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

[NYguy]

By the way, it is still the tallest office building in the world. Prove me wrong. They say that the complex will be the biggest office complex in the world again. High class office space is proof of power, not a plethora of cheesy-looking res/condo towers. You look at lots of other cities and nearly all of their tallest buildings are all non-office, while in NY, as of now, all of the tallest are office, with the unbuilt MoMA Tower and unbuilt 99 Church and Sunflower Tower as exceptions. Maybe that trend here is ending because of a need for more space. I also doubt that the Freedom Tower will remain the tallest in NY for more than a decade.

Yeah, New York has been strong in the office building market, and it has been building residentials as well, although not as tall as the office buildings. But the office buildings are what made the Manhattan skyline, and it does show a healthy side of the city. Buildings like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, even the smaller 1 msf towers are making an impact. Silverstein's residential tower, which will be a 900 footer could set of a new race for tallest residential in the city, and its not all that certain the Gehry tower won't top it. One thing the Freedom Tower has going for it is the spire which gives it a little breathing room.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05202008/business/deal_could_be_the_rail_thing_111669.htm?page=0

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05202008/photos/bus0b.jpg

DEVELOPING SITUATION: The Freedom Tower is finally on its way up.

http://www.nypost.com/img/cols/stevecuozzo.jpg

The Port Authority staged a photo-op yesterday to show that steel for the Freedom Tower had poked above street level for the first time.

But two weeks ago, Goldman Sachs managed to top off its new, 43-story headquarters in Battery Park City, visible all the way from Sixth Avenue and Central Park South.

The Goldman project is a lot smaller than the Freedom Tower, but probably more complicated, thanks to its advanced electronics. And while the bank had a three-month head start over the PA, the Freedom Tower is in no danger of topping off soon.

[CHAPINM1]

by looking at the floors the observatory deck will be lower then the original one looks like 102 vs 107 to bad they couldn't make it the top floor, oh well

It all depends, either way, you can always go up to the roof and possibly climb up the spire, lol... :D Anyway, the top of the ring underneath the spire I'm guessing will be at roughly 1,425 to 1,450 feet. JUST A GUESS...

[[SP]Neo]

why was this thread moved from the supertall U/C section?

[aluminum]

By the way, it is still the tallest office building in the world.

I think you're right, it will be the tallest(officially) all-office skyscraper in the world. But for some reason, Dac150 was calling it the tallest office in the United States, not the World. :shrug:
:rolleyes: (We measure by spire height, making the FT the tallest office building in the United States once completed).


Anyway, the top of the ring underneath the spire I'm guessing will be at roughly 1,425 to 1,450 feet. JUST A GUESS...

This might be a very stupid question,but will that 'ring' house a second observation deck ?

[CoolCzech]

This might be a very stupid question,but will that 'ring' house a second observation deck ?

Not stupid; just asked & answered a gazillion times. NO.

[Scruffy]

by looking at the floors the observatory deck will be lower then the original one looks like 102 vs 107 to bad they couldn't make it the top floor, oh well

When you are 1300 feet up. A difference of 40-50 feet isn't really that noticeable

[Scruffy]

By the way, it is still the tallest office building in the world. Prove me wrong. They say that the complex will be the biggest office complex in the world again. High class office space is proof of power, not a plethora of cheesy-looking res/condo towers. You look at lots of other cities and nearly all of their tallest buildings are all non-office, while in NY, as of now, all of the tallest are office, with the unbuilt MoMA Tower and unbuilt 99 Church and Sunflower Tower as exceptions. Maybe that trend here is ending because of a need for more space. I also doubt that the Freedom Tower will remain the tallest in NY for more than a decade.

Did you say "Sunflower Tower?" What's that? Did I miss a proposal somewhere?

[NYguy]

the top of the ring underneath the spire I'm guessing will be at roughly 1,425 to 1,450 feet. JUST A GUESS...

It should be at least 1,400 ft.

[NYguy]

For all concerned, please don't turn this into a city vs. city thread.

[timba86]

They can have it. The Freedom Tower is much better. Sad to say, that one in Madrid looks more like one of Liebeskind's contraptions.

