Lunch atop a Skyscraper
Photographer: Unknown (often attributed to Charles C. Ebbets)
Date: September 20, 1932
Location: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, USA
Taken on September 20, 1932, during the construction of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, this photograph shows eleven ironworkers eating lunch on a steel beam 840 feet (256 meters) above the city streets, with no safety harnesses. The photograph has long been attributed to Charles C. Ebbets, though this attribution has been disputed, with photographer Thomas Kelley also cited. The men are believed to be immigrant workers, many of Mohawk ancestry, who were known for their fearlessness at heights. A documentary film in 2010 investigated the photograph's origins and the identities of the workers. The image became one of the most famous photographs of the early 20th century and a symbol of New York's ambition and the lives of working-class immigrants who built the city.
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