In 2012, CNN teamed up with the building’s management to track the general election results, proportionally lighting up the spire to display how many electoral votes Barack Obama and Mitt Romney had racked up. They’re doing the same thing tonight, but in a slightly different way: The spire will change color depending on who wins each primary, matching the shades CNN has assigned to each candidate. That means blue hues for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, a dark red for Ted Cruz, a perplexing purple for John Kasich. In the event of a Trump victory: bloody, bloody red. And CNN has already called it for Trump.
Imagine you are a New Yorker who has somehow missed that the primary was today. You walk, blissfully unaware, through the dark city streets. Then, you look up and are greeted by a terrifying sight. The Empire State Building has become the Eye of Sauron. You might not know exactly what it means, but the signal is clear: Doom and destruction are nigh.