Looks like a combination of the Washington Monument and the new FT.

[ZZ-II]

i really like the design of the FT, although it has absolutely nothing special.

[NYguy]

Turning this thread into a city vs. city or Freedom Tower vs. Twin Tower thread won't be tolerated. So please don't waste your time or ours posting such.

[NYC4Life]

From: http://ny1.com

Plans are underway to shore up security for the new developments at the World Trade Center site.

The Port Authority has approved $5 million in funding to look at options for a state-of-the-art security center and emergency radio system at the site.

First responders say they were hampered during the September 11th attacks by radios that didn't work, making it impossible to communicate with police and firefighters inside the Twin Towers.

The new system would open up 20 radio frequencies during an emergency. Every building on the site would have a designated security center.

Planners are still deciding where to locate the main command center which would serve five skyscrapers, the September 11th memorial and the World Trade Center transit hub.

The PA is also spending millions on security upgrades at LaGuardia and Newark Airports.

The agency authorized $28 million to install more vehicle barriers in front of LaGuardia's Central Terminal and Newark's Terminal B.

The agency also announced a $400 million federal grant that pay for upgrades to baggage conveyer belt systems to integrate checked baggage screening. In some locations now, passengers have to carry their luggage to a screener after it's tagged.

The agency is also moving ahead with pre-construction work for a mega terminal at JFK. The PA says $20 million will be spent on planning for the terminal to replace Delta Airlines' Terminals 2 and 3.

[America 117]

Looks like a combination of the Washington Monument and the new FT.

yay it does:hmmm:

[America 117]

Not stupid; just asked & answered a gazillion times. NO.

then why did they build that ring?

[stewartrama]

wait-sorry for asking- but the ring will be the support buttress holding the spire up, right? Will people be allowed onto it?

[CHAPINM1]

wait-sorry for asking- but the ring will be the support buttress holding the spire up, right? Will people be allowed onto it?

Nope, it's for communication/transmmission purposes. That would be sweet if it were used as a 2nd observatory though. :)

[timba86]

From: http://ny1.com

Plans are underway to shore up security for the new developments at the World Trade Center site.

The Port Authority has approved $5 million in funding to look at options for a state-of-the-art security center and emergency radio system at the site.

First responders say they were hampered during the September 11th attacks by radios that didn't work, making it impossible to communicate with police and firefighters inside the Twin Towers.

The new system would open up 20 radio frequencies during an emergency. Every building on the site would have a designated security center.

Planners are still deciding where to locate the main command center which would serve five skyscrapers, the September 11th memorial and the World Trade Center transit hub.

The PA is also spending millions on security upgrades at LaGuardia and Newark Airports.

The agency authorized $28 million to install more vehicle barriers in front of LaGuardia's Central Terminal and Newark's Terminal B.

The agency also announced a $400 million federal grant that pay for upgrades to baggage conveyer belt systems to integrate checked baggage screening. In some locations now, passengers have to carry their luggage to a screener after it's tagged.

The agency is also moving ahead with pre-construction work for a mega terminal at JFK. The PA says $20 million will be spent on planning for the terminal to replace Delta Airlines' Terminals 2 and 3.

Security is going to be so intense, that whenever someone breathes to hard he will be flagged.

[America 117]

Nope, it's for communication/transmmission purposes. That would be sweet if it were used as a 2nd observatory though. :)

but there is an outdoor observation deck right?

[CHAPINM1]

but there is an outdoor observation deck right?

No, but who knows what is being planned with the crown and the VERY highest floors besides what we've been told. You never know... It will have quite a bit to offer like before, maybe more! Either way, we'll will have our observatory back! :tup:

[CoolCzech]

It should be at least 1,400 ft.

The ring is really just housing for antenna equipment; I'm assuming there will be a door to it, and technicians will be able to enter to service what's inside. Isn't the top of the ring, then, really the true "roof height"?

[Dale]

May we call the ring 'My Precious' ?

[CHAPINM1]

The ring is really just housing for antenna equipment; I'm assuming there will be a door to it, and technicians will be able to enter to service what's inside. Isn't the top of the ring, then, really the true "roof height"?

