The TODAY family recently spent some time just hanging around.
Beginning this month, visitors at Rockefeller Center can re-create one of the most enduring photographs in American history, as part of an experience called "The Beam." The picture features 11 construction workers eating lunch while dangling on a beam, with New York City 850 feet below them as they took a break from building 30 Rock back in 1932.
Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Crag Melvin and Carson Daly got to be the first ones to replicate the iconic photo, known as “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.”
The picture has a place steeped in Americana — it highlighted a construction project that employed 40,000 people during the Great Depression and served as a homage to the American worker.
The TODAY crew took an elevator to the 69th floor of 30 Rock to the same spot where the picture was snapped to get their own version of it. They sat down on a beam and buckled in for the experience, as the beam lifts off the ground.
“This is like being on a ride at Universal. Hands up!” Hoda exclaimed before the beam moved.
The beam then slowly spun around a few times, giving an expansive view over the city and the opportunity for the TODAY family to re-create the photo. They even enjoyed some lunch while on the beam, too, to stay true to the historic moment.
It was a truly memorable experience, with the TODAY team teasing a return.
“I think we should do the show from up here,” Al said.
“I think it’s a great lunch spot,” Hoda said.
“The view is tremendous. It really makes you think about hard-working Americans back, almost 100 years ago,” Carson marveled.
“I got news for the people at home watching this — the beam underneath us? Not that wide,” he added.
“No, it’s not,” Craig echoed.
“This is special, to go back in time,” Carson said.
“Cheers, guys. Let’s do it again in 80 years,” Savannah said.