Empire State Building Kicks off Lunar New Year 2023 Celebrations

‘World’s Most Famous Building’ Celebrates the Year of the Rabbit with Tower Lighting Ceremony, Musical Performance, Food Pop Ups, and Festive Displays on Observatory and in Fifth Avenue Windows

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Empire State Building today kicked off celebrations for Lunar New Year with a tower lighting ceremony and music performance; festive pop-up with NYC food vendor Sheng Mary Bakery; a corner display on the building’s iconic 86^th Floor Observatory; and reveal of the Fifth Avenue Lobby window installation to honor the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Rabbit.

"We are pleased to continue our annual Lunar New Year celebration and spread good fortune to the Chinese community here in the United States, in China, and around the world,” said Jean-Yves Ghazi, president of the Empire State Building Observatory. “Lunar New Year is the perfect time for Chinese visitors to take in New York City’s best views and discover our reimagined Observatory Experience and its immersive exhibits as they celebrate this joyous holiday.”

For the first time since 2020, the Empire State Building held an in-person lighting ceremony to celebrate Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival alongside the Chinese Consul General of New York. The ceremony concluded with a traditional performance in the Observatory lobby.

ESB’s iconic Fifth Avenue Lobby windows were unveiled to feature dynamic imagery that celebrate the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Rabbit, with the animal’s silhouette among colorful landscapes of Chinese lanterns, flowers, and trees, on display until Feb. 15. A dimensional corner photo display now graces the northwest corner of the 86^th Floor Observatory deck, with lanterns, blossoms and floral urns in a gold arch. Flushing’s Sheng Mary Bakery will reside on the building’s 86^th Floor to offer traditional Chinese treats to guests from Jan. 20–29 from open to 3 pm.

Tonight, New Yorkers can look skyward to see the Empire State Building’s world-famous tower lights lit up in red to honor Lunar New Year.

More information about the Empire State Building’s tower lights can be found online.

About the Empire State Building

The Empire State Building, the “World's Most Famous Building," owned by Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (ESRT: NYSE), soars 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan from base to antenna. The $165 million reimagination of the Empire State Building Observatory Experience creates an all-new experience with a dedicated guest entrance, an interactive museum with nine galleries, and a redesigned 102^nd Floor Observatory with floor-to-ceiling windows. The journey to the world-famous 86^th Floor Observatory, the only 360-degree, open-air observatory with views of New York and beyond, orients visitors for their entire New York City experience and covers everything from the building's iconic history to its current place in pop culture. Learn more at www.esbnyc.com. Declared "America's Favorite Building" by the American Institute of Architects, the world's most popular travel destination by Uber, the #1 Attraction in the United States in Tripadvisor’s 2022 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best, and the #1 New York City attraction by Lonely Planet, it welcomes more than 4 million annual visitors from around the world.

Since 2011, the building has been fully powered by renewable wind electricity, and its many floors primarily house a diverse array of office tenants such as LinkedIn and Shutterstock, as well as retail options like STATE Grill and Bar, Tacombi, and Starbucks. For more information and Observatory Experience tickets visit esbnyc.com or follow the building's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Weibo, YouTube, or TikTok.

Category: Observatory