No, the true roof height is below the ring and what the ring will be sitting on. The top of the ring will be at least 1,425 feet by the looks of it.

[NYguy]

The ring is really just housing for antenna equipment; I'm assuming there will be a door to it, and technicians will be able to enter to service what's inside. Isn't the top of the ring, then, really the true "roof height"?


Well, from what I can make of it, the ring itself has been redesigned to sit on top of and above the roof, not suspended above like earlier versions. Make of it what you will. I'm assuming there will also be access inside the spire to the antenna.

[Scruffy]

i agree that the ring should be counted into roof height

[America 117]

i agree that the ring should be counted into roof height

if you count the ring and the ropes holding up the spire its the secound tallest building in north america.
but i think it dosent matter because the spire counts anyway.

[Scruffy]

well i wouldn't count the ropes. and i know the official height will be to spire. Im not arguing spires versus non spire height. I just think that in terms of roof height, the ring should be counted since it will be a permanent structure that you will be able to enter. (not the public) its to be filled with broadcasting equipment much like the 90-101 floors of the ESB

[Lecom]

The ring is really just housing for antenna equipment; I'm assuming there will be a door to it, and technicians will be able to enter to service what's inside. Isn't the top of the ring, then, really the true "roof height"?

You are correct, the ring will be an enclosed space, accessible on the inside. However, its top won't be the roof height since its interior does not constitute a floor. It will only feature catwalks, which are never considered as proper floor space. In the same spirit, one may count the spire as floor space, since it will also be hollow and accessible from the inside, and will feature a series of service levels connected by a ladder (think of a standard TV antenna with a wall enclosure). However, just as the platforms on a standard antenna aren't considered floors, neither should the service levels inside the FT spire be.

[Scruffy]

so the number of steel beams that have broken street level is now 3

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z70/Scruffy66/saya/DSC00527.jpg

[Scruffy]

Just to gauge the scale of this tower.

This is the western half of the tower footprint with the central core on the left
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z70/Scruffy66/saya/DSC00531.jpg

Closeup of the western wall with tiny little construction men scurrying about
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z70/Scruffy66/saya/DSC00532.jpg


the mass of the core with more workmen
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z70/Scruffy66/saya/DSC00536.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z70/Scruffy66/saya/DSC00538.jpg

[CoolCzech]

However, just as the platforms on a standard antenna aren't considered floors, neither should the service levels inside the FT spire be.


But isn't the ESB considered to have a 102 floors, even though that counts the imaginary floors of a Mast that in reality is filled with a spiral staircase?

[America 117]

well i wouldn't count the ropes. and i know the official height will be to spire. Im not arguing spires versus non spire height. I just think that in terms of roof height, the ring should be counted since it will be a permanent structure that you will be able to enter. (not the public) its to be filled with broadcasting equipment much like the 90-101 floors of the ESB

well they made the freedom tower to be the same hight as the twin towers
so that may be a reson why they dont count it

[aluminum]

The roof height of Freedom Tower is not a centimeter more than 417m. This fact has been established everywhere. The symbolic 417m number is not going to change.

[NYguy]

i agree that the ring should be counted into roof height


I've always said it should be counted as part of the roof height, I've seen lesser things counted on other towers. Also, for sheer visual impact, it will at least look that way.

As we've seen, details of the roof and its design have changed many times. I'm sure the final version will be something we haven't seen yet, one of the reasons we haven't seen many detailed renderings of it. But at last look, there seemed to be less open space beyond the ring.

Let me add that I like the twist of the spire itself, something I think will add to the distinctiveness of it, like the Chrysler and ESB spires.

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/91204045/original.jpg

[aluminum]

^ The middle part of the spire looks like they've placed barrels on top of another.

[America 117]

one thing is for sure the FT wont be the tallest tower in NY for long

[NYC4Life]

It would be a nice addition to the skyline if we could get a new slim glass tower similar to the new one going up next to the flatiron building on the site of the burger king on liberty st. But who knows it could happen:rolleyes:

I was thinking the same. Those old low-rise buildings will feel out of place with the new complex. Wouldn't be surprised if they're demolished at some point in the near future.

