NEW YORK | One World Trade Center | 1,776' Pinnacle / 1,373' Roof | 108 FLOORS

[tdawg]

I'm getting anxious to see steel rise. I know it's sacred ground but I can't help but think of how quickly European ciites rebuilt after WWII. All four of these new towers are so damn amazing.

[Daquan13]

Likewise!!

I want to see that so bad! To get a superscraper back in the skies over Ground Zero!!

[Daquan13]

that is so true, this site is the most complex, on earth, IT EVEN PUTS THE BURJ DUBAI TO SHAME .



I you took the other four towers and stacked them on top of the Freedom Tower, just imagine how tall that would be. WOW!!!!

Taller that anything ever built. In reality, those towers, when combined like that, are taller than the tallest thing ever, considering the amount of floors in each.

[cactus22minus1]

Hey, and you know what would be taller than that? All the new towers going up in Dubai stacked on top of the Burj Dubai!!!!1111 :rolleyes:

To mods: Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Daquan13]

The NWTC will be bigger, better and more safer than ever before!!

I'm gonna be so thrilled when it's al done!

[Nowhereman1280]

More safer eh? Sounds good to me! ;)

[CHAPINM1]

The NWTC will be bigger, better and more safer than ever before!!

I'm gonna be so thrilled when it's al done!

I couldn't agree more!!! :yes:

[RockMont]

I couldn't agree more!!! :yes:



I second that emotion.

[RockMont]

Imagine standing on top, under the diamond...:yes:



My point exactly. No pun intended.

[RockMont]

The point that I was trying to make is while ppl. are bitching for a 2nd (outdoor) obs deck for the tower, there are other buildings that feature one.

And the ESB has two. So, it's not like there aren't any around, and they can enjoy them right now.

They need to stop complaining for things that the tower won't have and start
trying to appreciate some of the things that it WILL have!:rolleyes:



There is also one on top of the Rockefeller Building, which had been closed to the public for 20 years, and then was resurrected because of 9/11.

[Daquan13]

There is also one on top of the Rockefeller Building, which had been closed to the public for 20 years, and then was resurrected because of 9/11.



Yeah, that was one of the ones that I was talking about.

[FastFerrari82]

Cant wait to get my ticket to NYC! !! ! And see these marvels of the world!!!

[gramsjdg]

Is the new design for the parapet (with all the microwave dishes) final?

I hope not, the previous version went better with the spire and was more reminicent of the statue of liberty's torch.

They should change it back and use the top of the platform for an outdoor observation area.

[Dac150]

They should change it back and use the top of the platform for an outdoor observation area.

:rolleyes:

[NYguy]

Hey, and you know what would be taller than that? All the new towers going up in Dubai stacked on top of the Burj Dubai!!!!1111 :rolleyes:

To mods: Sorry, couldn't resist.

Yeah, and too bad all of that couldn't be done in a real city...:haha:

[NYguy]

There is also one on top of the Rockefeller Building, which had been closed to the public for 20 years, and then was resurrected because of 9/11.

It wasn't resurrected because of 9/11.

[CHAPINM1]

It wasn't resurrected because of 9/11.

There is always demand for observatories, especially in NYC... :yes:

[NYguy]

http://lowermanhattan.info/news/tying_together_the_wtc_21145.aspx

Tying Together the WTC East-West Connector

http://lowermanhattan.info/images/news/110707_wtceastconnect_160.jpg

November 7, 2007


Of the World Trade Center (WTC) Transportation Hub's 800,000 total square
feet, it is a mere fraction. Yet the corridor that will link the hub's main hall
with Battery Park City is a vital piece of the Lower Manhattan revitalization program.

The "east-west connector," as Port Authority planners call it, is the main
westward spoke that will emanate from the central hub. Stretching
approximately one-quarter of a mile long, the connector is comprised of three
distinct elements.

The first and main section is an extension of architect Santiago Calatrava's
grand hall, where the white concrete ribs of his iconic oculus visually unify it
with the connector. In renderings, those white ribs create a luminous
archway reflected along a high-polish floor. This forms the concourse level,
with retail lining the north side, and extends one floor up to a mezzanine
level, where a balcony will overlook the connector.

