New Yorkers had a new way to find out this year’s election results: by looking into the skyline.
The historical Empire State Building was bathed in blue light on Wednesday to mark US President Barack Obama's re-election, as results were projected on the iconic skyscraper.
Partnering with CNN, the Empire State Building broadcasted Tuesday’s presidential results from the top of its quarter-mile-tall tower for the first time in its 81-year history.
Earlier on Tuesday, CNN announced that it planned to use part of the Manhattan skyline to track election results - lighting up the top of the tower with blue if President Obama won and red lights to Gov. Mitt Romney won.
About an hour after the first polls closed, the top of the Empire State Building illuminated in blue signifying Obama’s victory as the network had projected.
Two columns of light, one red and one blue, representing colours of Mitt Romney and Obama's parties respectively, lit the 102-storey skyscraper in a display put on by CNN.
Each column represented the number of Electoral College votes secured by Obama and Romney.
Using a brand new vertical LED-illuminated meter, the building displayed a tally of the dash to 270 electoral votes throughout the night as CNN projected results from the 50 states.
Since 1932, the Empire State Building has embraced lighting its towers in different colors to celebrate holidays such as Christmas Day and Halloween, events and charitable organizations. But this was the first time, it used the brand new LED-technology.
Thousands of Obama supporters, took to the streets in New York's Times Square chanting, "four more years!" and waving flags, celebrating the victory.