[NYC4Life]

one thing is for sure the FT wont be the tallest tower in NY for long

One of the proposed towers for the Penn MSG redevelopment has a roof higher than Freedom Tower's, but still falls short of the 1,776' pinnacle height. I would love to see a 2,000 footer being built.

[[SP]Neo]

one thing is for sure the FT wont be the tallest tower in NY for long

i don't know any higher proposal than the FT...do you mean any specific tower or only in general?

[America 117]

Neo;3574111']i don't know any higher proposal than the FT...do you mean any specific tower or only in general?

i mean like an office building or a tower like the cn tower
i just think with all the damand and all the towers being built that one of them has to be taller then FT
maybe in 3 or 4 years from now

[CoolCzech]

The roof height of Freedom Tower is not a centimeter more than 417m. This fact has been established everywhere. The symbolic 417m number is not going to change.

The "symbolic" height is the 1,776 foot elevation of the tip of the spire (or 417 meters, if you will). That's NOT the roof height.

[America 117]

The "symbolic" height is the 1,776 foot elevation of the tip of the spire (or 417 meters, if you will). That's NOT the roof height.

i forget why 1776 is symbolic

[Kamatzu]

i forget why 1776 is symbolic

Declaration of Independence, July 4 1776...

[aluminum]

The "symbolic" height is the 1,776 foot elevation of the tip of the spire (or 417 meters, if you will). That's NOT the roof height.

The title of this thread, and many other sources officially state the roof height as 417m or 1368 feet. I haven't seen any other number for the 'roof' height of FT. Even on the official WTC website, they clearly state that the height of the antenna/spire is 408'. Which means the roof height is 1776' - 408' = 1368' or 417 meters.

[chex]

i dont know if its just me, but i think the tower has a small floor space, if u see the massiveness of the core, and compare the space to the steel beams, i think it looks small...

[Scruffy]

thats the way it is with supertalls. I remember making the same comment when i saw the ratio of core to floorspace on the Shanghai World Financial Center

[NYguy]

The title of this thread, and many other sources officially state the roof height as 417m or 1368 feet. I haven't seen any other number for the 'roof' height of FT. Even on the official WTC website, they clearly state that the height of the antenna/spire is 408'. Which means the roof height is 1776' - 408' = 1368' or 417 meters.

The top of the facade is at 1,368 ft, not the actual "roof", which will vary in height. But we do count the facade (on most towers anyway) as roof height. The 408 ft given for the spire is just the difference between that and the final 1,776 ft height. You'll just have to wait for the actual specifics, as the top is constantly being redesigned.

[NYguy]

Those old low-rise buildings will feel out of place with the new complex. Wouldn't be surprised if they're demolished at some point in the near future.

Those old lowrises were reclaimed by people who have been living there for years, and were among the first to move back after 9/11. For symbolic reasons, they probably won't be going anywhere, but anything is possible there.

[America 117]

Declaration of Independence, July 4 1776...

i know it had to do with independance:)

[America 117]

Overlooking the memorial...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/78850921/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/78850921/large.jpg

its cool how the freedom tower is right next to the waterfalls

[Scruffy]

the render above is missing some 5 thousand onlookers

[NewRussia]

I hope to god that the freedom towers base looks nothing like a larger version of 2 columbus circle. :yuck: You never know because renderings are very misleading.

[CGII]

I hope to god that the freedom towers base looks nothing like a larger version of 2 columbus circle. :yuck: You never know because renderings are very misleading.

The Freedom Tower's base will look nothing like either form of 2 Columbus Circle because because the FT's base is glass and 2 Columbus is limestone.

[kznyc2k]

5/24.. this one is ready to go airborne

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/1146/img8227un3.jpg

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/5170/img8228ud3.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/1083/img8225jo4.jpg

[NYguy]

5/24.. this one is ready to go airborne

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/1146/img8227un3.jpg

And so are we...:cheers:

[rich_200]

I'm so happy I'll be there tomorrow!!!
I hope I can take good pictures of the skyline from the plane and I that there is a good view from Columbia Unviersity, but I will only be able to share the pictures by August because I don't think I'll have time to to login in.