On the south side, a solid opaque wall will separate the commercial space of
the connector from the adjacent National 9/11 Memorial. From within the
ADA-accessible concourse, pedestrians also will have direct access into the
base of the Freedom Tower, as well as into the half-million square feet of
retail space planned for the main hall's mezzanine and the bases of Towers
Two, Three and Four.

The east-west connector's concourse section is located entirely within the
World Trade Center's bathtub. At its western edge, Port Authority crews are
opening a section of the slurry wall to build the connector's second
component: a tunnel below West Street (Route 9A). This will be the
transitional space from Calatrava's design to the architecture of the World
Financial Center's (WFC) Winter Garden.

There, the Port Authority is collaborating with WFC owner Brookfield
Properties and original Winter Garden architect Cesar Pelli to create a
seamless exchange. Part of that design will comprise the connector's third
element, a new entry structure on the Winter Garden's east side to house
escalators and elevators linked to the concourse.

With so much construction activity in the area, Port Authority engineers are
coordinating with state Department of Transportation crews for the
Promenade South Segment 2 project and the other entities involved with WTC redevelopment.

Construction of the east-west connector is going strong, with about 30
percent of the WTC section already complete. Crews are installing steel and
pouring concrete to form its framework, and they recently relocated West
Street's traffic lanes to accommodate construction down to 50 feet below grade.

Heavy construction on the connector will likely conclude in 2009, when crews
will begin to tie it together with the hub's main hall. During this work, WTC
PATH access will be maintained via the temporary north station entrance at
Vesey Street and West Broadway.

Once the entire structure is fully built out, an estimated quarter-million
people will traverse the hub for the first time using underground concourses
spanning the Fulton Street Transit Hub, WTC Transportation Hub, and World Financial Center.

The result will be pedestrian-only, sub-grade access across nearly one mile
of Lower Manhattan -- from the 2/3 Fulton Street subway station at William
Street to the new WFC Ferry Terminal on the Hudson River.

________________________________

wtcrising.com

http://www.wtcrising.com/images/FE/chain217siteType8/site187/client/photoGallery/189/view%20of%20east%20west%20corridor%20from%20north%20side%20nov%202007_big.jpg


http://www.wtcrising.com/images/FE/chain217siteType8/site187/client/photoGallery/189/freedom%20tower%2011.8.07_big.jpg

[NYguy]

lowermanhattan.info

http://lowermanhattan.info/construction/gallery/photos/004WTCtour09-07.jpg


http://lowermanhattan.info/construction/gallery/photos/006WTCtour09-07.jpg


http://lowermanhattan.info/construction/gallery/photos/007WTCtour09-07.jpg


http://lowermanhattan.info/construction/gallery/photos/008WTCtour09-07.jpg


http://lowermanhattan.info/construction/gallery/photos/010WTCtour09-07.jpg


http://lowermanhattan.info/construction/gallery/photos/011WTCtour09-07.jpg


http://lowermanhattan.info/construction/gallery/photos/012WTCtour09-07.jpg

[Dac150]

How cool is that. I've always been a fan of underground concourses for some reason, so I'm looking foward to this one.

[2-TOWERS]

you can see the making of FULTON ST. great ...i mean great work on those pics. if this was being built in LOS ANGELES I THINK IT COULD WITHSTAND A 10 POINTER.... nothing bringing this baby down:)

[kingsdl76]

you can see the making of FULTON ST. great ...i mean great work on those pics. if this was being built in LOS ANGELES I THINK IT COULD WITHSTAND A 10 POINTER.... nothing bringing this baby down:)

Just shut up and dont say things like that.

[Dac150]

Just shut up and dont say things like that.

:haha: What did he say that was so wrong?

