2. 70 Pine Had the Coolest Elevators in New York

Remnant of the jump elevator, with floor indicators on the wall

70 Pine originally came with Double Decker elevators, in order to serve the narrow body of the tower most efficiently. Although they were later removed and replaced with traditional single-cab elevators, this double-decker design pioneered by the building and the Empire State Building is coming back. Most recently, this design was used for the current tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

There’s also a small “jump” elevator used by just the top six floors of the tower – levels 60 to 66. When it gets to 66th floor observatory/lounge, instead of opening from a bank, it rises straight out of the ground. Think supervillain lair kind of stuff. In the unrenovated space today, you can still see the floor light indicator on the back wall and the Art Deco gates.