New York goes ape for ‘King Kong’

updated 9:43 a.m. ET Dec. 6, 2005

NEW YORK - Not surprisingly, considering New York’s long-held fascination with the big gorilla, the city went ape for King Kong Monday.

The supersized simian has captivated New Yorkers since he first stepped foot, a giant one at that, in the city in 1933, via the classic RKO film. His building-scaling, blonde-loving ways made him an instant legend.

With the arrival Monday of the new $150 million cinematic version of the ape-meets-girl story, King Kong was once again the toast of the town.

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Besides Mayor Bloomberg declaring Monday “King Kong Day,” the hairy creature took a seat of honor in Times Square, growled from billboards throughout town and was the guest of honor at many parties. One of them was at the Empire State Building — the structure he famously climbed while carrying Fay Wray in the original movie.

“I always kind of felt there’s like this twisted love relationship between King Kong and Fay Wray and the Empire State Building,” said Lydia Ruth, the building’s public relations director and special-events coordinator. “We made him famous or he made us famous. I’m not sure.”

William Kornblum, a professor of sociology at the graduate center of City University of New York, said that despite being fiction, the movie did, in many ways, reflect history.

“The film used a building which symbolized the way the United States, and especially New York City, was reaching for the sky in its ambitions,” said Kornblum, a New Yorker who specializes in urban history.

Richard Pena, program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, agreed.

“It seemed, in a way, one of architecture’s noblest achievements and at the same time it was where this primitive ape climbed up,” he said. “It was a symbol of modernity overtaken by the symbol of the primitive.”

A movie icon
Part of the reason the King Kong legend had so much impact was that “it came out at the right time,” said Ray Morton, author of “King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon.” The film, he said, “was brand-new at the same time the Empire State Building was.”

The 1976 remake of “King Kong,” starring Jessica Lange, placed the ape atop the World Trade Center towers.

But the new rendition of the film, directed by Peter Jackson of “The Lord of the Rings” fame, takes the creature back to the Empire State Building, which, because of the tragic events of Sept. 11, is once again New York’s tallest building.

At Times Square on Monday, a fake giant ape attracted hordes of crowds, including many tourists eager to take pictures with one of New York’s most famous visitors.

“It’s so cute! It’s adorable,” said Carol Kenner, 35, of Brooklyn.

Michael Zorek, 45, a stay-at-home dad, took his 3-year-old son, Jeremy, to check out the Times Square ape.

Jeremy told his father that “King Kong” didn’t seem like a kids film. But as he looked at the hairy creature in front of him, Jeremy did not appear overly impressed.

Was it scary?

“No,” Jeremy said. “It’s pretend.”

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