The Chrysler’s spire, secretly assembled inside the building, emerged in a legendary coup, winning the tower the coveted title of “world’s tallest” in 1930. A year later, the Empire State took the title, but the enormous building was slow to lease, so slow that it was called the “Empty State Building” until King Kong, a 1933 film about a lovesick gorilla who scales the building, premiered and filled its floors.
