197-878: The original World Trade Center ( WTC ) was a complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City . Built primarily between 1966 and 1975, it was dedicated on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001. At the time of their completion, the 110-story-tall Twin Towers , including the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) at 1,368 feet (417 m), and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at 1,362 feet (415.1 m), were
394-612: A Con Edison plant. With mass transit in New York City already suspended as a precaution even before the storm hit, the New York Stock Exchange and other financial exchanges were closed for two days, re-opening on October 31. From 2013 to 2021, nearly two hundred buildings in the Financial District were converted to residential use. Furthermore, between 2001 and 2021, the proportion of companies in
591-601: A powerful bomb exploded . It killed 38 and seriously injured 143 people. The area was subjected to numerous threats; one bomb threat in 1921 led to detectives sealing off the area to "prevent a repetition of the Wall Street bomb explosion". During most of the 20th century, the Financial District was a business community with practically only offices which emptied out at night. Writing in The Death and Life of Great American Cities in 1961, urbanist Jane Jacobs described
788-581: A "deathlike stillness that settles on the district after 5:30 and all day Saturday and Sunday". But there has been a change towards greater residential use of the area, pushed forwards by technological changes and shifting market conditions. The general pattern is for several hundred thousand workers to commute into the area during the day, sometimes by sharing a taxicab from other parts of the city as well as from New Jersey and Long Island , and then leave at night. In 1970 only 833 people lived "south of Chambers Street"; by 1990, 13,782 people were residents with
985-776: A 1970 account was supposed to accommodate 130,000 people. On a typical weekday, an estimated 50,000 people worked in the complex and another 140,000 passed through as visitors. The World Trade Center was so large that it had its own zip code: 10048 . The towers offered expansive views from the observation deck atop the South Tower and the Windows on the World restaurant on top of the North Tower. The Twin Towers became known worldwide, appearing in numerous movies and television shows as well as on postcards and other merchandise. It became
1182-778: A New York icon, in the same league as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Statue of Liberty . The World Trade Center was compared to Rockefeller Center , which David Rockefeller's brother Nelson Rockefeller had developed in midtown Manhattan. One World Trade Center and Two World Trade Center, commonly referred to as the Twin Towers , were designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki as framed tube structures, which provided tenants with open floor plans, uninterrupted by columns or walls. They were
1379-429: A business writer, it also was the origin of the electronic component distribution business. The idea of establishing a World Trade Center in New York City was first proposed in 1943. The New York State Legislature passed a bill authorizing New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey to begin developing plans for the project, but the plans were put on hold in 1949. During the late 1940s and 1950s, economic growth in New York City
1576-481: A construction cost of $ 400 million (equivalent to $ 3,000,000,000 in 2023 dollars). The complex was located in New York City's Financial District and contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m ) of office space. The World Trade Center experienced a fire on February 13 , 1975, a bombing on February 26 , 1993 and a robbery on January 14 , 1998. In 1998, the Port Authority decided to privatize
1773-667: A consultant, and was invited to participate as the seventh semifinalist. The seven semifinalists presented their entries to the public on December 18, 2002, at the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center . In the following weeks, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill withdrew its entry from the competition. Days before the announcement of the two finalists in February 2003, Larry Silverstein wrote to LMDC Chair John Whitehead to express his disapproval of all of
1970-431: A dining area that simulated Central Park . Weather permitting, visitors could ride two short escalators up from the 107th-floor viewing area to an outdoor platform at a height of 1,377 ft (420 m). On a clear day, visitors could see up to 50 miles (80 km). An anti-suicide fence was placed on the roof itself, with the viewing platform set back and elevated above it, requiring only an ordinary railing. This left
2167-479: A downturn with a sizable drop in year-end bonuses of $ 6.5 billion, according to one estimate from a state comptroller's office. To guard against a vehicular bombing in the area, authorities built concrete barriers, and found ways over time to make them more aesthetically appealing by spending $ 5000 to $ 8000 apiece on bollards . Several streets in the neighborhood, including Wall and Broad Streets, were blocked off by specially designed bollards: Rogers Marvel designed
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#17327656178262364-424: A fifth of buildings and warehouses were empty, and many were converted to living areas. Some conversions met with problems, such as aging gargoyles on building exteriors having to be expensively restored to meet with current building codes. Residents in the area have sought to have a supermarket, a movie theater, a pharmacy, more schools, and a "good diner". The discount retailer named Job Lot used to be located at
2561-408: A later address before Congress , the president declared, "As a symbol of America's resolve, my administration will work with Congress, and these two leaders, to show the world that we will rebuild New York City." The immediate response from World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein was that "it would be the tragedy of tragedies not to rebuild this part of New York. It would give the terrorists
2758-744: A lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 86.3% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 1 murder, 23 rapes, 80 robberies, 61 felony assaults, 85 burglaries, 1,085 grand larcenies, and 21 grand larcenies auto in 2018. The Financial District is served by three New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations: As of 2018 , preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in Financial District and Lower Manhattan than in other places citywide. In Financial District and Lower Manhattan, there were 77 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 2.2 teenage births per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide), though
2955-505: A model for the complex on January 18, 1964. The original plans called for two towers rising 1,350 feet (410 m), as well as several six-story buildings surrounding a central plaza (later the Austin J. Tobin Plaza ). These buildings were to include office space, restaurants, a hotel, exhibition space, stores, and an information center about world trade. The agency released its final model of
3152-519: A museum visit and discussion of various financiers "who were adept at finding ways around finance laws or loopholes through them". Occasionally artists make impromptu performances; for example, in 2010, a troupe of 22 dancers "contort their bodies and cram themselves into the nooks and crannies of the Financial District in Bodies in Urban Spaces " choreographed by Willi Donner. One chief attraction,
3349-473: A neighborhood, a community." During the past two decades there has been a shift towards greater residential living areas in the Financial District, with incentives from city authorities in some instances. Many empty office buildings have been converted to lofts and apartments; for example, the Liberty Tower , the office building of oil magnate Harry Sinclair , was converted to a co-op in 1979. In 1996,
3546-668: A new era of captive audience dining in that the restaurant was a destination in itself, rather than a lazy by-product of the vital institution it resided in." Five smaller buildings stood on the 16-acre (65,000 m) block. One was the 22-floor hotel, which opened at the southwest corner of the site in 1981 as the Vista Hotel ; in 1995, it became the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC). Three low-rise buildings (4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC), which were steel-framed office buildings, also stood around
3743-566: A new kind of bollard, a faceted piece of sculpture whose broad, slanting surfaces offer people a place to sit in contrast to the typical bollard, which is supremely unsittable. The bollard, which is called the Nogo, looks a bit like one of Frank Gehry's unorthodox culture palaces, but it is hardly insensitive to its surroundings. Its bronze surfaces actually echo the grand doorways of Wall Street's temples of commerce. Pedestrians easily slip through groups of them as they make their way onto Wall Street from
3940-504: A pace of one floor a week, topped out in August 2012, and was structurally completed in May 2013. The building opened on November 3, 2014, and the first 170 employees of anchor tenant Conde Nast began their work there. Danish architect Bjarke Ingels designed Two World Trade Center , also known as 200 Greenwich Street. The building's gardens integrate Tribeca with the Financial District at
4137-566: A provincial extension of the Dutch Republic and was designated as the capital of the province of New Netherland in 1625. By 1655, the population of New Netherland had grown to 2,000 people, with 1,500 living in New Amsterdam. By 1664, the population of New Netherland had skyrocketed to almost 9,000 people, 2,500 of whom lived in New Amsterdam, 1,000 lived near Fort Orange , and the remainder in other towns and villages. In 1664
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#17327656178264334-653: A second estimate (based on the 2000 census based on a different map) places the residential population in 2000 at 12,042. By 2001 there were several grocery stores, dry cleaners, and two grade schools and a top high school. In 2001, the Big Board , as some termed the NYSE, was described as the world's "largest and most prestigious stock market". When the World Trade Center was destroyed on September 11, 2001 , it left an architectural void as new developments since
