Heartbroken families couldn’t convince the Empire State Building to honor their children killed by cancer – but saw the iconic skyscraper light up for the hated Philadelphia Eagles and even actress Drew Barrymore.
“It opened up a wound for me. It was a slap in the face,” said 51-year-old retired NJ cop Brian Donnelly, who lost his 6 1/2-year-old daughter Juliana to brain cancer in August 2013.
Donnelly applied to light the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in gold for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September of 2014 and 2015 – and was rejected.
Donnelly said he applied online and reached out with no luck.
When the Empire State Building was bathed in Eagles green and white earlier this month, Donnelly felt it like a punch in the gut.
The Empire State Building is seen at different points lit up in honor of the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, who will play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 12th, 2023. Bryan Smith“You are going to light up for our biggest rival, but you won’t light up for something that is a worthy cause?” an exasperated Donnelly said.
It “left a bitter taste in everybody’s mouth. It was insulting the way they handled the whole thing.”
CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski, who lost his 9-month-old daughter, Francesca, to cancer in December 2020, tweeted his disappointment when he was turned down for the same cause in April 2021. “We just learned the Empire State Building DENIED our request to light up gold for Childhood Cancer Awareness in September. I’ve followed up with @EmpireStateBldg to ask why. Obviously this is very disappointing,” the reporter’s April 19, 2021 tweet read.
Brian Donnelly’s daughter, Juliana, died of childhood cancer at age 6. Brain DonnellyKaczynski posted the devastating two-paragraph denial: “Thank you for your interest in becoming an Empire State Building Lighting Partner. We have received and evaluated your questionnaire. After careful consideration of your proposal, unfortunately, the decision has been made to deny your request. We appreciate your organization taking the time to apply, and wish you all the best in your campaign and event efforts.”
Kaczynski posted a TV news photo noting that the Empire State Building had been lit up in yellow in September 2020 honoring the launch of “The Drew Barrymore Show.” The grief-stricken dad tweeted, “Obviously they have more important causes.”
Ruth Hoffman, CEO of the American Childhood Cancer Organization, said she has lobbied the Empire State Building to “Go Gold” since 2014 and “never gotten an explanation.” Gold is the chosen color because “gold is a precious metal and our children are precious.”
CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski had applied after losing his infant daughter to cancer and was rejected.
She said the White House paid tribute in 2020. In 2014, the Port Authority of NY & NJ lit One World Trade Center to highlight Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
“How can you acknowledge breast cancer and not pediatric cancer?” Hoffman said. “It matters to the kids and it matters to the parents.”
Empire State Building managers shrugged off the uproar over its lighting of the building’s spire in the green-and-white colors of the Eagles — saying they are a “global brand” not beholden to city loyalty.
The building featured blue lights to mark The Weather Channel’s 40th anniversary. FaceBook Empire State BuildingEmpire State Realty Trust — which proudly tweeted out a video of headlines in The Post and other local papers decrying the blasphemy — said it plans to light up the tower in Chiefs red and Eagles green for the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The company has used the light show for various non-athletic tributes, such as August tie- dye to celebrate what would have been the 80th birthday of Grateful Dead guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia.
Empire State Realty Trust did not return messages.
