Editing Empire State Building (section)

==== Hotel demolition ====
Demolition of the old Waldorf–Astoria began on October 1, 1929.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 2, 1929 |title=Razing Of Waldorf Started By Smith; Ceremony on Roof Marks the Beginning of Demolition of Historic Hotel |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/10/02/94184775.pdf |access-date=October 22, 2017 |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref> Stripping the building down was an arduous process, as the hotel had been constructed using more rigid material than earlier buildings had been. Furthermore, the old hotel's granite, wood chips, and "'precious' metals such as lead, brass, and zinc" were not in high demand, resulting in issues with disposal.{{sfn|Tauranac|2014|pp=198–199}} Most of the wood was deposited into a woodpile on nearby 30th Street or was burned in a swamp elsewhere. Much of the other materials that made up the old hotel, including the granite and bronze, were dumped into the Atlantic Ocean near [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey|Sandy Hook]], New Jersey.{{sfn|Tauranac|2014|p=200}}{{sfn|Douglas|2004|p=111}}

By the time the hotel's demolition started, Raskob had secured the required funding for the construction of the building.{{sfn|Tauranac|2014|p=268}} The plan was to start construction later that year but, on October 24, the [[New York Stock Exchange]] experienced the major and sudden [[Wall Street Crash of 1929|Wall Street Crash]], marking the beginning of the decade-long [[Great Depression]]. Despite the economic downturn, Raskob refused to cancel the project because of the progress that had been made up to that point.{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=80}} Neither Raskob, who had ceased speculation in the stock market the previous year, nor Smith, who had no stock investments, suffered financially in the crash.{{sfn|Tauranac|2014|p=268}} However, most of the investors were affected and as a result, in December 1929, Empire State Inc. obtained a $27.5&nbsp;million loan from [[MetLife|Metropolitan Life Insurance Company]] so construction could begin.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 14, 1929 |title=Approves $27,500,000 For Smith Project; Metropolitan Life Grants Loan to the Empire State Building Company. |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/12/14/92028848.pdf |access-date=October 22, 2017 |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref> The stock market crash resulted in no demand for new office space; Raskob and Smith nonetheless started construction,{{sfn|Rasenberger|2009|pp=394–395}} as canceling the project would have resulted in greater losses for the investors.{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=80}}