4531-650: A social gathering spot for people who worked in the towers. This restaurant also housed one of the most prestigious wine schools in the United States, called "Windows on the World Wine School", run by wine personality Kevin Zraly . Despite numerous assurances that these local landmarks and global attractions would be rebuilt, the Port Authority scrapped plans to rebuild these WTC attractions, which has outraged some observers. As of September 2023 ,
4728-407: A square plan approximately 208 feet (63 m) in dimension on each side. The buildings were designed with narrow office windows 18 inches (46 cm) wide, which reflected Yamasaki's fear of heights as well as his desire to make building occupants feel secure. His design included building facades clad in aluminum-alloy. The World Trade Center was one of the most striking American implementations of
4925-408: A strong, rigid wall structure, supporting virtually all lateral loads such as wind loads, and sharing the gravity load with the core columns. The perimeter structure containing 59 columns per side was constructed with extensive use of prefabricated modular pieces, each consisting of three columns, three stories tall, connected by spandrel plates. The spandrel plates were welded to the columns to create
5122-415: A temporary viewing platform at Fulton Street, between Church Street and Broadway, was opened to the public. That month, the last standing perimeter columns from the North Tower and the last remaining portions of Building 6 were removed. Early estimates suggested that debris removal would take a year, but cleanup ended in May 2002, under budget and without a single serious injury. The Winter Garden Atrium
5319-409: A utility shaft that ran vertically between floors. Areas at the furthest extent of the fire were extinguished almost immediately; the original fire was put out in a few hours. Most of the damage was concentrated on the 11th floor, fueled by cabinets filled with paper, alcohol-based fluid for office machines, and other office equipment. Fireproofing protected the steel and there was no structural damage to
5516-708: A visual landmark for drivers and pedestrians. In some respects, the nexus of the Financial District moved physically from Wall Street to the World Trade Center complex and surrounding buildings such as the Deutsche Bank Building , 90 West Street , and One Liberty Plaza . Real estate growth during the latter part of the 1990s was significant, with deals and new projects happening in the Financial District and elsewhere in Manhattan; one firm invested more than $ 24 billion in various projects, many in
5713-524: Is 52 stories tall (plus one underground floor), making it the 28th-tallest in New York. A memorial called Reflecting Absence honors the victims of the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing . The memorial, designed by Peter Walker and Israeli-American architect Michael Arad , consists of a field of trees interrupted by the footprints of the twin towers. Pools of water fill
5910-644: Is NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital in the Civic Center area. World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site , often referred to as " Ground Zero " or " the Pile " immediately after the September 11 attacks , is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City . The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north, the West Side Highway to
6107-406: Is 0.0096 mg/m (9.6 × 10 oz/cu ft), more than the city average. Sixteen percent of Financial District and Lower Manhattan residents are smokers , which is more than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Financial District and Lower Manhattan, 4% of residents are obese , 3% are diabetic , and 15% have high blood pressure , the lowest rates in the city—compared to
World Trade Center (1973–2001) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6304-547: Is a neighborhood located on the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City . It is bounded by the West Side Highway on the west, Chambers Street and City Hall Park on the north, Brooklyn Bridge on the northeast, the East River to the southeast, and South Ferry and the Battery on the south. The City of New York was created in the modern-day Financial District in 1624, and the neighborhood roughly overlaps with
6501-584: Is a major location of tourism in New York City . One report described Lower Manhattan as "swarming with camera-carrying tourists". Tour guides highlight places such as Trinity Church , the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Building gold vaults 80 feet below street level (worth $ 100 billion), and the New York Stock Exchange Building . A Scoundrels of Wall Street Tour is a walking historical tour which includes
6698-530: Is closer to the site's eastern border. It was on this shoreline, close to the intersection of Greenwich and the former Dey Street , that Dutch explorer Adriaen Block 's ship, Tyger , burned to the waterline in November 1613, stranding him and his crew and forcing them to overwinter on the island. They built the first European settlement in Manhattan . The remains of the ship were buried under landfill when
6895-468: Is generally rooted in the Gilded Age , though there are also some art deco influences in the neighborhood. The area is distinguished by narrow streets, a steep topography, and high-rises Construction in such narrow steep areas has resulted in occasional accidents such as a crane collapse. One report divided lower Manhattan into three basic districts: Federal Hall National Memorial , on the site of
7092-691: Is now a 1,776 ft (541 m) tall structure, opened in 2014 as the One World Trade Center . Fulton Center , a new transit complex intended to improve access to the area, opened in 2014, followed by the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in 2016. Additionally, in 2007, the Maharishi Global Financial Capital of New York opened headquarters at 70 Broad Street near the NYSE, in an effort to seek investors. By
7289-569: Is patrolled by the 1st Precinct of the New York City Police Department . The Financial District encompasses roughly the area south of City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan but excludes Battery Park and Battery Park City . The former World Trade Center complex was located in the neighborhood until the September 11, 2001, attacks ; the neighborhood includes the successor One World Trade Center . The heart of
7486-938: Is the locus for a large amount of technology and data. For example, to accommodate the three thousand persons who work directly on the Exchange floor requires 3,500 kilowatts of electricity, along with 8,000 phone circuits on the trading floor alone, and 200 miles of fiber-optic cable below ground. Buildings in the Financial District can have one of several types of official landmark designations: The following landmarks are situated south of Morris Street and west of Whitehall Street/Broadway: The following landmarks are located west of Broadway between Morris and Barclay Streets: The following landmarks are located south of Wall Street and east of Broadway/Whitehall Street: The following landmarks are located east of Broadway between Wall Street and Maiden Lane: The following landmarks are located east of Broadway and Park Row between Maiden Lane and
7683-456: Is well-suited for tall buildings, with a solid mass of bedrock underneath Manhattan providing a firm foundation for tall buildings. Skyscrapers are expensive to build, but the scarcity of land in the Financial District made it suitable for the construction of skyscrapers. Business writer John Brooks in his book Once in Golconda considered the start of the 20th century period to have been
7880-423: The Deutsche Bank Building once stood. On June 22, 2007, the Port Authority announced that JP Morgan Chase will lease the 42-story building for its investment banking headquarters; however, JPMorgan's March 2008 acquisition of Bear Stearns had caused construction to stagnate, as the company changed its plans and relocated its headquarters to 383 Madison Avenue. Construction began on September 9, 2011. Although
8077-582: The Hudson River . The cost for the transportation hub is estimated at $ 3.44 billion, a statistic that has seen much controversy given its greatly inflated cost. A temporary PATH station opened in 2003 and construction on the permanent station was supposed to begin in fall 2004; however, the NYPD raised security concerns on the entire site. Among the revisions effecting the Transportation Hub
World Trade Center (1973–2001) - Misplaced Pages Continue
8274-490: The World Trade Center site took eight months, during which the remains of the other buildings were demolished. On May 30, 2002, the last piece of WTC steel was ceremonially removed. A new World Trade Center complex is being built with six new skyscrapers and several other buildings, many of which are complete. A memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks, a new rapid transit hub , and an elevated park have opened. The memorial features two square reflecting pools in
8471-406: The framed-tube structural system used in the twin towers. The Port Authority's Engineering Department served as foundation engineers , Joseph R. Loring & Associates as electrical engineers , and Jaros, Baum & Bolles (JB&B) as mechanical engineers . Tishman Realty & Construction Company was the general contractor on the World Trade Center project. Guy F. Tozzoli , director of
8668-517: The shoreline was extended beginning in 1797 and was discovered during excavation work in 1916. The remains of a second eighteenth-century ship were discovered in 2010 during excavation work at the site. The ship, believed to be a Hudson River sloop , was found just south of where the Twin Towers stood, about 20 feet (6.1 m) below the surface. Later, the area became New York City's Radio Row , which existed from 1921 to 1966. The neighborhood
8865-594: The tallest buildings in the world ; they were also the tallest twin skyscrapers in the world until 1996, when the Petronas Towers opened. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC , 5 WTC , 6 WTC , and 7 WTC . The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m) of office space and, prior to its completion, was projected to accommodate an estimated 130,000 people. The core complex cost about $ 400 million (equivalent to $ 2.31 billion in 2023). The idea
9062-402: The world's tallest twin towers until 1996, when the Petronas Towers opened. Each tower had a total mass of around 500,000 tons. The original World Trade Center had a five-acre (two-hectare) plaza around which all of the buildings in the complex, including the twin towers, were centered. World Trade Center officials had wanted the plaza to be a "contemplative space" or a Zen garden . In 1982,