[Daquan13]

I was about to ask the same thing. I see nothing wrong with what he said.:haha:

[Realthang]

New steel has arrived on the site. They were able to erect one column before darkness fell. Its on the north east corner of the floor plan. If they work Sunday, it'll be all erected by Monday morning. Its looks like there are eight girders which will make up 4 new columns.:banana: :banana:

[Dac150]

New steel has arrived on the site. They were able to erect one column before darkness fell. Its on the north east corner of the floor plan. If they work Sunday, it'll be all erected by Monday morning. Its looks like there are eight girders which will make up 4 new columns.:banana: :banana:

Great to hear that. I'll make my way down there tomorrow and check it out.:yes:

[Daquan13]

New steel has arrived on the site. They were able to erect one column before darkness fell. Its on the north east corner of the floor plan. If they work Sunday, it'll be all erected by Monday morning. Its looks like there are eight girders which will make up 4 new columns.:banana: :banana:



Hey, that's great news to hear!! You did very good, Realthang!

This is probably part of the shipment that is to be delivered between now and sometime during the winter! By this spring, the base of the thing will have sprouted above the streets! I'm so exstatic and pscyched

GS, 7 WTC, meet your next-door neighbor - your big buddy!!

But it just might make TalB green with envy and seeing red.:tantrum:

Who cares anyway? I don't. Haha!! Please take your camera with you, Dac, and post the pics. I'd LOVE to see them!!

Let's all celebrate and have a party!! Where is the SoCo and Rolling Rock? Haha!!:upload_71700:

[Dac150]

:banana: :skyscraper: :banana:

[firulais]

:apple::upload_71700::tomato::pepper:

[Daquan13]

Oh, what the hell, I might as well join the party;:daz: :dancing: :happypunk::rock:

[treras93]

yaaa Woooooooooooo!!!:leek: :upload_71700: :banaride:

[Daquan13]

I know that we are all excited and delighted about this, and I'm not trying to be a jerk, but we don't want to get too carried away with the Smilies, or the mods will again start deleting posts here.

As Gary Coleman used to say in Diff'rent Stroke; "Let's not get crazy."

On that note, I'm just dying to see pics of the additional columns and beams added!

[Ghost]

Here they are (from EarthCam):
http://i7.tinypic.com/80q1pmp.jpg

[Daquan13]

Thanks, Ghost!

I see a few of them lying down on the site and along Vesey Street. The one that's been installed looks like it might be an interior column.

[NYguy]

http://lowermanhattan.info/news/tying_together_the_wtc_21145.aspx

The "east-west connector," as Port Authority planners call it, is the main
westward spoke that will emanate from the central hub. Stretching
approximately one-quarter of a mile long, the connector is comprised of three
distinct elements.

On the south side, a solid opaque wall will separate the commercial space of
the connector from the adjacent National 9/11 Memorial. From within the
ADA-accessible concourse, pedestrians also will have direct access into the
base of the Freedom Tower


NOVEMBER 10, 2007

Rising behind the connector (along with Goldman Sachs), the excitement builds...

1.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763373/large.jpg

2.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763377/large.jpg

3.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763378/large.jpg

4.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763380/large.jpg


While people are still complaining about the slow pace of construction, remember
also that, like typical NY construction, both the Goldman Sachs tower and 7 WTC
had similarly slow starts before finally getting that upward push, which we will
begin seeing here in a few months...

5.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763383/large.jpg

6.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763385/large.jpg

7.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763387/large.jpg


The usual suspects at the wintergarden. This shot always reminds me of entering the observation
deck at the World Trade Center...

8.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763388/large.jpg

9.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763398/large.jpg

[NYguy]

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/88763385/original.jpg

[2-TOWERS]

Just shut up and dont say things like that.
NOW THAT THE GUYS HAVE MENTIONED IT WHAT DID I SAY WRONG:hell:

[Daquan13]

We don't know. We were trying to figure it out.

Just someone being an instigator, I think.

[Dac150]

I was down there at 10:00 this morning and the site is looking really good. Just give it a little longer, and the pace of construction will shock you. Considering what has happened at the site between August and now, it has already shocked me.:yes:

[Daquan13]

It should really begin to take off when the framework starts being assembled!

