Empire state building's symbolic new lobby.
This morning the Empire State Building took some time to show off its newly renovated Art Deco Lobby and restored historic ceiling mural, with architect Frank Prial (who did the Grand Central restoration) on hand. This is all part of a $550 million historical renovation, the lobby taking about $12.5 million of that. The NY Times reports that the pricey touch up brought back to life "two shiny Art Deco murals that disappeared from view in the 1960s." While no one wants to see history deteriorate in these landmarks, that's a big chunk of change to lay out! But maybe it all came down to lobby-envy; Anthony E. Malkin, the president of Malkin Holdings, who the building, said then entry had become “a real letdown,” in contrast to others around town.