9259-504: The 107th floor called Top of the World and an open-air deck with the height of 110 stories. The observation deck opened in December 1975 and operated from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (June to August) and from 9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. (September to May). After paying an entrance fee in the second floor, visitors were required to pass through security checks added after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing . They were then sent to
9456-427: The 107th floor to the top of the buildings were designed to support a tall communication antenna on top of each building. Only 1 WTC (North Tower) actually had a spire antenna fitted, which was added in May 1979. The truss system consisted of six trusses along the long axis of the core and four along the short axis. This truss system allowed some load redistribution between the perimeter and core columns and supported
9653-521: The 107th-floor indoor observatory at a height of 1,310 feet (400 m) by a dedicated express elevator, which could be only accessed by entering the core. The exterior columns were narrowed to allow 28 inches of window width between them. In 1995, the Port Authority leased operation of the observatory to Ogden Entertainment, which decided to renovate it. On April 30, 1997, the Top of the World tour reopened after renovations were finished. Attractions added to
9850-467: The 10th anniversary, it was decided to concentrate on building the Memorial and holding off construction of the Transportation Hub, which increased costs. Construction finally began on the Transportation Hub in 2010. The hub formally opened on March 3, 2016, several years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. The World Trade Center's Performing Arts Center was announced in 2004, with
10047-429: The 1960s by Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan , was a new approach that allowed more open floor plans than the traditional design that distributed columns throughout the interior to support building loads. Each of the World Trade Center towers had 236 high-strength, load-bearing perimeter steel columns which acted as Vierendeel trusses . The perimeter columns were spaced closely together to form
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#173276561782610244-525: The 1960s to make way for the World Trade Center. At the time of their completion the "Twin Towers"—the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower), at 1,368 ft (417 m), and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower)—were the tallest buildings in the world. The other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC , 5 WTC , 6 WTC , and 7 WTC . All of these buildings were built between 1972 and 1987, with
10441-411: The 1970s had played off the complex aesthetically. The attacks "crippled" the communications network. One estimate was that 45% of the neighborhood's "best office space" had been lost. The physical destruction was immense: Debris littered some streets of the financial district. National Guard members in camouflage uniforms manned checkpoints. Abandoned coffee carts, glazed with dust from the collapse of
10638-478: The 20,088 counted in 2000 . Covering an area of 479.77 acres (194.16 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 82.7/acre (52,900/sq mi; 20,400/km ). The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 65.4% (25,965) White , 3.2% (1,288) African American , 0.1% (35) Native American , 20.2% (8,016) Asian , 0.0% (17) Pacific Islander , 0.4% (153) from other races , and 3.0% (1,170) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.7% (3,055) of
10835-561: The 2010s, the Financial District had become established as a residential and commercial neighborhood. Several new skyscrapers such as 125 Greenwich Street and 130 William were being developed, while other structures such as 1 Wall Street , the Equitable Building , and the Woolworth Building were extensively renovated. Additionally, there were more signs of dogwalkers at night and a 24-hour neighborhood, although
11032-684: The American Indian , Trinity Church , St. Paul's Chapel , and the famous bull . Bowling Green is the starting point of traditional ticker-tape parades on Broadway , where here it is also known as the Canyon of Heroes . The Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Skyscraper Museum are both in adjacent Battery Park City which is also home to the Brookfield Place (formerly World Financial Center). Another key anchor for
11229-418: The Battery. The Bowling Green area was described as "Wall Street's back yard " with poor people, high infant mortality rates, and the "worst housing conditions in the city". As a result of the construction, looking at New York City from the east, one can see two distinct clumps of tall buildings—the Financial District on the left, and the taller Midtown neighborhood on the right. The geology of Manhattan
11426-610: The Brooklyn Bridge: The following landmarks apply to multiple distinct areas: What is now the Financial District was once part of New Amsterdam , situated on the strategic southern tip of the island of Manhattan. New Amsterdam was derived from Fort Amsterdam , meant to defend the fur trade operations of the Dutch West India Company in the North River ( Hudson River ). In 1624, it became
11623-592: The English took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York City. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the corporate culture of New York was a primary center for the construction of early skyscrapers , and was rivaled only by Chicago on the American continent. There were also residential sections, such as the Bowling Green section between Broadway and the Hudson River , and between Vesey Street and
11820-547: The Federal Reserve, paid $ 750,000 to open a visitors' gallery in 1997. The New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange also spent money in the late 1990s to upgrade facilities for visitors. Attractions include the gold vault beneath the Federal Reserve and that "staring down at the trading floor was as exciting as going to the Statue of Liberty ". The Financial District's architecture
12017-513: The Financial District is often considered to be the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street , both of which are contained entirely within the district. The northeastern part of the Financial District (along Fulton Street and John Street) was known in the early 20th century as the Insurance District, due to the large number of insurance companies that were either headquartered there, or maintained their New York offices there. Although
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#173276561782612214-519: The Financial District to more affordable locations. The recession of 1990–91 was marked by office vacancy rates downtown which were "persistently high" and with some buildings "standing empty". In 1995, city authorities offered the Lower Manhattan Revitalization Plan which offered incentives to convert commercial properties to residential use. According to one description in 1996, "The area dies at night ... It needs
12411-470: The Freedom Tower)'s having undergone three different designs, and the delays and monetary expense involved. Investor Larry Silverstein said the Port Authority's estimated completion date for the entire site was 2037, and billions of dollars had already been spent on the project, even though Ground Zero "is still a hole in the ground". During an interview for the episode, Larry Silverstein said: "I am
12608-604: The Hudson River. In a December 1961 meeting between Port Authority director Austin J. Tobin and newly elected New Jersey Governor Richard J. Hughes , the Port Authority offered to take over the H&;M Railroad. They also decided to move the World Trade Center project to the Hudson Terminal building site on the west side of Lower Manhattan, a more convenient location for New Jersey commuters arriving via PATH . With
12805-454: The LMDC's decision. On February 27, 2003, Studio Daniel Libeskind officially won the competition to be the master planner for the World Trade Center redesign. Libeskind's original proposal, which is titled Memory Foundations , underwent extensive revisions during collaboration with Larry Silverstein, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, whom Silverstein hired. Though Libeskind designed the site,
13002-516: The LMDC, along with New York New Visions – a coalition of 21 architecture, engineering, planning, landscape architecture and design organizations – announced seven semifinalists. The following seven architecture firms were then invited to compete to be the master plan architect for the World Trade Center: Peterson Littenberg, a small New York architecture firm, had been enlisted by the LMDC earlier that summer as
13199-558: The LMDC. The LMDC had questionable legal status regarding the restoration of the World Trade Center site, because the Port Authority owns most of the property and Larry Silverstein leased the World Trade Center's office space in July 2001. But the LMDC, in an April 2002 articulation of its principles for action, asserted its role in revitalizing lower Manhattan. In the months following the attacks, architects and urban planning experts held meetings and forums to discuss ideas for rebuilding
13396-399: The Memorial's two reflecting pools. Groundbreaking occurred in fall 2008, and in May 2009, the Port Authority proposed reducing the tower to four stories. In 2012, with Silverstein still unable to find tenants, construction on the above-ground levels was delayed indefinitely, with plans for only 7 stories. However, work progressed on below-grade foundations and the ground-level podium, which
13593-717: The Oculus, also houses a large amount of retail space. Santiago Calatrava designed the World Trade Center Transportation Hub (its main asset being the PATH station) to replace the old World Trade Center station . The Transport Hub connects the PATH station to the WTC Cortlandt station ( 1 train), the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal , the Brookfield Place , and One World Trade Center on
13790-424: The PANYNJ is often identified as the owner of the WTC site, the ownership situation was complicated after the September 11 attacks. The Port Authority did own a "significant" internal portion of the site of 16 acres (6.5 ha) but has acknowledged "ambiguities over ownership of miscellaneous strips of property at the World Trade Center site" going back to the 1960s. It was unclear who owned 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) of
