Sec Form 4 Filing - KARP DAVID A @ Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. - 2017-03-17

FORM 4 Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person KARP DAVID A 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. [ ESRT] 5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director _____ 10% Owner X __ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) EVP and CFO (Last) (First) (Middle) C/O EMPIRE STATE REALTY TRUST, INC., 111 WEST 33RD STREET, 12TH FLOOR 3. Date of Earliest Transaction (MM/DD/YY) 03/17/2017 (Street) NEW YORK, NY10120 4. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YY) 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) __ X __ Form filed by One Reporting Person _____ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip)

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned 1.Title of Security (Instr. 3) 2. Transaction Date (MM/DD/YY) 2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (MM/DD/YY) 3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8) 4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) 5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4) 6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4) 7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) Code V Amount (A) or (D) Price

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned ( e.g. , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) 1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3) 2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 3. Transaction Date (MM/DD/YY) 3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (MM/DD/YY) 4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8) 5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4, and 5) 6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YY) 7. Title and Amount of Underlying Securities (Instr. 3 and 4) 8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5) 9. Number of Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4) 10. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4) 11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) Code V (A) (D) Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares LTIP Units ( 1 ) ( 1 ) 03/17/2017 A 38,841 ( 2 ) ( 1 )( 2 ) ( 1 ) Class A Common Stock 38,841 $ 0 207,272 D LTIP Units ( 1 ) ( 1 ) 03/17/2017 A 29,223 ( 3 ) ( 1 )( 3 ) ( 1 ) Class A Common Stock 29,223 $ 0 29,223 D

Reporting Owners Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships Director 10% Owner Officer Other KARP DAVID A C/O EMPIRE STATE REALTY TRUST, INC. 111 WEST 33RD STREET, 12TH FLOOR NEW YORK, NY10120 EVP and CFO Signatures /s/ Debra E. Levin, Attorney-in-Fact 03/21/2017 Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

( 1 )Represents long term incentive plan units ("LTIP Units"), a class of units of Empire State Realty OP, L.P. (the "Operating Partnership"). Conditioned upon sufficient allocations to the capital accounts of the LTIP Units for federal income tax purposes, LTIP Units are convertible by the reporting person, upon vesting, into an equivalent number of units of limited partnership interests ("Operating Partnership Units") of the Operating Partnership, which are redeemable by the holder for shares of Class A Common Stock of Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (the "Issuer") on a one-for-one basis or the cash value of such shares, at the Issuer's option. The rights to convert LTIP units into Operating Partnership Units and redeem Operating Partnership Units do not have expiration dates. ( 2 )These LTIP Units vest 25% ratably on each of the first four anniversaries of January 1, 2017, subject to continued employment through such dates. ( 3 )These LTIP Units are scheduled to vest conditioned on the achievement of certain performance criteria based on the Issuer's total return to shareholders during a three-year performance period ending December 31, 2019. Any earned LTIP units will vest 50% on January 1, 2020 and 50% on January 1, 2021, subject to continued employment. In accordance with applicable Form 4 reporting requirements, the foregoing excludes 87,671 LTIP Units also granted on March 17, 2017 that are scheduled to vest conditioned on the achievement of certain performance criteria based on the Issuer's relative total return to shareholders measured against two different industry-specific indices.

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