\u2019s second-quarter earnings report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, Summit revenue exceeded the Empire State Observatory in the fourth quarter of 2025 as well as in 2026 to date,\u201d Manhattan-based Bank of Montreal analyst John P. Kim noted.<\/p>\n

The shocking change of fortune came as Manhattan observation decks face more competition \u2014 there are a half-dozen today, compared with only two after 9\/11. Moreover, the number of international travelers to the Big Apple \u2014 who comprise a large part of their business \u2014 has fallen by 8% since the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Privately held companies own four of Manhattan\u2019s observation decks \u2014 Tishman Speyer\u2019s Top of the Rock, Related\u2019s Edge, the Port Authority and Durst\u2019s One World Observatory and\u00a0Jamestown\u2019s just-opened Times Square Skywalk \u2014 and aren\u2019t required to divulge financial results.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the city\u2019s newly opened, 36th-floor Centre 360 atop the Municipal Building at 1 Centre St. \u2014 and it\u2019s free, although tickets must be booked well in advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the last thing that the pricey ones need,\u201d a source said of the publicly funded competition.<\/p>\n

Kim, whose office overlooks the Skywalk, said: \u201cThe observatory pie is growing, but it\u2019s affecting the Empire State Building the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

People atop the Empire State Building watch the sun set looking south to lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center. Getty Images<\/p>\n

He added that in the intensified struggle for visitors, \u201cEveryone offers something new and different.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are \u201cimmersive\u201d light-and-video installations, time-travel simulations and kaleidoscopic displays to entertain visitors en route to the observatories.<\/p>\n

Summit is on One Vanderbilt\u2019s 97th to 99th floors, while Empire State has viewing platforms on the 86th and 102nd floors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The latter have appeared in scores of movies, including \u201cAn Affair to Remember,\u201d \u201cThe Producers,\u201d \u201cSleepless in Seattle\u201d and even \u201cThe Muppets Take Manhattan.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Vanderbilt\u2019s Summit observation deck seen from the Empire State Building. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The numbers of visitors can\u2019t be extrapolated from revenue, because crazy-quilt admission prices vary wildly depending on which options customers choose. At Top of the Rock, for example, the cheapest ticket is $42 and the most expensive, for a \u201cVIP pass,\u201d is $185, with\u00a0options in between.<\/p>\n

Revenue is not the same as net operating income, which is also a function of expenses, taxes and other factors. But Empire State Observatory\u2019s net operating income plunged $12.4 million in the second quarter compared to $24.2 million the previous year, while the number of visitors fell 28% year-over-year.<\/p>\n

Chief Executive Tony Malkin told investors his company began \u201ca total re-evaluation of our observatory business model and execution early in the first quarter.\u201d That could mean less reliance on third-party sightseeing passes that bundle discounted admissions.<\/p>\n

The setback caused Empire State Realty Trust to write down $166 million in value attached to\u00a0 the observatory, which astonishingly accounts for nearly 25% of net operating income for the company\u2019s entire, nearly 9 million square-foot office portfolio. (In comparison, SL Green holds interests in over 30 million square feet of properties).<\/p>\n

The Empire State Observatory\u2019s plight stands in contrast to the skyscraper\u2019s\u00a0 2.8 million square feet of offices, which are more than 96% leased at high rents. Powerhouse talent agency UTA recently signed for over 100,000 square feet, as The Post first reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Look out, King Kong! By at least one major metric, One Vanderbilt\u2019s Summit has overtaken the Empire State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[288,1489,12614,124837,75,84,83,9,24,63,13505,3274],"class_list":["post-331767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-business","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-empire-state-building","tag-king-kong","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-one-vanderbilt","tag-realty-check"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}