The Beam at 30 Rock recreates the famous photograph titled “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper,” featuring construction workers in 1932 enjoying a meal together while sitting on a steel beam, high above the then-under-construction 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

The new photo-op opened December 1, 2023, as part of the Top of the Rock observation deck experience. Guests sit on a horizontal beam wearing seatbelts, that is attached to a vertical pole-like structure. The pole slowly ascends 12 feet, rotates 180 degrees, and positions riders for a professional photo, 69 stories above New York City.

The 11 men in the original “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” photo were part of a 40,000 man construction crew that built 30 Rockefeller Plaza (at the time known as the RCA building). The New York Herald-Tribune first published the photograph in 1932 as a publicity photo.