Empire State Building Shines for Democracy

During previous elections, the colors at the top of the Empire State Building have shone red, white and blue--but this week, for the first time ever, it will honor the U.S. presidential election with a four-night celebration. The general manager of the building, James Connors, says that the 4-night lighting celebration is "due to the excitement" of this year’s race.

It's getting broken down like this: last night it got the patriotic treatment, shining red, white and blue as a reminder to vote; tonight it will glow with a red and blue split (pictured) to acknowledge each party; tomorrow night it will shine either red or blue, depending on who wins; Thursday night it will be back to red, white and blue to celebrate democracy.

As a bit of history, the first light to ever shine on top of the building was in 1932, "alerting people for 50 miles that Franklin D. Roosevelt had been elected president of the United States."