Empire State Building roasted for lighting up in Philadelphia Eagles’ colors: “Treacherous, traitorous, and unforgivable”

One of New York City’s most iconic buildings may have lost some of its status on Sunday night after lighting up in the colors of the New York Giants’ biggest rival — the Philadelphia Eagles. The building was illuminated in green and white on Sunday to honor the Eagles after they won the NFC title and secured a spot in Super Bowl LVII. 

But the building’s tweet was swiftly met with backlash, with some even labeling the act of symbolic solidarity as “treason.” 

“As the representative for the Empire State Building, and a diehard Giants fan, let me be on the record saying that this is absolutely ridiculous,” New York City Councilman Keith Powers tweeted. 

That backlash stems from the long-running rivalry between the Giants and the Eagles that has spanned almost a century. It began in 1933 when the Giants and Eagles played against each other for the first time – and New York dominated the game with a 56-0 win. 

The rivalry has only since intensified — and the Eagles eliminated the Giants from the playoffs just last week.

“If you need help but can’t tweet, blink your lights twice,” another person responded, as someone else tweeted at Mayor Eric Adams that “New Yorkers will not stand for this.” 

Even other city departments got involved, including the city’s Department of Sanitation. 

“For anyone who finds this as treacherous, traitorous, and unforgivable as we do – just pretend it’s green and white for #NewYorksStrongest,” the department tweeted. “We take out the trash every day…and next year, that’ll include the Eagles.” 

But the building’s tweet was welcomed, of course, by Pennsylvania, whose Department of General Services tweeted a photoshopped image of the Empire State Building’s green glow next to the state’s green-lit Capitol Complex. 

The backlash didn’t go unnoticed by the iconic New York building’s social media team. The account tweeted later Sunday night, “That hurt us more than it hurt you” as they showed off another round of colors at the top of this building, this time red and white for the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs. That color change also received backlash, though not nearly as significant as earlier in the day.