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Home/Browse/New York City-1960: View From The Observation Tower Atop The Empire State

New York City-1960: View From The Observation Tower Atop The Empire State

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only. $149 flat from Stockfilm for documentary, news and educational use, plus internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

  • Year1960
  • Decade1960s
  • LocationNew York City, New York, United States
  • Duration6s
  • Price$149 USD
  • Collection1960 New York City

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

Before you add to cart: Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement. Checkout will only offer editorial, educational, internal and social/web scopes.

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

View From The Observation Tower Atop The Empire State — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1960, this vintage footage captures a sweeping aerial view of New York City from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. The camera pans across the dense Manhattan skyline, with the iconic spire of the Empire State Building visible in the frame, framed by the building's dark structural crossbars. The grainy, slightly faded color palette and soft focus evoke a nostalgic mid-century atmosphere, showcasing the city's towering skyscrapers and urban sprawl under a hazy sky. This authentic home movie offers a rare, personal perspective of 1960s New York.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format
8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details
Aerial
Resolution
4K restored master (MP4)
License
Direct license: editorial use only Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.
Delivery
Instant Digital Download
Duration
6s
Price
$149 USD
Clip ID
127724318

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Editorial only Direct license: editorial use only. Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip.

  • People visible: No
  • Logos / trademarks: No
  • Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel
Reel 1615 · 8mm · 5″ reel
Original reel label
november 23-26
Reel-level year note
1960
Reel-level location note
new york
Date
1960 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence
Catalog estimate. A reel-level note shows the same year, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Location
New York City, New York, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence
Catalog estimate. A reel-level location note is linked, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Licensing route
Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

View source reel contextOpen Clip Documentation RecordRequest source information

Topics & Keywords

  • empire
  • state
  • observation
  • tower
  • nyc
  • view
  • atop
  • building
  • mid
  • twentieth
  • century
  • buildings
  • landmarks
  • new york city
  • 1960
  • 1960s New York City footage
  • vintage 8mm film
  • Empire State Building observation deck
  • aerial city view 1960
  • mid-century NYC
  • classic skyscrapers
  • vintage home movie
  • retro New York
  • archival 8mm footage
  • historic cityscape
  • 1960s Americana
  • New York skyline
  • old film footage
  • grainy vintage film
  • 8mm home movie
  • classic 1960s
  • vintage city view
  • nostalgic 1960s
  • New York observation deck
  • 8mm film footage

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit
Useful for 1960s New York City documentary sequences needing visitor-shot Empire State Building observation-deck views over Manhattan.
Period detail
The dense skyline, hazy color 8mm image, and observation-deck framing support a mid-twentieth-century New York setting.
Home-movie behavior
The clip preserves a tourist or visitor perspective, looking outward through the building's dark crossbars rather than staging a polished city panorama.
What appears in frame
Visible elements include Manhattan skyscrapers, distant waterways, haze, window or deck crossbars, vertical dark framing, and soft urban detail below.
Film character
The 8mm scan shows visible grain, soft focus, faded color, slight exposure variation, and handheld framing that read as authentic home-movie texture.
Edit role
An editor could use this as a city-establishing insert, travel-memory cutaway, period transition, or visual bridge into New York material.
Historical context
The view situates Manhattan as a dense high-rise landscape seen from a major public landmark, without identifying individual events or people.
Research note
No people, logos, or audible music are apparent, but users should assess copyright status and any location or property-use requirements separately.
Research search match
Relevant searches include 1960 8mm New York City skyline, Empire State Building observation deck view, and mid-century Manhattan home movie.
Archive pairing path
Pair first with same-reel New York travel footage, then 1960 Empire State Building or Manhattan skyline material, then broader urban observation views.

Still Frames From This Clip

1960 New York City skyline viewed from the Empire State Building observation area through dark structural crossbars.
Manhattan buildings and distant haze framed by observation-deck crossbars.
High 1960 view over Manhattan from the Empire State Building, with crossbars in front and waterways in the distance.
Aerial city view through the observation-deck structure.
Manhattan high-rises below the Empire State Building viewpoint, recorded on soft color 8mm film in 1960.
Tall buildings and street-level density seen from above.
1960 Manhattan skyline and rooftops framed by dark Empire State Building observation-deck crossbars.
Skyscrapers and rooftops framed by the observation-deck structure.

Visually Similar Clips

← Previous in archiveNew York City-1960: Aerial View of Manhattan Skyscrapers and CityscapeNext in archive →New York City-1960: Aerial View From Observation Tower Of City Below With Ships In Harbor
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