[NYguy]

There was a plan to remove that porton of the highway away from the waterfront, but the costs led to it remaining in place.

This is actually the first major Manhattan development I followed. It was easy because I recieved information (photos, site plans, etc.) directly from the Trump Organization (sadly, those are all lost. The original plan was my favorite, and it looked better in the actual rendering, sort of horizontal, zebra striped, glass towers. The spire-shaped antenna in the original version went to 1,910 ft. Later versions went to 1,949 ft (with the tower itself topping 1,700 ft). Trump liked that the tower was slender. But there was major opposition. Eventually, the world's tallest plan had to be dropped.

I remember when the final plan was agreed upon with community groups, the organization took great pride in the accomplishment - they even sent copies of a review from the New York Times. While the designs of the towers have changed from the final planning, it's still pretty much the same.

Extell Development is currently in charge of building out the southern portion of the site, and we are waiting on those plans. Mayber something noteworthy will come of it...