[NYguy]

Just give it a little longer, and the pace of construction will shock you.

Just a couple of months...:yes:

[NYguy]

Anyone remember this blast from the past? David Childs plans for the tower that were moving forward.

http://renewnyc.com/content/pdfs/WTC_GEIS_Final_Scope.pdf
(page 8)


The northwest quadrant would be the location of the 1776 Freedom Tower (with an observation deck at 1,776 feet and a broadcast antennae reaching 2,100 feet), Heroes Park, office space, ground floor retail, and the performing arts center (see Figure 4). Trucks (and buses) would enter the complex from Vesey Street at Washington Street or from Liberty Street at West Street.

[Dac150]

ehhh.....I am more happy with the one were getting now.

[NYguy]

ehhh.....I am more happy with the one were getting now.

As we now know, that version of the tower wouldn't have been built as designed. It's essentially the same version that got sent back because of security concerns (too close to West Street). It would have been interesting to see Childs version of a redesign for that one. The observation deck at 1,776 ft made it all worthwhile for me, that was (and continues to be) the part of the building where I'd be spending time.

In the end though, the current version is great also. The city will probably be better of by not having that open structure.

[Dac150]

The city will probably be better of by not having that open structure.

I never saw the logic in that. Why throw away perfectly good office space for air. I'm glad they finally regained their minds. The birdcage designs just weren't doing it.

[2-TOWERS]

its just a matter of time that we will not see the steel beams

[Daquan13]

Yes, 2-TOWERS, that will be wonderful!!

Dac, is NYguy saying that the obs deck will now be at the tip of the spire? Am I hearing that right, or was this something that was planned before and dropped (canceled)?

[Dac150]

Yes, 2-TOWERS, that will be wonderful!!

Dac, is NYguy saying that the obs deck will now be at the tip of the spire? Am I hearing that right, or was this something that was planned before and dropped (canceled)?

That was an old desgin Daquan and it was dropped.:yes:

[aluminum]

ehhh.....I am more happy with the one were getting now.

You're happy for a shorter tower ? :shrug: . Well, if things work that way, you might become even more happier if the current version gets scaled down a few hundred feet, say to 950'.

[Dac150]

You're happy for a shorter tower ? :shrug: . Well, if things work that way, you might become even more happier if the current version gets scaled down a few hundred feet, say to 950'.

I am happier with the design. I prefer the what we have now as oppose to the birdcage design. Even if it is taller, I dont care. I think its ugly, therefore I THIS design better.

And no I wouldn't like it if they scaled down the current design to 950'. If you read the above posts you'll would already know all of that. Stop going out of your way to act like joe cool, when you just read bits and pieces of posts and not the whole thing.

[2-TOWERS]

it Has Class, Elligent Looking..

[Daquan13]

I noticed that you've changed your avator.

[djvandrake]

Here's an overhead shot of the new steel that went up this weekend. That sure is good to see!!!

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/3896/newsteelup4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

:banana: :yes: :)

[Ghost]

I'm just anal to see if I'm right. Are these the new columns?
http://i9.tinypic.com/6xrvsw4.jpg

[Daquan13]

It's nice to see that the base is starting to take shape!

I believe they are, Ghost.

[37TimPPG]

Yay!:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

More! More Steel!:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

[Dalton]

I'll be visiting my sister in Brooklyn for Christmas again and of course will want to take a look at the WTC site. Is there any place open to the public that will give me a good unobstructed overview of the site from well above ground level? Seems to me there would be good money to be made having a temporary public observation deck in 7 WTC.

[Dac150]

I'll be visiting my sister in Brooklyn for Christmas again and of course will want to take a look at the WTC site. Is there any place open to the public that will give me a good unobstructed overview of the site from well above ground level? Seems to me there would be good money to be made having a temporary public observation deck in 7 WTC.

Either one of the West Street Connectors. You can also get a view at the Winter Garden, but it wouldn't be as elevated as you seem to want. I guess the only way to get a non-obstructed view, is to rent a night at the Millienium Hilton.