13987-412: The Pentagon, was erected outside the Shanksville firehouse near the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 . Portions of the South Tower had also damaged the nearby Deutsche Bank Building , which soon became filled with toxic dust. By 2002, Deutsche Bank determined that its building was unsalvageable and it was scheduled for demolition. In January 2011, the demolition of the Deutsche Bank Building
14184-456: The Plaza was often beset by brisk winds at ground level owing to the Venturi effect between the two towers. Some gusts were so strong that pedestrians' travel had to be aided by ropes. In 1997 Tony May opened an Italian restaurant in the plaza next to 4 World Trade Center called "Gemelli". The following year, he opened another restaurant in an adjacent place called "Pasta Break". On June 9, 1999,
14381-472: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum Foundation, deciding on who should be responsible for infrastructure costs. Those disputes were resolved and construction resumed on September 10, 2012. Further delays were caused when Hurricane Sandy significantly damaged the site in November 2012. The museum was completed and opened to families of
14578-522: The Port Authority's approved plans to privatize the World Trade Center in the late 1990s, they sought to lease it to a private entity in 2001. Bids for the lease came from Vornado Realty Trust ; a joint bid between Brookfield Properties Corporation and Boston Properties ; and a joint bid by Silverstein Properties and the Westfield Group . Privatizing the World Trade Center would add it to
14775-409: The Port Authority's chief engineer, John M. Kyle Jr., involved digging a trench, and as excavation proceeded, filling the space with a slurry consisting of a mixture of bentonite and water, which plugged holes and kept groundwater out. When the trench was dug out, a steel cage was inserted and concrete was poured in, forcing the slurry out. It took fourteen months for the slurry wall to be completed. It
14972-419: The September 11 attacks, mentions of the complex in various media were altered or deleted , and several dozen "memorial films" were created. The World Trade Center experienced several major crime and terrorist incidents, including a fire on February 13 , 1975; a bombing on February 26 , 1993; and a bank robbery on January 14 , 1998. These events preceded the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. During
15169-553: The Twin Towers, the plan for the World Trade Center complex included four other low-rise buildings, which were built in the early 1970s. The 47-story 7 World Trade Center building was added in the 1980s, to the north of the main complex. Altogether, the main World Trade Center complex occupied a 16-acre (65,000 m) superblock . The World Trade Center complex housed more than 430 companies that were engaged in various commercial activities. The complex hosted 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m) of office space, which according to
15366-640: The Wall Street area. In 1998, the NYSE and the city struck a $ 900 million deal which kept the NYSE from moving across the river to Jersey City ; the deal was described as the "largest in city history to prevent a corporation from leaving town". A competitor to the NYSE, NASDAQ , moved its headquarters from Washington to New York. In 1987, the stock market plunged and, in the relatively brief recession following, lower Manhattan lost 100,000 jobs according to one estimate. Since telecommunications costs were coming down, banks and brokerage firms could move away from
15563-420: The World Trade Center but moved to Church Street; merchants bought extra unsold items at steep prices and sold them as a discount to consumers, and shoppers included "thrifty homemakers and browsing retirees" who "rubbed elbows with City Hall workers and Wall Street executives"; but the firm went bust in 1993. There were reports that the number of residents increased by 60% during the 1990s to about 25,000 although
15760-805: The World Trade Center site as " Ground Zero ". The collapse of the towers spread dust across New York City and left hundreds of thousands of tons of debris at the site. To organize the cleanup and search for survivors and for human remains, the New York City Fire Department divided the disaster site into four sectors, each headed by its own chief. Cleanup workers trucked most of the building materials and debris from Ground Zero to Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island . Some people, such as those affiliated with World Trade Center Families for Proper Burial, were worried that human remains might also have been inadvertently transported to
15957-499: The World Trade Center symbolized globalization and the economic prosperity of the U.S. Although its design was initially criticized by New Yorkers and architectural critics, the Twin Towers became an icon of New York City. It had a major role in popular culture , and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. The Twin Towers were also used in Philippe Petit 's tightrope-walking performance on August 7, 1974. Following
16154-399: The World Trade Center towers could be subjected to and structural response to those forces. Experiments also were done to evaluate how much sway occupants could comfortably tolerate; however, many subjects experienced dizziness and other ill effects. One of the chief engineers Leslie Robertson worked with Canadian engineer Alan G. Davenport to develop viscoelastic dampers to absorb some of
16351-402: The World Trade Center, lay on their sides across sidewalks. Most subway stations were closed, most lights were still off, most telephones did not work, and only a handful of people walked in the narrow canyons of Wall Street yesterday morning. Still, the NYSE was determined to re-open on September 17, almost a week after the attack. After September 11, the financial services industry went through
16548-405: The World Trade Center, leasing the buildings to a private company to manage, and awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties on July 24, 2001 . On the morning of September 11, 2001, Islamist terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 , both of which were en route from Boston to Los Angeles , and intentionally crashed them into
16745-451: The World Trade Center. As part of a 2010 lease deal to finance 4 WTC, there were plans to build 2 and 3 World Trade Center to ground level. Construction of everything up to street level was completed in mid-2013. The rest of the building, however, has yet to be built until tenants for Tower 2 can be found. Richard Rogers Partnership designed Three World Trade Center , or 175 Greenwich Street, which stands across Greenwich Street from
16942-576: The World Trade Department at the Port Authority, and Rino M. Monti, the Port Authority's Chief Engineer, oversaw the project. As an interstate agency, the Port Authority was not subject to the local laws and regulations of the City of New York, including building codes . Nonetheless, the World Trade Center's structural engineers ended up following draft versions of New York City's new 1968 building codes. The framed-tube design, introduced in
17139-491: The World just to eat, but even the fussiest food person can now be content dining at one of New York's favorite tourist destinations". She gave the restaurant two out of four stars, signifying a "very good" quality. In his 2009 book Appetite , William Grimes wrote that, "At Windows, New York was the main course". In 2014, Ryan Sutton of Eater.com compared the now-destroyed restaurant's cuisine to that of its replacement, One World Observatory . He said, "Windows helped usher in
17336-443: The World reported revenues of $ 37 million, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States. The Skydive Restaurant, which was a 180-seat cafeteria on the 44th floor of 1 WTC conceived for office workers, was also operated by Windows on the World. In its last iteration, Windows on the World received mixed reviews. Ruth Reichl , a New York Times food critic, said in December 1996 that "nobody will ever go to Windows on
17533-531: The addition of areas such as Battery Park City and Southbridge Towers . Battery Park City was built on 92 acres of landfill, and 3,000 people moved there beginning about 1982, but by 1986 there was evidence of more shops and stores and a park, along with plans for more residential development. Construction of the World Trade Center began in 1966, but the World Trade Center had trouble attracting tenants when completed. Nonetheless, some substantial firms purchased space there. Its impressive height helped make it
17730-646: The ages of 25–44, while 14% are between 0–17, and 18% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 11% and 7% respectively. As of 2017, the median household income in Community Districts 1 and 2 (including Greenwich Village and SoHo ) was $ 144,878. In 2018, an estimated 9% of Financial District and Lower Manhattan residents lived in poverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in twenty-five residents (4%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or
17927-473: The architectural ethic of Le Corbusier and was the seminal expression of Yamasaki's gothic modernist tendencies. He was also inspired by Islamic architecture , elements of which he incorporated in the building's design, having previously designed Saudi Arabia's Dhahran International Airport with the Saudi Binladin Group . A major limiting factor in building height is the issue of elevators;
18124-406: The area around historic Trinity Church. Cars, however, cannot pass. The destruction of the World Trade Center spurred development on a scale that had not been seen in decades. Tax incentives provided by federal, state and local governments encouraged development. A new World Trade Center complex centered on Daniel Libeskind 's Memory Foundations was after the 9/11 attacks. The centerpiece, which
18321-641: The area for the World Trade Center by March 1965, and demolition of Radio Row began in March 1966. It was completely demolished by the end of the year. Approval was also needed from New York City Mayor John Lindsay and the New York City Council . Disagreements with the city centered on tax issues, and the New York City Planning Commission wanted the Port Authority to increase its payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to
18518-478: The area is the New York Stock Exchange . City authorities realize its importance, and believed that it has "outgrown its neoclassical temple at the corner of Wall and Broad streets", and in 1998 offered substantial tax incentives to try to keep it in the Financial District. Plans to rebuild it were delayed by the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Exchange still occupies the same site. The Exchange
