Empire State Building's new lamps give it a new hue, amidst strong competition

The 1200 newly-installed lamps at Empire State Building now illuminating the skyscraper's famous spire have brought the most visible change to the Art-Deco building since it was raised over Manhattan at the start of the Great Depression.

The spire had been lit up in some manner since 1956, with colors introduced in 1976...But the huge, inefficient lamps installed in the 1970s - each the size of a small table - left only a dull glow on the spire.

Instead of the 500 old clunkers, the new barrage of LEDs lamps "throw" light up the spire, reaching further, with greater intensity, and using an amazing 73 per cent less electricity, said Jeremy Day, an engineer with Philips Colour Kinetics, which installed the system.