<P> The plaque at the western end of the lobby is located on the eastern interior wall of a one - story tall rectangular - shaped corridor that surrounds the banks of escalators, with a similar design to the lobby . The rectangular shaped corridor actually consists of two long hallways on the northern and southern sides of the rectangle, as well as a shorter hallway on the eastern side and another long hallway on the western side . At both ends of the northern and southern corridors, there is a bank of four low - rise elevators in between the corridors . The western side of the rectangular elevator - bank corridor extends north to the 34th Street entrance and south to the 33rd Street entrance . It borders three large storefronts and leads to escalators that go both to the second floor and to the basement . Going from west to east, there are secondary entrances to 34th and 33rd Streets from both the northern and southern corridors, respectively, at approximately the two - thirds point of each corridor . </P> <P> Until the 1960s, an art deco mural, inspired by both the sky and the Machine Age, was installed in the lobby ceilings . Subsequent damage to these murals, designed by artist Leif Neandross, resulted in reproductions being installed . Renovations to the lobby in 2009, such as replacing the clock over the information desk in the Fifth Avenue lobby with an anemometer and installing two chandeliers intended to be part of the building when it originally opened, revived much of its original grandeur . The north corridor contained eight illuminated panels created in 1963 by Roy Sparkia and Renée Nemorov, in time for the 1964 World's Fair, depicting the building as the Eighth Wonder of the World alongside the traditional seven . The building's owners installed a series of paintings by the New York artist Kysa Johnson in the concourse level . Johnson later filed a federal lawsuit, in January 2014, under the Visual Artists Rights Act alleging the negligent destruction of the paintings and damage to her reputation as an artist . As part of the building's 2010 renovation, Denise Amses commissioned a work consisting of 15,000 stars and 5,000 circles, superimposed on a 13 - by - 5 - foot (4.0 by 1.5 m) etched - glass installation, in the lobby . </P> <P> Capital improvements were made to the Empire State Building during the early to mid-1990s at a cost of $55 million . These improvements entailed replacing alarm systems, elevators, windows, and air conditioning; making the observation deck compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA); and refurbishing the limestone facade . The observatory renovation was added after disability rights groups and the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the building in 1992, in what was the first lawsuit filed by an organization under the new law . A settlement was reached in 1994, in which the Empire State Building Associates agreed to add ADA - compliant elements, such as new elevators, ramps, and automatic doors, during its ongoing renovation . </P> <P> The building's public areas received a $550 million renovation in 2009 with improvements to the air conditioning and waterproofing, renovations to the observation deck and main lobby, and relocation of the gift shop to the 80th floor . $120 million of the budget was spent on improving the energy efficiency of the building with the goal of reducing energy emissions by 38% within five years . For example, all of the windows were refurbished onsite into film - coated "superwindows" which block heat but pass light . Air conditioning operating costs on hot days were reduced, saving $17 million of the project's capital cost immediately and partially funding some of the other retrofits . The Empire State Building won a gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating in September 2011, as well as the World Federation of Great Towers' Excellence in Environment Award for 2010 . </P>

Who works on the top floor of the empire state building