[NYC4Life]

5/24.. this one is ready to go airborne



http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/5170/img8228ud3.jpg


Only matter of a short time before its brothers across the pit will join in :D

[JDRCRASH]

The "symbolic" height is the 1,776 foot elevation of the tip of the spire (or 417 meters, if you will). That's NOT the roof height.

Thank you for saving me from stating the obvious.

Aluminum, 1,776 ft is the tip of the pinnacle, which is symbolic for the year of the signing of the DOI.

1,368 ft is the roof height.

All you had to do was look at the title of the thread.....

[aluminum]

1,368 ft is the roof height.

All you had to do was look at the title of the thread.....

Thats exactly what I told them. I didn't mean that 1368' is symbolic like 1776', but is kinda special as it was the roof height of original WTC1 and I guess they don't want any roof to go higher than that.

[[SP]Neo]

i asked it before but nobody answered....so i ask it again: i don't understand why this thread was moved from the supertall-construction section.or is it just a bug of my computer?

[Scruffy]

All of the NYC threads including supertalls are to be kept together so that its easier to find everything

[America 117]

this towers coming up fast!!

[NYC4Life]

The day that 1st steel beam broke street level was the day we knew progress was finally being made

[Kamatzu]

The day that 1st steel beam broke street level was the day we knew progress was finally being made
It has to have been, what? A week, at least a week and a half! Haha.

Let's get this show on the road! (In a good, motivating way. Not a demeaning way.)

[2-TOWERS]

i will be there august 30th so i hope it will be at around 10-20 stories up give or take......

[NYguy]

i will be there august 30th so i hope it will be at around 10-20 stories up give or take......

I doubt it would be that high. But that's 3 months from now. I forget how many floors a week they'll be doing, but it really hasn't gotten to the point where it will rise that quickly.

[37TimPPG]

i will be there august 30th so i hope it will be at around 10-20 stories up give or take......

It might be around 5 stories or so by then? I would hope it would be more but the other half of the FT core has to catch up!:tup:

[[SP]Neo]

All of the NYC threads including supertalls are to be kept together so that its easier to find everything

thanks for the answer!
i will be in new york in end of october..at what level is it till then?

[Kamatzu]

Just something I noticed, and perhaps it's supposed to be like this.

But why do the memorial fountains for 1WTC and 2WTC appear to not be in their original locations? The footprints seem further from the street in the Memorial.

Old:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/Kamatzu/old.jpg

New:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/Kamatzu/new.jpg


Is this for safety concerns? I suppose a car crash could be made significantly worse if you plummet into a deep fountain... Though I thought one of the main impacts of seeing this memorial was supposed to be a "The Twin Towers stood in these very fountains!" effect, and not a "They stood 50 feet to the southwest of these fountains!"

I also read somewhere ("Somewhere" sounds like a viable source, eh? haha) that the fountains are 30 feet shorter than the towers were, for budget reasons.

Does anyone know something I don't?

[America 117]

i cant wait to see the ft im going there this june:notacrook:

[Scruffy]

The tower footprints have been outlined at the bottom of the pit for years. They are exactly where the towers once stood and where the memorial will be. My thinking in the discrepancy is that diagram for the old towers isn't accurate. its an approximation. what's tipping me off is the intercontinental hotel at wtc 3. It was thin but never that thin. that diagram pegs it at 50 feet wide when compared to the tower footprints when in reality it was closer to 100 ft

[Kamatzu]

The tower footprints have been outlined at the bottom of the pit for years. They are exactly where the towers once stood and where the memorial will be. My thinking in the discrepancy is that diagram for the old towers isn't accurate. its an approximation. what's tipping me off is the intercontinental hotel at wtc 3. It was thin but never that thin. that diagram pegs it at 50 feet wide when compared to the tower footprints when in reality it was closer to 100 ft

Now that you mention 3, it does look a bit scrawny. Does this seem a little more accurate?
http://files.meetup.com/624939/WTC_planNotes.jpg

(Not to derail the thread, I'm still comparing this to the new site plan I posted above. I still find it odd how the memorial pools look farther "inland." Any ideas?)