18715-420: The area that were in the finance and insurance industries declined from 55 to 30 percent. For census purposes, the New York City government classifies the Financial District as part of a larger neighborhood tabulation area called Battery Park City-Lower Manhattan. Based on data from the 2010 United States Census , the population of Battery Park City-Lower Manhattan was 39,699, an increase of 19,611 (97.6%) from
18912-663: The area were laid out as part of the Castello Plan prior to the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 , a grid plan that dictates the placement of most of Manhattan's streets north of Houston Street . Thus, it has small streets "barely wide enough for a single lane of traffic are bordered on both sides by some of the tallest buildings in the city", according to one description, which creates "breathtaking artificial canyons". Some streets have been designated as pedestrian-only with vehicular traffic prohibited. The Financial District
19109-466: The area's heyday. The address of 23 Wall Street , the headquarters of J. P. Morgan & Company , known as The Corner , was "the precise center, geographical as well as metaphorical, of financial America and even of the financial world". On September 16, 1920, close to the corner of Wall and Broad Street , the busiest corner of the Financial District and across the offices of the Morgan Bank ,
19306-458: The attacks, al-Qaeda -affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets, one into each of the Twin Towers, seventeen minutes apart; between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the Twin Towers when they were struck. The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes' burning jet fuel, which, along with the initial damage to the buildings' structural columns, ultimately caused both towers to collapse . The attacks killed 2,606 people in and around
19503-432: The attacks, some from smoke inhalation. Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and four other individuals were later convicted for their involvement in the bombing, while Yousef and Eyad Ismoil were convicted for carrying out the bombing. According to a presiding judge, the conspirators' chief aim at the time of the attack was to destabilize the North Tower and send it crashing into the South Tower, toppling both skyscrapers. Following
19700-605: The bathtub began in late 1967. Construction work began on the North Tower in August 1968 , and construction on the South Tower was under way by January 1969 . The original Hudson Tubes , which carried PATH trains into Hudson Terminal, remained in service during the construction process until 1971, when a new station opened. The topping out ceremony of 1 WTC (North Tower) took place on December 23 , 1970, while 2 WTC's ceremony (South Tower) occurred on July 19 , 1971. Extensive use of prefabricated components helped to speed up
19897-408: The bombing, floors that were blown out needed to be repaired to restore the structural support they provided to columns. The slurry wall was in peril following the bombing and the loss of the floor slabs that provided lateral support against pressure from Hudson River water on the other side. The refrigeration plant on sublevel B5, which provided air conditioning to the entire World Trade Center complex,
20094-487: The boundaries of the New Amsterdam settlement in the late 17th century. The district comprises the offices and headquarters of many of the city's major financial institutions , including the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York . Anchored on Wall Street in the Financial District, New York City has been called both the leading financial center and the most economically powerful city of
20291-473: The building to be designed by Gehry Partners LLP and Snøhetta . Construction was to begin in December 2014 when the removal of the temporary PATH station commenced. However, the original plans were shelved in September 2014. After a design was chosen in 2015, it was announced that Joshua Prince-Ramus was awarded the contract to design the building. In June 2016, the center was renamed after billionaire businessman Ronald Perelman , who donated $ 75 million to
20488-480: The center marking where the Twin Towers stood. One World Trade Center , the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet (541 m) and the lead building for the new complex, completed construction in May 2013 and opened in November 2014. The western portion of the World Trade Center site was originally under the Hudson River . The shoreline was in the vicinity of Greenwich Street , which
20685-523: The center, and on September 8, 2016, a design was revealed for the new center. The underground parking garage started construction in 2017, followed by the building in 2018. The center opened on September 13, 2023. The Performing Arts Center includes 129,000 square feet (12,000 m ) across three floors. The public floor is located at street level and houses a restaurant/bar to provide refreshments during show intermissions. The second floor consists of rehearsal and dressing rooms for theater actors, and
20882-521: The city government. On August 3 , 1966, an agreement was reached whereby the Port Authority would make annual PILOTs for the portion of the World Trade Center leased to private tenants. In subsequent years, the payments would rise as the real estate tax rate increased. In May 1967, the New York City Planning Commission approved several changes to the street grid that would allow the Port Authority to begin acquiring land for
21079-399: The city's tax rolls and provide funds for other Port Authority projects. On February 15 , 2001, the Port Authority announced that Vornado Realty Trust had won the World Trade Center lease, paying $ 3.25 billion for the 99-year lease. Vornado outbid Silverstein by $ 600 million though Silverstein upped his offer to $ 3.22 billion. However, Vornado insisted on last minute changes to
21276-421: The city. By 2010 the residential population had increased to 24,400 residents. and the area was growing with luxury high-end apartments and upscale retailers. On October 29, 2012, New York and New Jersey were inundated by Hurricane Sandy . Its 14-foot-high storm surge, a local record, caused massive street flooding in many parts of Lower Manhattan. Power to the area was knocked out by a transformer explosion at
21473-538: The citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 5% of children are obese, the lowest rate in the city, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Ninety-six percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is more than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 88% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", more than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Financial District and Lower Manhattan, there are 6 bodegas . The nearest major hospital
21670-405: The complex in March 1966. Despite public criticism over the height of the 110-story twin towers, Yamasaki & Associates and Emery Roth & Sons made only relatively minor changes to the plans, which were released in May 1966. The revised plans called for the twin towers and four additional low-rise structures to surround the central plaza. Yamasaki's design for the World Trade Center called for
21867-489: The complex. On September 20 , 1962, the Port Authority announced the selection of Minoru Yamasaki as lead architect and Emery Roth & Sons as associate architects. Yamasaki devised the plan to incorporate twin towers. His original plan called for the towers to be 80 stories tall, but to meet the Port Authority's requirement for 10,000,000 square feet (930,000 m) of office space, the buildings would each have to be 110 stories tall. The Port Authority publicly presented
22064-513: The complexity and highly political nature of the rebuilding efforts, they are often cited as an example of a successful public-private collaboration and are taught as a case study in successful negotiations. Governor Pataki established the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) in November 2001, as an official commission to oversee the rebuilding process. The LMDC coordinates federal assistance in
22261-544: The construction by two years. In 2006, the Port Authority took over from Silverstein Properties. The project's developer Tishman Construction Corporation was the construction manager at the time. Construction began in April 2006. Digging the foundation and installing tower-foundation steel columns, concrete, and rebar took twice as long as it normally would due to the existence of the subway line under West Broadway nearby. The building reached grade level by 2010, progressed at
22458-463: The construction of the World Trade Center took place on August 5 , 1966. The site of the World Trade Center was located on filled land with the bedrock located 65 feet (20 m) below. To construct the World Trade Center, it was necessary to build a " bathtub " with a slurry wall around the West Street side of the site, to keep water from the Hudson River out. The slurry method selected by
22655-512: The construction process, and the first tenants moved into the North Tower on December 15, 1970 , while it was still under construction, while the South Tower began accepting tenants in January 1972 . The complex had 111 tenants with a combined 1,800 employees by late 1971. When the Twin Towers were completed, the total costs to the Port Authority had reached $ 900 million. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on April 4 , 1973. In addition to
22852-516: The contract to run the restaurants after Windows's former operator, Inhilco , gave up its lease. After its reopening on June 26, 1996, the Greatest Bar on Earth and Cellar in the Sky (reopened after Labor Day ) replaced the original restaurant offshoots. In 1999, Cellar in the Sky was changed into an American steakhouse and renamed as Wild Blue. In 2000 (its last full year of operation), Windows on
23049-523: The current structures on the site include: One World Trade Center (previously coined the "Freedom Tower" by Governor Pataki) is the centerpiece of Libeskind's design. The building rises to 1,368 feet (417 m), the height of the original World Trade Center's North Tower, and its antenna rises to the symbolic height of 1,776 feet (541 m). This height refers to 1776, the year in which the United States Declaration of Independence
