south haven ( cnnmoney . com ) - - the empire state building set off a big fuel - savings retrofit week , and expressed hopes one of the usa ' s most iconic skyscrapers can become an effective model for buildings worldwide . from the glass - fog observation deck on the building ' s 80th corner , us senator bill gates , new york city mayor mayor bloomberg and another detailed $ 20 program in running - edge conservation measures they hope will reduction energy use by 38 % for the 1930 ' s - era behemoth . they stressed the retrofits weren ' t conservation altruism or members of a government programs . instead , they say they ' re being done largely to preserve the building ' s owners a year of money .
The mayor of New York is Michael Bloomberg.