[NYguy]

(Not to derail the thread, I'm still comparing this to the new site plan I posted above. I still find it odd how the memorial pools look farther "inland." Any ideas?)

Go with reality, and not with the diagrams. The reflection "pools" will be located directly above the footprints, though there will be space between.

[NYC4Life]

To my knowledge, only the Freedom Tower was moved further away from west and vesey street to prevent it from being truck-bombed.

[Scruffy]

they have been doing tons and tons of work on west st. even before the these new tower designs were finalized. There is a good chance west st moved farther west to give the memorial more space

[NYC4Life]

That's a good reason why west street curves now as you approach the site, though it could just be because of excavation work.

[37TimPPG]

That's a good reason why west street curves now as you approach the site, though it could just be because of excavation work.

I'm pretty sure West Street curves because of all the excavation work being done. I've seen renderings of the finished area and in none of them is West Street left a permanent curve.

Guess that means it's only due to excavation?:shrug:

[JACKinBeantown]

Check this out. If the renderings are right, it's pretty close.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/JACKinNYC/newandold.jpg

[Kamatzu]

Go with reality, and not with the diagrams. The reflection "pools" will be located directly above the footprints, though there will be space between.
Perhaps I was putting too much faith in the accuracy of diagrams. =P You're right.

[America 117]

wow the freedom tower is right on the spot of 6 wtc

[Kamatzu]

Check this out. If the renderings are right, it's pretty close.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/JACKinNYC/newandold.jpg
Nice overlap, Jack. Gives an interesting view of where things are located that some people might not have seen.

Cool stuff.

[America 117]

where the plaza once stud now trees will stand

[Kamatzu]

It will be interesting to see where they will put The Sphere, if they so choose to place it back. It would be nice to see it make a return.

[CoolCzech]

NYTimes.com

June 24, 2006

With Tower Yet to Rise, Cornerstone Leaves Town
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
The 20-ton cornerstone of the Freedom Tower was carted off from the World Trade Center site early yesterday, nearly two years after it was ceremoniously set in place on July 4, with its silvered, chiseled letters proclaiming it a "tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom."

No one made a speech yesterday morning. No one sang "God Bless America." No one read from the Declaration of Independence.

Instead, the cornerstone was placed on a truck and returned to Innovative Stone in Hauppauge, N.Y., where it will remain for as long as two years until it returns to ground zero.

About 6:30 a.m., the five-and-a-half-foot-high block of Adirondack granite was hoisted by crane from its place near the temporary PATH terminal, said Mel Ruffini, a senior vice president of the Tishman Construction Corporation, which is building the Freedom Tower for Silverstein Properties on behalf of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Then it was lowered onto a flatbed truck and covered in a tarp. By 7:15, it was rolling up the long ramp out of the ground zero pit, headed for Innovative Stone on Long Island, where it had been cut, honed, polished and inscribed in 2004. It arrived safely three hours later, said Karen Pearse, the chief executive at Innovative.

The cornerstone will be kept there in a plexiglass case, viewable by appointment.

"It needs to be repositioned to make sense in the new building," said David Worsley, a senior vice president and the director of construction at Silverstein Properties.

When the Freedom Tower was redesigned last year because of security concerns, the cornerstone's location was rendered obsolete. The architects shifted the building's edge about 40 feet to the west, leaving the cornerstone standing outside the bounds of the reconfigured tower.

But stand it did, protected under a blue plywood enclosure, while the tower project faced delay after delay.

Its absence carries a couple of meanings. Obviously, it is an acknowledgment that much of what passed for progress at ground zero to date has been longer on symbolism than on substance.

On the other hand, with the cornerstone gone, the foundation subcontractor, Laquila Construction, can begin excavating the east side of the tower site to prepare it for the underground infrastructure.

When he presided over the cornerstone-laying two years ago, Gov. George E. Pataki declared, "Today, we build the Freedom Tower."

As it turned out, the building could not start until the cornerstone was removed.

[Scruffy]

Pataki was such a tool.

[theWatusi]

umm isnt that a 2 year old article?

[philvia]

haha weird^^

[CoolCzech]

WOW... that is weird. I news googled "Freedom Tower" and sorted by most recent...