23246-506: The day and sushi in the evening) and Cellar in the Sky (a small wine bar ). Windows on the World also had a wine school program run by Kevin Zraly , who published a book on the course. Windows on the World was forced to close following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as the explosion damaged receiving areas, storage and parking spots used by the restaurant complex. On May 12, 1994, the Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Company won
23443-440: The deal, including a shorter 39-year lease, which the Port Authority considered nonnegotiable. Vornado later withdrew and Silverstein's bid for the lease to the World Trade Center was accepted on April 26 , 2001, and closed on July 24 , 2001. On September 11, 2001 , Islamist terrorists hijacked two commercial airliners and crashed them into the Twin Towers. One group led by Mohamed Atta crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into
23640-499: The design to stack local elevators within the same elevator shaft. Located on the 44th and 78th floors of each tower, the sky lobbies enabled the elevators to be used efficiently. This increased the amount of usable space on each floor from 62 to 75 percent by reducing the number of elevator shafts. Altogether, the World Trade Center had 95 express and local elevators. The structural engineering firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson worked to implement Yamasaki's design, developing
23837-452: The eighteenth century were found in 2010 during excavation work at the site. The ship, believed to be a Hudson River sloop , was found just south of where the Twin Towers used to stand, about 20 feet (6.1 m) below the surface. The area that was cleared for construction of the original World Trade Center complex was previously occupied by various electronics stores in what was called Radio Row . These streets and stores were demolished in
24034-536: The end of the month. Rafael Viñoly of the THINK Team and Studio Daniel Libeskind presented their designs to the LMDC, which selected the THINK design. Earlier the same day, however, Roland Betts , a member of the LMDC, had called a meeting and the corporation had agreed to vote for the THINK design before hearing the final presentations. Governor Pataki, who had originally commissioned the LMDC, intervened and overruled
24231-519: The fire and was criminally charged. The first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center occurred on February 26, 1993, at 12:17 p.m. A Ryder truck filled with 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of explosives (planted by Ramzi Yousef ) detonated in the North Tower's underground garage. The blast opened a 100 ft (30 m) hole through five sublevels, with the greatest damage occurring on levels B1 and B2 and significant structural damage on level B3. Six people were killed and 1,042 others were injured in
24428-704: The first U.S. capitol and the first inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States , is located at the corner of Wall Street and Nassau Street . The Financial District has a number of tourist attractions such as the South Street Seaport Historic District, newly renovated Pier 17, the New York City Police Museum , the Museum of American Finance , the National Museum of
24625-496: The floors. The trusses connected to the perimeter at alternate columns and were on 6 foot 8 inch (2.03 m) centers. The top chords of the trusses were bolted to seats welded to the spandrels on the exterior side and a channel welded to the core columns on the interior side. The floors were connected to the perimeter spandrel plates with viscoelastic dampers that helped reduce the amount of sway felt by building occupants. Hat trusses (or "outrigger trusses") located from
24822-654: The footprints, underneath which sits a memorial space whose walls bear the names of the victims. The slurry wall , which holds back the Hudson River in the west and was an integral part of Libeskind's proposal, remains exposed. Walker and Arad were selected from more than 5,000 entrants in the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition in January 2004. On October 12, 2004, the LMDC announced that Gehry Partners LLP and Snøhetta , an architectural firm from Norway, would design
25019-411: The foundation was completed, construction on the main structure never commenced. 7 World Trade Center stands off of Port Authority property. David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the tower. Construction of the new 7 World Trade Center began in 2002 and the building opened on May 23, 2006, achieving LEED gold status and being the first tower in the complex to reopen. The building
25216-474: The general pattern of crowds during the working hours and emptiness at night was still apparent. There were also ten hotels and thirteen museums in 2010. In 2007 the French fashion retailer Hermès opened a store in the Financial District to sell items such as a "$ 4,700 custom-made leather dressage saddle or a $ 47,000 limited edition alligator briefcase". However, there are reports of panhandlers like elsewhere in
25413-455: The governors of both New York and New Jersey . New Jersey Governor Robert B. Meyner objected to New York getting a $ 335 million project. Toward the end of 1961, negotiations with outgoing New Jersey Governor Meyner reached a stalemate. At the time, ridership on New Jersey's H&M Railroad had declined substantially—from a high of 113 million riders in 1927, to 26 million in 1958—after new automobile tunnels and bridges had opened across
25610-579: The human scale." Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable criticized the design of the twin towers when they were first announced, saying: "Here we have the world's daintiest architecture for the world's biggest buildings." The twin towers had more floors (at 110) than any other building before the completion of the Sears Tower in 1973. They were not surpassed until the construction of the Burj Khalifa , which opened in 2010. The towers were also
25807-427: The individual buildings have been designed by different architects. While not all of Liebeskind's ideas were incorporated into the final design, his design and the public support it garnered did solidify the principle that the original footprints of the Twin Towers should be turned into a memorial and not be used for commercial purposes. As a result, Liebeskind's lawyers at the New York firm of Wachtell Lipton embarked on
26004-470: The intersection of Greenwich Street and the former Dey Street, Dutch explorer Adriaen Block 's ship, the Tyger , burned to the waterline in November 1613, stranding Block and his crew and forcing them to overwinter on the island. The remains of the ship were buried under landfill when the shoreline was extended starting in 1797, and were discovered during excavation work in 1916. The remains of another ship from
26201-440: The landfill. According to NIST, when WTC 1 (the North Tower) collapsed, falling debris struck 7 World Trade Center and ignited fires on multiple floors. The uncontrolled fires ultimately led to the progressive collapse of the structure. Shortly after the attacks, the surrounding buildings were fitted with red mesh to prevent further damage. In November 2001, the remaining portions of Building 4 were leveled. In December 2001,
26398-513: The largest shopping mall in Manhattan. Although the new mall is only spread over roughly one-half of the original mall's footprint (due to the new space required for the below-grade National September 11 Memorial & Museum), the mall is double-level, whereas the original mall was a single level. Three additional levels will exist above grade on the lower floors of 2 and 3 World Trade Center, while 4 World Trade Center currently houses four above-grade levels. The World Trade Center station's headhouse,
26595-461: The main buildings of the World Trade Center. Construction of the North Tower at One World Trade Center began in 1966 with the South Tower at Two World Trade Center. When completed in 1972, 1 World Trade Center became the tallest building in the world for two years, surpassing the Empire State Building after its 40-year reign. The North Tower stood 1,368 feet (417 m) tall and featured a 362 foot (110 m) telecommunications antenna or mast that
26792-428: The modular pieces off-site at the fabrication shop. Adjacent modules were bolted together with the splices occurring at mid-span of the columns and spandrels. The spandrel plates were located at each floor, transmitting shear stress between columns, allowing them to work together in resisting lateral loads. The joints between modules were staggered vertically so that the column splices between adjacent modules were not on
26989-464: The morning of August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit performed a high-wire walk between the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. For his unauthorized feat 1,312 feet (400 m) above the ground, he rigged a 440-pound (200 kg) cable and used a custom-made 30-foot-long (9.1 m), 55-pound (25 kg) balancing pole. He performed for 45 minutes, making eight passes along the wire. Though Petit
27186-406: The most complex real estate transaction in human history because of the complexity of the issues involved, the many stakeholders, and the difficulty of reaching consensus. An episode of CBS 's 60 Minutes in 2010 focused on the lack of progress at Ground Zero, particularly on the lack of completion dates for a majority of the buildings, the main tower, One World Trade Center (previously known as
27383-462: The most frustrated person in the world...I'm seventy-eight years of age; I want to see this thing done in my lifetime". However, it was noted that in early 2011, all five office towers of the World Trade Center had begun construction. The social center of the old World Trade Center included a spectacular restaurant on the 107th Floor, called Windows on the World , and its Greatest Bar in the World; these were tourist attractions in their own right, and
27580-445: The multi-year negotiation process to frame a master plan for the rebuilding. The first step in this process, completed in 2003, was the "swap" in which Silverstein gave up his rights to the footprints of the Twin Towers so that they could become a memorial, and in exchange received the right to build five new office towers around the memorial. The "swap" and the ensuing negotiations, which lasted for many years, have been referred to as
27777-594: The neighborhood is in the 61st, 65th, and 66th districts, represented respectively by Charles Fall , Grace Lee , and Deborah Glick . Politically, the Financial District in New York's 10th congressional district ; as of 2022 , it is represented by Dan Goldman . Financial District and Lower Manhattan are patrolled by the 1st Precinct of the NYPD , located at 16 Ericsson Place. The 1st Precinct ranked 63rd safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. Though