[Daquan13]

That was an old desgin Daquan and it was dropped.:yes:



Oh. Thanks.

[NYguy]

I'll be visiting my sister in Brooklyn for Christmas again and of course will want to take a look at the WTC site. Is there any place open to the public that will give me a good unobstructed overview of the site from well above ground level?

Check for happenings at 7 WTC.

[Independence]

I'm just anal to see if I'm right. Are these the new columns?
http://i9.tinypic.com/6xrvsw4.jpg


Guys, I love you all. STEEL!!! MORE AND MORE!!!

(YAY that is :banana: !!)

But Ghost... u're what???:sly:

[NYguy]

I never saw the logic in that. Why throw away perfectly good office space for air. I'm glad they finally regained their minds. The birdcage designs just weren't doing it.


Keep in mind that the height was specifically for the broadcasting towers. (The office space was as the site plan suggested). The broadcasters were originally planning to build their own 2,000 ft tower. But when plans were announced for a tall tower at the WTC site, they saw a chance to get back into the city, and the original site. Love it or hate it, it would have been massive for sure...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sacred/tower/closer.html

By the end of November 2003, the design that Childs and Nordenson were proposing was a tower 1,776-feet tall with an antenna that would reach 2,000 feet. "I suggested this thing be 2,000 feet, because I knew that the higher it could be, the better it was in terms of broadcasting, and that the whole purpose of having something this tall was to create this platform for the antennas," Nordenson told FRONTLINE. But Libeskind thought a 2,000-foot tower would overwhelm his master plan, and insisted that the tower top off at 1,776 feet.

At the unveiling of the compromise design in December 2003 and again at the laying of the Freedom Tower's cornerstone in July 2004, LMDC officials insisted that the tower would end at the symbolic 1,776 feet -- a 1,500-foot building topped off by an asymmetrical 276-foot spire.

nordenson.com
http://www.nordenson.com/images/WTC/WTC05.jpg
http://www.nordenson.com/images/WTC/WTC10.jpg
http://www.nordenson.com/images/WTC/WTC09.png

[djvandrake]

I'm just anal to see if I'm right. Are these the new columns?
http://i9.tinypic.com/6xrvsw4.jpg


Yes, those are the new ones. The overhead pic from the webcam this came from isn't high resolution, but it's a good way to keep track of progress. :tup:

[Dac150]

Just as promised with the erection of the steel.

[Daquan13]

Keep in mind that the height was specifically for the broadcasting towers. (The office space was as the site plan suggested). The broadcasters were originally planning to build their own 2,000 ft tower. But when plans were announced for a tall tower at the WTC site, they saw a chance to get back into the city, and the original site. Love it or hate it, it would have been massive for sure...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sacred/tower/closer.html



nordenson.com
http://www.nordenson.com/images/WTC/WTC05.jpg
http://www.nordenson.com/images/WTC/WTC10.jpg
http://www.nordenson.com/images/WTC/WTC09.png



I've only got one thing to say to these designs;:runaway: :yuck: :koko:

[NYguy]

I've only got one thing to say to these designs;:runaway: :yuck: :koko:

It was lightyears better than the compromise to me. There aren't any details to see from those renderings, the broadcast tower is just a skeleton of what would have actually been built.

At 2,000 ft, they could have worked up the height of the other towers...:yes:

[gramsjdg]

I definitely like the current design the best, I just wish it were taller.

Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll push the final height up a hundred feet or more!

[Daquan13]

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

[CoolCzech]

1,776 feet or 2,000 feet: it would hardly made a difference to a pedestrian at street level. Neither would have been the WTB, so what's 224 feet?

