Empire State Building

The spire atop this skyscraper was not originally designed to hold radio antennas, but to serve as a high-altitude docking station for commercial airships. Architects envisioned trans-Atlantic zeppelins tethering themselves to the mast, where passengers would step directly onto a gangplank and enter the building hundreds of feet above the city streets. This plan was abandoned shortly after construction because the intense, shifting wind currents at the tower's peak made docking impossible, not to mention the extreme danger of landing a massive, flammable dirigible in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.