27974-491: The new location and the Port Authority's acquisition of the H&M Railroad, New Jersey agreed to support the World Trade Center project. As part of the deal, the Port Authority renamed the H&M "Port Authority Trans-Hudson", or PATH for short. To compensate Radio Row business owners for their displacement, the Port Authority gave each business $ 3,000 without regard to how long the business had been there or how prosperous it was. The Port Authority began purchasing properties in
28171-481: The north of the superblock. Beneath the World Trade Center complex was an underground shopping mall . It had connections to various mass transit facilities, including the New York City Subway system and the Port Authority's PATH trains. One of the world's largest gold depositories was located underneath the World Trade Center, owned by a group of commercial banks. The 1993 bombing detonated close to
28368-464: The northern facade of the North Tower at 8:46:40 a.m.; the aircraft struck between the 93rd and 99th floors. Seventeen minutes later, at 9:03:11 a.m., a second group led by Marwan al-Shehhi crashed the similarly hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 into the southern facade of the South Tower, striking it between the 77th and 85th floors. Financial District, Manhattan The Financial District of Lower Manhattan , also known as FiDi ,
28565-414: The number of crimes is low compared to other NYPD precincts, the residential population is also much lower. As of 2018 , with a non-fatal assault rate of 24 per 100,000 people, Financial District and Lower Manhattan's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 152 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole. The 1st Precinct has
28762-433: The observation deck included 24 video monitors, which provided descriptions of 44 points of interest in six languages; a theater showing a film of a simulated helicopter tour around the city called "Manhattan Magic"; a model of Manhattan with 750 buildings; a Kodak photo booth and two gift shops. The 107th-floor also featured a subway -themed food court that featured Sbarro Street Station and Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs with
28959-409: The official Ground Zero Memorial or Gehry's museum. Construction of the memorial was completed by early 2011. The memorial opened on September 11, 2011, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the attacks. The museum was initially scheduled to open on September 11, 2012, one year after the opening of the memorial. However, construction was halted in December 2011 due to financial disputes between
29156-403: The outdoor plaza reopened after undergoing $ 12 million in renovations. This involved replacing marble pavers with over 40,000 gray and pink granite stones, as well as adding benches, planters, food kiosks, and outdoor dining areas. Although most of the space in the World Trade Center complex was off-limits to the public, the South Tower featured a public glass-enclosed observation deck on
29353-496: The percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 38% in Financial District and Lower Manhattan, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018 , Financial District and Lower Manhattan are considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying . The population of the Financial District has grown to an estimated 61,000 residents as of 2018, up from 43,000 as of 2014, which in turn
29550-405: The perimeter and core was bridged by prefabricated floor trusses. The floors supported their own weight as well as live loads , providing lateral stability to the exterior walls and distributing wind loads among the exterior walls. The floors consisted of 4-inch (10 cm) thick lightweight concrete slabs laid on a fluted steel deck. A grid of lightweight bridging trusses and main trusses supported
29747-415: The plaza stood the monumental sculpture The Sphere by German artist Fritz Koenig . The world's largest bronze sculpture of modern times was surrounded by a fountain. The site had other sculptures such as Ideogram , Cloud Fortress , and the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing Memorial fountain. The plaza was pervaded by Muzak background music that came from installed loudspeakers. For many years,
29944-469: The plaza was renamed after Port Authority's late chairman, Austin J. Tobin, who authorized the construction of the original World Trade Center. During the summer, the Port Authority installed a portable stage, typically backed up against the North Tower within Tobin Plaza for musicians and performers. These series of concerts and events were called "CenterStage at the World Trade Center". At the center of
30141-487: The plaza. 6 World Trade Center , at the northwest corner, housed the United States Customs Service . 5 World Trade Center was located at the northeast corner above the PATH station, and 4 World Trade Center , located at the southeast corner, housed the U.S. Commodities Exchange . In 1987, construction was completed on a 47-floor office building, 7 World Trade Center , located to
30338-428: The population. The entirety of Community District 1, which comprises the Financial District and other Lower Manhattan neighborhoods, had 63,383 inhabitants as of NYC Health 's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 85.8 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are young to middle-aged adults: half (50%) are between
30535-468: The rebuilding process, and works with the PANYNJ, Larry Silverstein, and Studio Daniel Libeskind , the master plan architect for the site's redesign. The corporation also handles communication with the local community, businesses, the city of New York, and relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks. A 16-member board of directors, half appointed by the governor and half by the mayor of New York, governs
30732-408: The reconstruction of the site as part of the new World Trade Center , following a master plan by Studio Daniel Libeskind . Developer Larry Silverstein holds the lease to retail and office space in four of the site's buildings. The western portion of the World Trade Center site was originally under the Hudson River, with the shoreline in the vicinity of Greenwich Street. On this shoreline close to
30929-484: The redesign of the World Trade Center site. On July 16, 2002, Beyer Blinder Belle unveiled six concepts for redesigning the World Trade Center site. All six designs were voted "poor" by the roughly 5,000 New Yorkers that submitted feedback, so the LDMC announced a new, international, open-design study. In an August 2002 press release, the LMDC announced a design study for the World Trade Center site. The following month,
31126-445: The same floor. Below the 7th floor to the foundation, there were fewer, wider-spaced perimeter columns to accommodate doorways. The core of the towers housed the elevator and utility shafts, restrooms, three stairwells, and other support spaces. The core of each tower was a rectangular area 87 by 135 feet (27 by 41 m) and contained 47 steel columns running from the bedrock to the top of the tower. The large, column-free space between
31323-591: The second anniversary of the attack and have been lit on each subsequent September 11 since then. In February 2005, the New York City Medical Examiner's office ended its process of identifying human remains at the site. In August 2008, New York City firefighters donated a cross made of steel from the World Trade Center to the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Company. The beam, mounted atop a platform shaped like
31520-402: The semifinalists' designs. As the Twin Towers' insurance money recipient, Silverstein claimed that he had the sole right to decide what would be built. He announced that he had already picked Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as his master planner for the site. On February 1, 2003, the LMDC selected two finalists, the THINK Team and Studio Daniel Libeskind, and planned on picking a single winner by
31717-590: The site which is land where streets had been before the World Trade Center was built. In subsequent deals, the Port Authority gave some land to Larry Silverstein, including the land under 2 and 3 WTC in 2008. Soon after the September 11 attacks, Mayor Rudy Giuliani , Governor George Pataki , and President George W. Bush vowed to rebuild the World Trade Center site. On the day of the attacks, Giuliani proclaimed, "We will rebuild. We're going to come out of this stronger than before, politically stronger, economically stronger. The skyline will be made whole again." In
31914-484: The site's performing arts and museum complexes, respectively, in the same area as the memorial. The Snøhetta-designed museum will act as a memorial museum and visitors' center, after family members of 9/11 victims objected to the building's original occupant, the International Freedom Center . The Ground Zero Museum Workshop is a privately run 501(c) nonprofit museum that is not connected to
32111-435: The site. In January 2002, New York City art dealer Max Protetch solicited 50 concepts and renderings from artists and architects, which were put on exhibit in his Chelsea art gallery . In April 2002, the LMDC sent out requests for proposals to redesign the World Trade Center site to 24 Manhattan architecture firms, but then soon withdrew them. The following month, the LMDC selected Beyer Blinder Belle as planner for
32308-421: The steel skeleton was mostly complete by 2012. The building opened in November 2013, making it the second tower on the site to open behind 7 World Trade Center, as well as the first building on the Port Authority property. The first tenants to move in were two government agencies, and as of July 2015 , the building is 62% leased. Five World Trade Center was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and will stand where
32505-526: The sways. These viscoelastic dampers, used throughout the structures at the joints between floor trusses and perimeter columns along with some other structural modifications, reduced the building sway to an acceptable level. In March 1965, the Port Authority began acquiring property at the World Trade Center site. Demolition work began on March 21 , 1966, to clear thirteen square blocks of low rise buildings in Radio Row for its construction. Groundbreaking for
