
For tourists in New York, the Empire State Building's 86th floor observation deck has a magnetic pull, thanks to the sweeping views of Manhattan that can be seen through its high safety fence.

And those who want to gaze out to the very horizon head still further up to the 102nd floor 'Top Deck', to gaze out across America from behind sturdy windows.

But little do they know that there's yet another deck - a 'secret' deck, revealed on Tuesday by The Gothamist and photographer Navid Baraty — that is one floor further up and accessible only by those in the know. And unless you have a strong head for heights, it is terrifying.

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Dizzying: The views from the private 103rd floor of the Empire State Building allow visitors to look down on all but the tallest Manhattan skyscrapers. The floor is located in the metal mast on top of the tower, which was originally supposed to be a mooring point for airships

Hello down there: Even visitors on the popular 86th floor observation deck look like ants from up on the 'secret' floor. The highest publicly accessible part of the tower is the 102nd floor just below, which allows visitors similar views, but from behind glass

Distant shores: The 103rd floor gazes over the Hudson River and East River, allowing views of New Jersey (in the top left), Queens (in the top right) and The Bronx (in the far distance). Central Park and the Chrysler Building can also be glimpsed

While the publicly accessible floors have safety measures to ensure that nobody can possibly fall from the iconic building, the 103rd floor has just a small knee-high ledge topped with a low railing.

It's not a place for the faint-hearted.

'Your feet and hands tingle and sweat when you direct your gaze off the ledge,' writes The Gothamist's Jen Carlson. 'When the wind blows it feels like it will take you with it, and it probably could if it were strong enough. It really feels like the most special place to be in New York City.'

Whoever ventures up there needs a good head for heights - there is very little between them and a long drop on some parts of the floor

Hold on tight: Visitors to the floor — many of whom are celebrities — are protected from a long fall by just a low wall

It's a small world: From some vantage points, New York looks like a video game or toy set rather than a sprawling metropolis

It's a breeze: The balcony's height and its low walls make some feel like they could be blown away at any moment, but the sight of New York below is worth the nerve-jangling altitude

The floor's tiny balcony is reached via a series of elevators that take visitors past the inner workings of the building — its electricity boxes and pipes — with the final approach to the summit being up a cramped, steep metal stairway-cum-ladder.

Of course, any attempt to open the space up to the public would be a disaster, which is why it is mostly just visited today by celebrities, such as Taylor Swift, who was pictured on the vertigo-inducing balcony in 2014.

The 102nd and 103rd floors are located in the 200-foot metal tip of the Empire State Building, which was originally supposed to be a mooring mast for airships, which at the time were considered the future of air travel.

Standing tall: One World Trade Center is one of only two skyscrapers in New York taller than the Empire State Building, and even from this height it looks imposing

Spire fight: Some say that the Empire State Building's mast was only added so it could beat the Chrysler Building to become the tallest building in the world, which it did in 1931. From the 103rd floor, even that extraordinary structure seems small

Secret passage: Ascending to the top means visitors must walk 'behind the scenes' of the imposing structure, and climb steep stairwells

The fiery destruction of the German passenger airship Hindenburg in 1937 killed the airship industry, but in all likeliness the mast would never have been regularly used as a dock for commercial passengers anyway, according to a New York Times article on the building.

Photographs exist of airships moored to the structure, but the cramped passageways leading down from it would not have been comfortable or practical for many passengers to enter or exit ships.

More likely its addition to the original plans, one year before construction started on the building in 1930, was intended to ensure the now-1,250-foot Empire State Building would tower over the 1,046-foot-high Chrysler Building, then still under construction.

Fearless: Taylor Swift shows no qualms about leaning over the railing separating the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building from the dizzying drop below in this photo from 2014. Celebrities are some of the few people permitted up to the 103rd floor

Grande views: Ariana Grande looks happy with the extraordinary sights as she takes a break from lighting the Empire State Building's lights for the the 2013 Macy's Day Parade

Love on high: In 2012, Vanessa Hudgens and boyfriend Austin Butler celebrated her 24th birthday with a visit to the 'secret' floor

If the mooring mast that houses the 103rd floor was made to beat the Chrysler Building then it worked: The Chrysler Building was the tallest building in the world for 11 months, until the completion of the mast in 1931.

However, in a 1929 interview with The New York Times, Alfred E Smith, leader of the Empire State Building's investors, denied the claim, saying 'We are measuring its rise by principles of economic investment rather than spectacular standards.'

But whatever the reason for its existence, the 103rd floor remains one of New York's most spectacular hidden views.