[plinko]

Sorry so many, but I figured you guys would appreciate the unique views I got Nov. 3-4 from the Millenium Hilton of the Ground Zero site. We were in a very nice room on the 31st floor.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK067.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK137.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK141.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK071.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK072.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK074.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK079.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK081.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK084.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK088.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK102.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK107.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK124.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK126.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK128.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK147.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK146.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK156.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK159.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK395.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK396.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK406.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK414.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK638.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK990.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK956.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK947.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK970.jpg

The double glazing and the angle made it extremely difficult to get the footprints of Towers 3 and 4. There were excavators over there though, working all day Saturday. The big spotlights also made for horrible reflections when shooting at night.

[firulais]

Awesome Update!!!!!!!!!!

[Daquan13]

Awesome Update!!!!!!!!!!



Yeah, those pics are G-R-R-R-REAT!!!!!

[37TimPPG]

:tup: Outstanding pictures! Ahhhhh, the sweet sight of progress!

[pattali]

Thanks Plinko
:yes:

[harryc]

From PLINKO ( more please )

Are these remenants of the old buildings ?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK081.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK126.jpg

[TAFisher123]

Yes, the 'survivor staircase' and looks like part of the old parking garage/plaza structure

[2-TOWERS]

it is amazing how intact the old parking structure held up., will the demo it as the new building gets underway..

[Realthang]

will they demo it as the new building gets underway..

The old parking structure will not be demolished as it is required for the subway underneath it. The surviving parking structure was demolished 2 years ago. The FT will be built around it.

[kznyc2k]

As if anyone needed more visual proof as to how much of a logistical nightmare this site is, look at the office trailers all piled up!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/plinko923/NYC%20-%20Ground%20Zero/071103-1104NEWYORK159.jpg

[Dac150]

Great pics plinko, thanks. I hope they keep that overpass.

[Daquan13]

Vesey Street doesn't even look like a street right now. Those office trailers are throwing off the beauty of 7 WTC!

[FastFerrari82]

Hey Plinko nice pics. Not just of the pit or the new site but also of surrounding building and even some shots of the new GS building. Which by the way is getting pretty tall. Thanx

[NewRussia]

does anyone know whats going on with the building that is covered in black netting between Deutsche bank building and 90 west street?

[Daquan13]

does anyone know whats going on with the building that is covered in black netting between Deutsche bank building and 90 west street?



Are you talking about that short building? I never knew what that was for.
I once wondered that myself.

[CoolCzech]

Real estate firm to rent space in WTC's Freedom Tower
by Ron Marsico
Thursday October 18, 2007, 3:55 PM
NEW YORK - The Port Authority awarded a prominent real-estate brokerage firm a three-year deal today to fill more than half of the planned Freedom Tower at Ground Zero.

Cushman & Wakefield Inc. will earn commissions between 5 percent and 2 percent over the life of each lease for commercial office tenants at the site's 1,776-foot signature structure, according to Michael Francois, the agency's real-estate director.

Government agencies already have committed to renting 1.1 million square-feet in the tower that will contain 2.6 million square-feet of office space overall. The Port Authority is seeking high-end corporate firms to fill the rest.

"I think financial services firms would be logical and also international firms,'' said Francois.

But agency officials say the space is open to other companies.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/10/real_estate_firm_to_rent_space.html

[Daquan13]

Hey, that's GOOD NEWS!!

And some thought that the tower was going to sit there almost empty for a while.

[NYonward]

The Incredible Shrinking Freedom Tower

BY GRACE RAUH - Staff Reporter of the Sun
November 20, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/66714

The symbolic centerpiece of the effort to rebuild ground zero, a 408-foot spire that brings the Freedom Tower to its projected height of 1,776 feet, could be jeopardized by a new technology emerging as an alternative to the broadcast antenna planned for the inside of the spire.

Some members of the Metropolitan Television Alliance, a collection of 11 broadcasters that has said it intends to use antennae installed on top of the Freedom Tower, have already been using multiple, low-power transmitters placed closer to street level, in lieu of a tall, single antenna. ION Media Networks, a member of the MTVA, is promoting the new technology and, earlier this month, the alliance began its own tests on a similar alternative system.

A long-term contract with the television alliance worth hundreds of millions of dollars would be a key financial component to the $3 billion Freedom Tower project. Sources close to the negotiations have said a contract with broadcasters would net about $10 million a year in annual rent and that an antenna would cost more than $20 million to build.

