'Exhilarating' Views from New Observation Deck 1,200 Feet Above NYC

A man records a video from the observation deck of the still under construction One Vanderbilt tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, May 11, 2021. (Reuters)
A man records a video from the observation deck of the still under construction One Vanderbilt tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, May 11, 2021. (Reuters)
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'Exhilarating' Views from New Observation Deck 1,200 Feet Above NYC

A man records a video from the observation deck of the still under construction One Vanderbilt tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, May 11, 2021. (Reuters)
A man records a video from the observation deck of the still under construction One Vanderbilt tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, May 11, 2021. (Reuters)

A new skyscraper in New York's midtown Manhattan that towers 150 feet above the Empire State Building transports visitors in glass elevators up the sides of the building to an observation deck high above the city.

The 1,401-foot (427 m)-tall skyscraper, dubbed One Vanderbilt, is a $3.3 billion development adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.

It is the fourth-tallest in New York City, after One World Trade at 1,776 feet, Central Park Tower at 1,550 feet, and 111 West 57th Street at 1,428 feet. Its observation deck, Summit One Vanderbilt, is a four-level, 65,000-square-foot space atop the skyscraper.

The Empire State Building, built in the 1930s, is 1,250 feet tall.

"Visitors will have the opportunity to take those glass elevators that were fabricated in Italy by a gondola maker... to a height of over 1,200 feet for vistas of New York City that are really unparalleled," said Marc Holliday, chairman and chief executive officer of SL Green Realty Corp.

"When you sit up here and you look out at this vista, there's no better shot of downtown, the Empire State Building... it's just very exhilarating."

The observation deck will open to the public on Oct. 21.



Humanoid Robots Stride into the Future with World's First Half-marathon

A robot takes part in the humanoid robot half marathon in Beijing on April 19, 2025. (AFP)
A robot takes part in the humanoid robot half marathon in Beijing on April 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Humanoid Robots Stride into the Future with World's First Half-marathon

A robot takes part in the humanoid robot half marathon in Beijing on April 19, 2025. (AFP)
A robot takes part in the humanoid robot half marathon in Beijing on April 19, 2025. (AFP)

Step by mechanical step, dozens of humanoid robots took to the streets of Beijing early Saturday, joining thousands of their flesh-and-blood counterparts in a world-first half marathon showcasing China's drive to lead the global race in cutting-edge technology.

The 21-kilometer (13-mile) event held in the Chinese capital's E-Town -- a state-backed hub for high-tech manufacturing -- is billed as a groundbreaking effort to test the limits of bipedal robots in real-world conditions, AFP said.

At the crack of the starter's gun, and as a Chinese pop song "I Believe" blared out from loudspeakers on repeat, the robots queued up one by one and took their first tentative steps.
Curious human runners lined up on their side of the road and waited patiently with mobile phones at the ready to shoot each machine as they prepared to depart.

One smaller-sized android, which fell over and lay on the ground for several minutes, got up by itself to loud cheers.

Another, powered by propellers and designed to look like a Transformer, veered across the starting line before crashing into a barrier and knocking over an engineer.

"Getting onto the race track might seem like a small step for humans, but it's a giant leap for humanoid robots," Liang Liang, Beijing E-Town's management committee deputy director, told AFP before the event. Nearby, engineers jogged alongside their machines.

"The marathon helps push humanoid robots one step closer toward industrialization."

- Tech race -

Around 20 teams from across China are taking part in the competition -- with robots ranging from 75 to 180 centimeters (2.46 to 5.9 feet) tall and weighing up to 88 kilograms (194 pounds).

Some are running autonomously, while others are guided remotely by engineers, with machines and humans running on separate tracks.

Engineers told AFP the goal was to test the performance and reliability of the androids -- emphasizing that finishing the race, not winning it, was the main objective.
"I think it's a big boost for the entire robotics industry," Cui Wenhao, a 28-year-old engineer at Noetix Robotics, said of the half-marathon.

"Honestly, there are very few opportunities for the whole industry to run at full speed over such a long distance or duration. It's a serious test for the battery, the motors, the structure -- even the algorithms."

Cui said as part of its training, a humanoid robot had been running a half-marathon every day, at a pace of about seven-minutes per kilometer, and he expected it to complete the race with no issues.

"But just in case, we've also prepared a backup robot," he added.

Another young engineer, 25-year-old Kong Yichang from DroidUp, said the race would help to "lay a foundation for a whole series of future activities involving humanoid robots".
"The significance (of the race) lies in the fact that humanoid robots can truly integrate into human society and begin doing things that humans do."

China, the world's second-largest economy, has sought to assert its dominance in the fields of AI and robotics, positioning itself as a direct challenger to the United States.

In January, Chinese start-up DeepSeek drew attention with a chatbot it claimed was developed more cost-effectively than its American counterparts.

Dancing humanoid robots also captivated audiences during a televised Chinese New Year gala.