NEW YORK | 200 Greenwich - 2 WTC | 1,226 FT | 55 FLOORS

[PhxPavilion]

This was the best tower of the whole development, what a disappointment.

[Tectonic]

There is a slope toward west street. 1 WTC will also have steps on that side.

[Kurtz]

At least even the Pantheon in ancient Rome wasn't build like original project, so these kind of problems from original project and final building are old as much as man on this planet

[rack776]

That map view is interesting, I did not realize the road was so close to this tower....odd it looks like they put all their eggs in one basket with the heavy security at 1WTC...but forgot about 2&3

Also Could anyone explain what the duct work on the temporary "roof" is for? Is it to climate control the uncompleted core concrete?
Or is it an integral part of the entire underground complex's heating & cooling system?

I wonder if history will praise or scorn the decisions that were made while rebuilding on this site.

This entire WTC site has got to be the most interesting & frustrating projects to watch being built/rebuilt.....I hope to see it 100% complete in my lifetime.

[drumz0rz]

There are a number of completed sub-levels to this tower that the duct work climate controls. I'm not positive, but I believe some of it has to do with the concourse for the new transit hub / PATH station which is partially below the 2WTC site.

Also, as disappointing it is to have to wait for this tower to go up,a part of me enjoys the state this tower will likely reside for the indefinite future. Say construction isn't restarted for another 3 years. By that time 1WTC will be open, 4WTC will be open, the Memorial will be open, and hopefully 3WTC will either be open or in the final stages of construction. It'd be likely that the streets that cross through the Trade Center site will have been rebuilt by then. So at that point, you'll have this curious oddly shaped and fenced off structure quietly sitting in the corner of the now open public space.

I just picture the floods of tourists passing through the area, unaware of the massive underground structure quietly waiting beneath these nondescript caps for their rise to fill the hole in the skyline and reach over 1'300ft. into the air.

[JayPro]

I still say that once 175G gets inked, this one will soon follow.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by rack776

That map view is interesting, I did not realize the road was so close to this tower....odd it looks like they put all their eggs in one basket with the heavy security at 1WTC...but forgot about 2&3

If only they would. That NYPD plans are to turn the entire complex into a fortress, but that's another issue.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manha..._planned_fort_wtc_K9QztfVH7otVfuZ527DQfJ

But the Freedom Tower is much closer to the highway.

[drumz0rz]

The security checkpoints definitely break the plan to re-open Greenwich Street and kinda negate the whole point of having the streets there in the first place. I suppose they could make it along the lines of how they've closed off Wall St. and Exchange Place, but those blocks are a lot longer than these little stubs that will run through the WTC. It almost seems like it would make more sense for them to just ditch the streets and make it all one big plaza again...

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by drumz0rz

The security checkpoints definitely break the plan to re-open Greenwich Street and kinda negate the whole point of having the streets there in the first place. I suppose they could make it along the lines of how they've closed off Wall St. and Exchange Place, but those blocks are a lot longer than these little stubs that will run through the WTC. It almost seems like it would make more sense for them to just ditch the streets and make it all one big plaza again...

I agree.

[NYguy]

I understand the need for security, but turning the complex into a gated, superblock community with checkpoints will actually have the opposite effect of making the area feel more secure. And that's something you certainly don't want as the complex struggles to attract tenants. And especially as the new, large complexes going up elsewhere in Manhattan won't have them. There is a thing line between being secure and restrictive.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by PhxPavilion

This was the best tower of the whole development, what a disappointment.

Why a disappointment? It's not cancelled is it?

[Guiltyspark]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Why a disappointment? It's not cancelled is it?

No, it is just not getting built today and people are impatient.

[NYguy]

Lynn University Alumni

[Zapatan]

The other WTC towers are awesome, too bad we might not see them for a while

[marvelfannumber1]

I'm fine with it, I'll just enjoy the views we have now compared to what we have in the future. (for example, being able to see 1WTC from the Brooklyn bridge.)

[NYguy]

Looks like there will be some movement around the towers...


http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=6696

“We know security is important, but a less rigorous plan would be better. There’s got to be a better solution,” said Michael Levine, director of planning and land use for Community Board 1, who has followed the security plans since meetings began last fall. He raised concerns about the security plans’ effect on the public realm and the connectivity of the new street grid and how it would affect traffic in surrounding neighborhoods. Few of the community’s concerns, he said, made it into the DEIS. “They have destroyed the concept of connectivity,” said Levine of the NYPD plan. “It’s too invasive a plan and it changes too much of the city fabric downtown.” Levine said his main concern has been the lack of community involvement in the plan.