Following the destruction of the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building antenna became the primary antenna for the area's major television stations, and the Conde Nast building antenna, at 4 Times Square, became a favorite backup.

The broadcast antennae are now used to transmit to televisions in the area that use "rabbit ear" antennae rather than cable or satellite technology. The industry must switch to digital transmission of television signals by February 2009, as required by the Federal Communications Commission.

In 2003, the television alliance said it intended to use a broadcast antenna on top of the tower once it was built, but at that stage the tower was projected to be completed by 2009. Now, Port Authority officials insist that the tower will be ready by 2012, but there is a degree of uncertainty in the real estate community that the goal will be met.

In the interim, the MTVA has to find another solution, and earlier this month, it began tests on the new technology that could supplant the need for the Freedom Tower antenna.

The system, and the lack of a financial motivation to build the spire to 1,776 feet, could be another setback to the Freedom Tower, which has faced a torrent of criticism over security concerns, costs, planning, and design since its conception. The tower is relying on state and federal agencies to be its anchor tenants, raising concerns about the economic viability of the project.

The leasing agent for much of the building, Cushman & Wakefield, has referred to the Freedom Tower as 1 World Trade Center, in what may be interpreted as downplaying its symbolic importance.

Without the 408-foot broadcast antenna and spire, the Freedom Tower would be cut to 1,368 feet from its symbolic height in feet of 1776, the year America declared independence. It would still be the tallest building in New York City, but it would be the exact same height as Tower 1 before it was destroyed in 2001.

A developer who runs the Empire State Building and who is a critic of the Freedom Tower plans, Anthony Malkin, said if broadcasters aren't planning to use the antenna, it shouldn't be built.

"Common sense would say that it doesn't make a lot sense to build something for which the known user set is not prepared to make a commitment," Mr. Malkin said in an interview.

The Port Authority could decide to build the spire to its planned height for purely symbolic reasons, or it could find another marketable use for the spire.

The president of the Real Estate Board of New York, Steven Spinola, said, "I seriously doubt that there will not be a need for some kind of antenna on what is clearly a perfect spot to communicate from."

A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the Freedom Tower, Steven Coleman, would not say whether the Freedom Tower's spire and antenna would be scrapped if the television stations decided they did not want to lease it.

"We are continuing to negotiate with the MTVA," Mr. Coleman wrote in an e-mail message, referring to the Metropolitan Television Alliance. He added that he would not speculate on the talks, which have been going on for more than a year.

A senior vice president at Richland Towers, which has tested the new technology with ION, David Denton said the new system "has the potential to become the primary source of broadcast operations in New York."

"This is no longer an unknown," he said. "We built it. We proved it."

The CEO of ION Media Networks, Brandon Burgess, was quoted by Broadcast Engineering magazine as saying that the Richland Towers network "provides signal quality at least equal to that of traditional digital broadcast towers at substantially lower investment and operating cost." Mr. Burgess could not be reached for comment yesterday.

A spokesman for the television alliance, Patrick Smith, said the organization is testing an alternative system to see if it can bridge the gap during the national switch to digital broadcasting.

"Members of the Metropolitan Television Alliance still plan to broadcast from the top of the Freedom Tower," he said.

Mr. Denton of Richland Towers said many television stations have expressed interest in the new broadcast system, which would operate with four transmitters, with one of them potentially situated on the top of the Bloomberg LP building at 731 Lexington Ave.

Mr. Denton said the new system would cost "exponentially less" than leasing space on the Freedom Tower, but he said he could not give specific figures. The new technology also has the potential to work better with mobile television broadcasting, which is considered the future of television, Mr. Denton said.

[NYguy]

The Incredible Shrinking Freedom Tower

Now, Port Authority officials insist that the tower will be ready by 2012, there is a degree of uncertainty in the real estate community that the goal will be met.