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=&q=%22Freedom+tower%22&btnG=Search+News

Anyway: it's news to ME that the Freedom Stone was removed...

[BrandonJXN]

Freedom Stone. What the hell?

[NYguy]

Anyway: it's news to ME that the Freedom Stone was removed...


LOL, where have you been?

[lakegz]

Lol at Pataki!

[JDRCRASH]

:lmao:

Did they remake the Old WTC Plaza Fountain somewhere else in the complex?

[Lecom]

Freedom Stone. What the hell?

Welcome to politics.

[NYC4Life]

WTC Subway Tunnel To Be "Elevated"


From: NY1

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=82202


Lower Manhattan will soon be getting an elevated subway line -- only it's not a new line and riders won’t know they’re above ground. NY1’s Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

Though you wouldn't know from looking at it, the 1 train runs right through the center of the World Trade Center site, in this black concrete tunnel box. Only it's becoming less and less accurate to call it a subway.

That's because the Port Authority has transferred the weight of the tunnel onto steel supports and is now digging out the ground underneath. Soon, the tunnel will be suspended in midair.

"If you come back in a couple of months, it will be looking like it's on stilts. It'll look like some of the old railway trestles you see in the Rocky Mountains in the late 1870s," said Port Authority Chief Geotechnical Engineer Raymond Sandiford.

The work is necessary because the space beneath the tunnel will eventually become part of the Trade Center basement.

For now there are small underpasses beneath the tunnel, only about enough room for workers and small machinery to maneuver below as they excavate. Eventually the subway tunnel will stand about 50 feet in the air, on what are known as mini-piles that have been drilled deep into bedrock.

"We're basically building this thing on stilts- about 450 stilts. There are 450 mini-piles that we had to put in there," said Port Authority Program Director Mark Pagliettini.

Before 9/11, there was actually a station there. The Cortlandt Street stop on what was then the 1 and 9 lines. But the collapse of the World Trade Center destroyed not only the station, but also a portion of the tunnel itself.

The MTA rebuilt that segment of tunnel and eventually plans to reopen the Cortlandt Street station, though by then the tunnel will be back underground.

"You'll actually see, on top of the subway will be a street. Greenwich Street will be reinstated as a street. So it'll look just like Church Street," said Sandiford. "You'll have curbs. You'll have fire hydrants and lights. Underneath it will be the subway. And underneath that will actually be the basement to the expanded Trade Center."

Unlike the PATH train, which is exposed to light as it passes through the Trade Center, there is no view of the site for riders on the 1 train.

In fact, though some daylight is visible out the window, most riders probably have no idea of the monumental engineering project going on right beneath them.

- Bobby Cuza

[Swede]

Off topic posts gone. Keep it on topic guys. This ain't the chat.

[America 117]

What's really mind boggling is that Vornado is set to build a "Twin World Trade Center" uptown!

Forget Twin Towers... Twin Centers!

this is a little old but is this really going to be built?

[CoolCzech]

this is a little old but is this really going to be built?

Bearing in mind what Swede said about keeping this thread "on topic," let me just say that you're right, that IS an old post. I believe I was referring to the proposed Vornado project centered around Moynihan Station/Madison Square Garden. There is a thread about that project, but my quick answer to your question is: I don't know anymore. Last I heard, no one is sure what will become of the idea of putting MSG into the Farley building, and Vornado was seeking to distribute air rights to several shorter towers rather than the supertalls they originally talked about. NYguy can probably answer your question better than I, though.

[aaron38]

[SIZE="3"]
"You'll actually see, on top of the subway will be a street. Greenwich Street will be reinstated as a street. So it'll look just like Church Street," said Sandiford. "You'll have curbs. You'll have fire hydrants and lights. Underneath it will be the subway. And underneath that will actually be the basement to the expanded Trade Center."

Stuff like this is half the reason I read this site. You have to love the engineering that goes on in modern cities.

[37TimPPG]

Trying to keep on topic here...sorry to hear about the crane accident yesterday at 91st & 1st. Anyway, with a renewed focus now on construction cranes and properly inspecting them, is there any chance the FT could be delayed due to Crane Inspections?