Windows on the World iconic logo

The Windows on the World collection of restaurants and bars – WOW – sitting aloft 107 stories in the sky took a virtual village to create and maintain. Developed under the visionary leadership of restaurateur Joe Baum and his partners, here are a few facts that made “Windows” hum.

• Windows sat 1,314 feet high in the sky; 1,274 feet above mean sea level.
• Over 2,450 food items were ordered every week.
• 2,000 bottles of beer were on hand at any give time in the Greatest Bar on Earth.
• There were over 20,000 bottles of wine in the cellar. (If you laid their corks end to end, the corks would measure 3,333 feet.)
• 700 wines from around the world made it to Windows’ wine list.
• The Greatest Bar on Earth featured 16 different kinds of vodka.
• Over 27,000 bottles of champagne would be sold in one year (imbibed with 51 lbs. of caviar per week!)
• 1,000 calls or more were made to the Reservations office every day.
• There was always a seat in the house — in one of the 2,500 chairs.
• 3,600 eggs were bought every week (that’s a lot of chickens).
• 700 lbs. of shrimp were consumed every week.
• It took a lot of cooks to cook up all of that shrimp and caviar — 52, to be exact.
• A rose by any other name would smell as sweet — 3,000 flowers were ordered every week!
• The dishwashers would clean 3,000 forks a day.
• Windows’ panorama of color included 145 different shades of paint, 19 fabric wall coverings and 11 custom carpets.
• The oldest member of the staff was born in 1921; the youngest in 1978.
• Windows had the Manhattan’s youngest sommelier — 25 years old.
• There were more than 500 people employed at Windows on the World, speaking 25 different languages.
• The beaded glass curtain on the 107th floor contained 430,000 imported glass beads on 1,178 strands of steel cable.
• On a clear day, you could see 90 miles in every direction from the 107th floor.
• In high winds, the tower could sway 11 inches.