Just a week after being eclipsed by the World Trade Center — again — the Empire State Building is fighting back.
The owners of the ESB — no longer the city’s tallest building, thanks to the sky-high development at the new WTC — are unveiling a newly designed LED system that will allow them to light the sky like never before, officials said.
The new technology will let them to create rainbows, bursts, ripples and other special effects — and choose from scores more colors, they said.
But the ESB’s owners denied any competition with the WTC, which was the city’s tallest structure for years before 9/11.
“We are quite secure as the focal point of the Manhattan skyline,” said Anthony Malkin, president of the entity that owns the building.
Plans call for replacing the existing 400 standard bulbs with 68,000 quarter-sized LED lights.
It will take a few million dollars to install the new lights, Malkin said, but the energy savings — and the new look — will be worth it.
The project should be completed by September.