...the lack of a financial motivation to build the spire to 1,776 feet, could be another setback to the Freedom Tower, which has faced a torrent of criticism over security concerns, costs, planning, and design since its conception. The tower is relying on state and federal agencies to be its anchor tenants, raising concerns about the economic viability of the project.

The concerns of who? Other people in the "real estate community". Please, that's just the talk of the same developers who didn't want the Freedom Tower built in the first place. Notice how they go from "concerns" that the goal of completion might not be met, to concerns about the economic viability of it. They'll get over it.

[gttx]

And last time I checked "state and federal agencies" were perfectly reasonable tenants for a building.....the tower isn't "relying" on them any more than other office buildings rely on their own tenants, regardless of what type of office they have. A lease is a lease, as far as the owners are concerned.

[mudvayneimn]

I really doubt the spire would shrink just because of this "antenna" issue...the FT's height of 1,776ft (with a spire) has been almost fully constant during the design process. I believe the spire will go up to 1,776ft with or without an antenna inside.

[Daquan13]

The concerns of who? Other people in the "real estate community". Please, that's just the talk of the same developers who didn't want the Freedom Tower built in the first place. Notice how they go from "concerns" that the goal of completion might not be met, to concerns about the economic viability of it. They'll get over it.



You're right!! It was clear from the very beginning that those sleezy developers had absolute zero tolerance against the tower even being built. Now, they're just trying to find something else about the tower to nit-pick at!

Yeah, just when we thought that everything was going smoothly with the tower, here comes more controversy, red tape and BS!! It never seems to end.

Not likely, but we all know Silverstein, and he's not the one to let small setbacks get in the way and rain on his parade.;)

[ATLksuGUY]

Let's get some better pics of those shiny new columns in here.

[Dale]

And in any case, with some sort of spire (and the 1776 height) imprinted on our minds for son long, a spire-less building would look positively denuded.

[Dac150]

I highly doubt they'll remove the spire or reduce the height of it. If they take out the antenna then fine, but removing everything will look ridiculous.

[NYguy]

I highly doubt they'll remove the spire or reduce the height of it. If they take out the antenna then fine, but removing everything will look ridiculous.


If they wanted to raise the building itself to 1,776 ft, that would be just fine by me. In the end though, the broadcasters will stick with the spire.

[CoolCzech]

The Incredible Shrinking Freedom Tower

BY GRACE RAUH - Staff Reporter of the Sun
November 20, 2007

Without the 408-foot broadcast antenna and spire, the Freedom Tower would be cut to 1,368 feet from its symbolic height in feet of 1776, the year America declared independence. It would still be the tallest building in New York City, but it would be the exact same height as Tower 1 before it was destroyed in 2001.

A developer who runs the Empire State Building and who is a critic of the Freedom Tower plans, Anthony Malkin, said if broadcasters aren't planning to use the antenna, it shouldn't be built.


Pure bullcrap. First of all... height will ALWAYS be important to broadcasters, that seem to have utterly missed the supposed importance of this "new technology." (An odd thing, considering broadcasting is their profession) Second of all: NO ONE is talking about not building the spire, and THIRDLY: the spire would have been built even without the ability to use it as an antenna.

The bottom line is: it seems that this will be the tallest building in NYC for the foreseeable future.

[CoolCzech]

What's REALLY shrinking, by the way, is the significance of the entire project... the Westside development is leaving it in the dust. I'm not half as excited by the WTC anymore as I was even a year ago... which isn't to slight it, but to underscore the excitement of the entire NYC scene.

[37TimPPG]

Oh S**T! Here we go again! Just stop the bitching and build the damn tower to its designed height of 1776 feet...NOW!:hell:

[mudvayneimn]

Construction hasn't been halted or anything lol. Somebody just wanted to make a catchy article that would grab reader's attention, without even thinking about how ridiculous the story actually is. The spire will not shrink, even if there's no antenna in it. The only way the spire will shrink is if the roof was raised higher...which won't be happening either.

[Daquan13]

Thank you!

As I thought. some moronic individual out there more than likely had this bogus story circuted for cheap sensationalism!!