If you happened to be anywhere around Midtown Manhattan last night, or had a bird's eye view of it, you may have noticed the Empire State Building was having a real colorful moment. Update: Seems like it was for an Eminem video; see details below.
Helicopters were spotted hovering around the ESB starting around 11 p.m. Saturday, and continued for at least two more hours, as lights rapidly flashed and cycled through various colors. Did it have something to do with Comic Con? A film shoot? Did somebody figure out how to hack into the lights? Was it a cry for help by the lights operator? Was Banksy at it again?!
So it really looks like someone hacked the Empire State Building lights right now pic.twitter.com/Rg77ZMh7uP
— Alex Konrad (@alexrkonrad) October 7, 2018
The #empirestatebuilding tonight! #NYCC #NYC pic.twitter.com/EsUuslT87Q
— Shiree (@RFShiree) October 7, 2018
“someone on Molly is controlling the Empire State Building” pic.twitter.com/JC9ZBrijaN
— Mike Murphy (@mcwm) October 7, 2018
Empire State Building is going bananas RN pic.twitter.com/D49H2UqQMs
— Salina T (@salinat) October 7, 2018
.@EmpireStateBldg What's going on with the crazy lights and the choppers? 🚁 People on the street are stopping to watch #empirestatebuilding pic.twitter.com/CEVnnQw7UM
— Bianca Pasternack (@biancaparsnip) October 7, 2018
Two helicopters were circling the Empire State Building as the lights were going off strangely. I’ve never seen anything like this before. pic.twitter.com/JKEnQEkZXp
— Maxwell Haddad (@cinemaxwell) October 7, 2018
View from my apartment shows helicopters 🚁 circling the Empire State Building. Should I be worried? if not, this noise is driving me bananas. pic.twitter.com/TQ9rbnEC9C
— Daphna Goldschmidt (@Daphss) October 7, 2018
According to the ESB website, it was supposed to be lit orange and blue in honor of the New York Islanders' 2018-19 home opener on Saturday. And the landmark has light shows—just not at midnight.
One person on Twitter said they "heard it come [over] as a '10-10 code they have permission to fly around the Empire State Building to film a music video.'" A few others claimed that it was an Eminem video shoot.
The NYPD and FDNY had no information on the lights ("we don't run the Empire State Building," a police spokesperson told us) and whether Eminiem is to blame for freaking out and/or delighting unexpected New Yorkers and tourists. But for now, I choose to believe that the ESB lights operator just really wanted to go for it after this very long week.
Update: It appears the lights and helicopters were indeed for Eminem. An eagle-eyed fan noticed that director James Larese, who has shot other videos for the rapper, Instgrammed a vertiginous photograph from NYC and posted some details about the shoot on IG stories:
The director of the "Lucky You" video has finished shooting a mystery music video for Eminem. Two helicopters were spotted circling the Empire State Building and rumours spread that Em was shooting a new video. The director posted this photo of the plans for the video. pic.twitter.com/M4zEzsbK9Z
— Debating Eminem (@DebatingEminem) October 8, 2018
The shot list goes
Open- Entry
Intro- Hall
Verse 1- Elevator
Chorus 1- Stairs
Verse 2- Elevator
Chorus 2- Elevator
Verse 3- 103
Chorus 3- 103— Debating Eminem (@DebatingEminem) October 8, 2018
Floor 86 mentioned multiple times, is a special Observation Floor. pic.twitter.com/ZBdrJWnoD0
— Debating Eminem (@DebatingEminem) October 8, 2018
The 103rd floor is the building's most exclusive platform, which is very narrow with a knee-high parapet and a small room that houses electrical equipment. It's believed the video is for a song that will be on the soundtrack to Bodied, a rap battle film produced by Eminem. In the meantime, Eminem is in movie theaters now, rapping about Venom over the end credits of Venom.