“A visual barrier of bollards, checkpoints, and sally ports is the biggest off put to pedestrians and cyclists,” said Levine, noting the barriers in place around One Police Plaza in Chinatown. “Pedestrians will just go around the site.” Jeff Zupan, senior fellow for transportation at the Regional Plan Association, told AN that while security interventions can provide challenges to connectivity, he believes the NYPD plan won’t necessarily be a problem. “The police department plan will pretty much be fine for pedestrians. Once they get past the checkpoints, pedestrians are free to roam through the site,” he said, noting that security measures will slow down cars, “but that’s just fine. There’s very little need for vehicular circulation in Lower Manhattan.”

[babybackribs2314]

LOL at checkpoints = pedestrian friendliness; once they 'go around' is the point, that deters walkability. This is ridiculous and I don't anticipate the site being open at all, in the name of 'security's sake'.

What it has really become is a private campus for the companies that will lease from the WTC Towers, though the obligatory tourists who are clueless and wait in lines to walk through the memorial will surely remain.

Perhaps a bad confession, but I have not yet visited the actual memorial because the line is obnoxious and overly intimidating - not a painful/annoying process I need to tack onto navigating the already clueless-choked streets surrounding the complex.

If the site is not open and accessible to the public without police checkpoints, it would be a total outrage. They already have surveillance cameras and police officers on every corner; asking for this is incredibly excessive.

[jd3189]

^^^ It's just going to be the reality of the WTC from now on. Twice this part of Lower Manhattan has been greatly affected by terrorism with the second incident being one of the greatest tragedies in US history. If you think that they are just going to let it be open for anyone with little security, you are still living in those rosy pre-9/11 days.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by babybackribs2314

LOL at checkpoints = pedestrian friendliness; once they 'go around' is the point, that deters walkability. This is ridiculous and I don't anticipate the site being open at all, in the name of 'security's sake'.

What it has really become is a private campus for the companies that will lease from the WTC Towers, though the obligatory tourists who are clueless and wait in lines to walk through the memorial will surely remain.

We know that the WTC was a target twice, but the vastness of Manhattan remains a target, and there have been other plots that have been stopped. The next time something goes off in Manhattan, will those blocks be "checked off" too? Will the entire island become a fortress of security? Is this the beginning of what will eventually become an "Escape from New York" type encampment? I can deal with the bollards that have gone up around some buildings in Manhattan post 9/11. I just feel this goes a little too far. Because the day may come when they decide to put one of these on 5th Avenue. Then you'll hear the complaints, but it would be too late.





I also don't find this to be very attractive for tenants. Silverstein is having a hard enough time getting companies to relocate here, and if I had a choice between moving my company to a limited access zone, or one of the other more lively options in Manhattan, it would be harder to consider this, unfortunately.

Perhaps a bad confession, but I have not yet visited the actual memorial because the line is obnoxious and overly intimidating - not a painful/annoying process I need to tack onto navigating the already clueless-choked streets surrounding the complex.

Well, you know what, that's the exact reason I haven't gone to the memorial yet (I know, shocking). I just don't like lines, and I've never seen it when there wasn't a long line.

[patriotizzy]

Originally Posted by NYguy

We know that the WTC was a target twice, but the vastness of Manhattan remains a target, and there have been other plots that have been stopped. The next time something goes off in Manhattan, will those blocks be "checked off" too? Will the entire island become a fortress of security? Is this the beginning of what will eventually become an "Escape from New York" type encampment? I can deal with the bollards that have gone up around some buildings in Manhattan post 9/11. I just feel this goes a little too far. Because the day may come when they decide to put one of these on 5th Avenue. Then you'll hear the complaints, but it would be too late.

I agree wholeheartedly. It's a real shame that they go to such extremes, to the point of ruining the attractiveness of such an important.

As others have mentioned before, this only goes to show the "terrorists" won. Why? Because they have scared us. That was their whole point was it not? To instill terror on citizens. And so it seems they can claim victory.