Getty Image / Gary Hershorn / Contributor
New York City is the U.S. epicenter of the current health emergency with over 75,000 confirmed cases. People are definitely on edge as the death toll rises over 1,500, and companies have laid off large amounts of workers. This is why it was an unusual move to turn the Empire State Building into a 1,454-foot-tall panic-inducing ambulance siren this week.
On Monday, the Empire State Building ownership announced that they were changing the lights to honor first responders. The “classic white lights will be replaced with America’s heartbeat and a siren of red and white in the mast as we pay respect to our heroic emergency workers on the front line of the fight,” the Empire State Realty Trust wrote on Twitter.
Starting today, @empirestatebldg’s classic white lights will be replaced with America’s heartbeat and a siren of red and white in the mast as we pay respect to our heroic emergency workers on the front line of the fight. pic.twitter.com/XQB4UFr3GD
— Empire State Realty Trust, Inc (@ESRTsocial) March 30, 2020
The red lights will pulse to “NYC’s theme song,” which they have deemed to be Empire State of Mind by Jay Z and Alicia Keys.
[2/2] At 9PM, NYC’s theme song will play in our lights with our @iheartradio @aliciakeys #EmpireStateofMind music-to-light show, with the song playing simultaneously on @z100Newyork’s @ElvisduranShow.
— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) March 30, 2020
The heart of New York is beating strong. ❤️
Our lights will shine in a dynamic heartbeat from 9-10PM tonight in support of the “@FOXTV Presents the @iHeartRadio Living Room Concert for America.” pic.twitter.com/woOhzoc1p0
— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) March 29, 2020
It sounds like a fantastic gesture on paper, but the flashing light show only caused more anxiety and hysteria among New Yorkers who are already panicking.
The @EmpireStateBldg reminding us that the city is in the middle of an emergency. pic.twitter.com/50TjEjOogN
— Rita J. King (@RitaJKing) March 31, 2020
New York's Empire State Building was lit up like an ambulance siren on Monday night in tribute to medical workers fighting coronavirus.
The Empire State Realty Trust said the lights symbolized "America’s heartbeat and a siren of red and white". https://t.co/sK9NGk0fgE pic.twitter.com/SuZa16b8EG
— CNN (@CNN) March 31, 2020
Just make it a normal Empire State Building. Nice, soothing white. A symbol of New York. Our buildings do not need to look like they are also panicking.
— annie (@anyway413) March 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/nicodubina/status/1244800582466093056
Did you even know that the Empire State Building could do cool light shows like that?
Many pointed out how unnerving the flashing emergency siren was and probably not the best way to pay tribute to the brave emergency and health care workers.
https://twitter.com/PetiteNicoco/status/1244852007640457216
Me: I think I’m finally learning how to keep my late-night coronavirus anxiety under control
The Empire State Building: https://t.co/DkZnp9dwwa
— Matt Ford (@fordm) March 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/MissRyley/status/1244802314390720514
that is terrifying, the 9/11 PTSDs have got to be kicking in for you New Yorkers. It is mine way over here on the left coast.
— Tami 🐕🏀🏈🗽🏳️🌈 (@tami32961) March 31, 2020
This is apocalyptic as hell
— sai (@Saisailu97) March 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/mooncult/status/1244857210577932288
https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/1244835831308791808
People on Twitter responded with comparisons to unnerving dangers such as the Eye of Sauron on the tower of Barad-dûr, the interdimensional arrival of Gozer the Gozerian from Ghostbusters, and a reference to Seinfeld.
— Todd Behrendt (@ToddBehrendt) March 31, 2020
Not sure making the Empire State Building appear to be on fire after Gozer The Gozerian has arrived from another dimension is the vibe NYC should be going for in the middle of a pandemic…
— Paul Sacca (@Paul_Sacca) March 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/Medium1982/status/1244792851474665472
The building next door… pic.twitter.com/MGbArCegMk
— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) March 31, 2020
The display will happen each night and “every night in this struggle” as a “beacon to remind us we are all in this together, and we will come out of this together.”
That’s awesome, but can we not add more panic to an already stressful situation? Maybe lights that are red, white and blue, or a nice calming color, say a powder blue or a seafoam green? No need to help turn NYC into a real-life scene from the dystopian movie Escape From New York.