32702-432: The taller the building, the more elevators are needed to service it, requiring more space-consuming elevator banks. Yamasaki and the engineers decided to use a new system with two " sky lobbies "—floors where people could switch from a large-capacity express elevator to a local elevator that goes to each floor in a section. This system, inspired by the local-express train operation used in New York City's subway system, allowed
32899-439: The teenage birth rate is based on a small sample size. Financial District and Lower Manhattan have a low population of residents who are uninsured . In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 4%, less than the citywide rate of 12%, though this was based on a small sample size. The concentration of fine particulate matter , the deadliest type of air pollutant , in Financial District and Lower Manhattan
33096-471: The term is sometimes used as a synonym for Wall Street , the latter term is often applied metonymously to the financial markets as a whole (and is also a street in the district), whereas "the Financial District" implies an actual geographical location. The Financial District is part of Manhattan Community Board 1 , which also includes five other neighborhoods ( Battery Park City , Civic Center , Greenwich South , Seaport , and Tribeca ). The streets in
33293-483: The third floor has three theaters with between 99 and 450 seats. All three theaters are designed so that the walls will be able to rotate and expand to provide extra space for a single theater if needed. The theaters can fit approximately 1,200 people combined. Liberty Park, a new elevated park, was built on top of a parking complex named the Vehicular Security Center at the southwest corner of
33490-436: The tower. In addition to fire damage on the 9th through the 14th floors, the water used to extinguish the fire damaged a few of the floors below. At that time, the World Trade Center had no fire sprinkler systems . On March 12, 1981, the Port Authority announced a $ 45 million plan to install sprinklers throughout the World Trade Center. A disgruntled custodian, 19 year old Oswald Adorno, was discovered to have deliberately started
33687-465: The towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires in several surrounding buildings that were initiated by falling debris, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the WTC complex's buildings, including 7 World Trade Center , and caused catastrophic damage to 10 other large structures in the surrounding area. The cleanup and recovery process at
33884-547: The transmission tower. The framed-tube design, using steel core and perimeter columns protected with sprayed-on fire-resistant material, created a relatively lightweight structure that would sway more in response to the wind compared to traditional structures, such as the Empire State Building that has thick, heavy masonry for fireproofing of steel structural elements. During the design process, wind tunnel tests were done to establish design wind pressures that
34081-460: The two main towers of the World Trade Center. The towers collapsed within less than two hours of the collisions. 2,606 people, including 2,192 civilians, 343 firefighters, and 71 law enforcement officers who were in the towers and in the surrounding area died in the attacks, as well as 147 civilians and the 10 hijackers aboard the two airliners. After the collapse of the World Trade Center, hospital workers and law enforcement officers began referring to
34278-401: The vault. Seven weeks after the September 11 attacks, $ 230 million in precious metals was removed from basement vaults of 4 WTC. This included 3,800 100-Troy-ounce 24 carat gold bars and 30,000 1,000-ounce silver bars. On February 13, 1975, a three-alarm fire broke out on the North Tower's 11th floor. It spread to the 9th and 14th floors after igniting telephone cable insulation in
34475-706: The victims on May 15, 2014 and opened to the general public on May 21, 2014. In early December 2013, Australian retail corporation Westfield announced that it will invest US$ 800 million for complete control of the retail space at the rebuilt center . Westfield purchased the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 's 50 percent stake in the retail part of the World Trade Center site, increasing its total investment to more than US$ 1.4 billion. Westfield World Trade Center opened with its first group of stores on August 16, 2016. It has roughly 365,000 square feet (33,900 m ) of retail space, which once again makes it
34672-424: The victory they seek." However, by 2011, only one building, 7 World Trade Center , had been rebuilt. The buildings that have been rebuilt as of June 2018 include 7 World Trade Center, One World Trade Center , 4 World Trade Center , and 3 World Trade Center . The original twin towers took less than three years from start of construction to be finished and five years from the beginning planning stages. However, given
34869-538: The view unobstructed, unlike the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Windows on the World, the restaurant on the North Tower's 106th and 107th floors, opened in April 1976 . It was developed by restaurateur Joe Baum at a cost of more than $ 17 million. As well as the main restaurant, two offshoots were located at the top of the North Tower: Hors d'Oeuvrerie (offered a Danish smorgasbord during
35066-419: The west, Liberty Street to the south, and Church Street to the east. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) owns the site's land (except for 7 World Trade Center ). The original World Trade Center complex stood on the site until it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks. The Port Authority, Silverstein Properties , and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) have overseen
35263-471: The west; and the 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , A , C , E , J , N , R , W , and Z trains through the Fulton Center on the east. The new station, as well as the September 11 Memorial and Museum, is air-cooled via a heat exchanger fed by four pipes carrying water from
35460-536: The world's first world trade center . They had two choices: the east side of Lower Manhattan , near the South Street Seaport ; or the west side, near the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M) station, Hudson Terminal . Initial plans, made public in 1961, identified a site along the East River for the World Trade Center. As a bi-state agency, the Port Authority required approval for new projects from
35657-621: The world, and the New York Stock Exchange is the world's largest stock exchange by total market capitalization . Several other major exchanges have or had headquarters in the Financial District, including the New York Mercantile Exchange , NASDAQ , the New York Board of Trade , and the former American Stock Exchange . The Financial District is part of Manhattan Community District 1 , and its primary ZIP Codes are 10004, 10005, 10006, 10007, and 10038. It
35854-432: Was 1,362 ft (415 m) high and its indoor observation deck was 1,310 ft (400 m) high. Each tower stood over 1,350 feet (410 m) high, and occupied about 1 acre (4,000 m) of the total 16 acres (65,000 m) of the site's land. During a press conference in 1973, Yamasaki was asked, "Why two 110-story buildings? Why not one 220-story building?" His tongue-in-cheek response was: "I didn't want to lose
36051-451: Was a warehouse district in what is now Tribeca and the Financial District . Harry Schneck opened City Radio on Cortlandt Street in 1921, and eventually, the area held several blocks of electronics stores, with Cortlandt Street as its central axis. The used radios, war surplus electronics (e.g., AN/ARC-5 radios), junk, and parts were often piled so high they would spill out onto the street, attracting collectors and scroungers. According to
36248-498: Was built on the roof in 1979 (upgraded in 1999 to accommodate DTV broadcasts). With this addition, the highest point of the North Tower reached 1,730 feet (530 m). Chicago's Willis Tower , then called Sears Tower which was finished in May 1973 , reached 1,450 feet (440 m) at the rooftop. When completed in 1973, the South Tower became the second tallest building in the world at 1,362 feet (415 m). Its rooftop observation deck
36445-554: Was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, he was later freed in exchange for performing for children in Central Park . On February 20, 1981, an Aerolíneas Argentinas airliner was guided away by air traffic controllers after radar signals indicated it was on a collision course with the North Tower (1 WTC). The aircraft, which departed from José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil , Ecuador, and
36642-485: Was completed by October 2013. Anchor tenant Group M was finally signed in late 2013, but finance negotiations between Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority dragged, until an agreement was reached in June 2014. Construction resumed in August 2014, and the building opened on June 11, 2018. Maki and Associates designed Four World Trade Center , also known as 150 Greenwich Street. Construction started in 2008, and
36839-429: Was completed. In July 2010, a team of archaeologists at the site discovered the remains of a 32-foot (9.8 m)-long boat over 200 years old; it was probably made in the 18th century and dumped there along with wooden beams and trash in about 1810 to make up the land. The boat had been weighted to make it sink as part of foundations for a new pier . Samples of its wood have been taken for dendrochronology . While
37036-471: Was concentrated in Midtown Manhattan . To help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, David Rockefeller suggested that the Port Authority build a World Trade Center there. Plans for the use of eminent domain to remove the shops in Radio Row bounded by Vesey , Church , Liberty , and West Streets began in 1961 when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was deciding to build
37233-477: Was doubling the number of support columns. In the original plan, the construction of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum was only supposed to have begun after the Transportation Hub had been completed because the roof of the Transportation Hub provided the foundation on which the Memorial rested upon and the walls of the Museum. Due to the two-year delay and pressure by the victims' families to have the Memorial completed by
37430-403: Was heavily damaged. After the bombing, the Port Authority installed photoluminescent pathway markings in the stairwells. The fire alarm system for the entire complex needed to be replaced because critical wiring and signaling in the original system were destroyed. A memorial to the victims of the bombing, a reflecting pool , was installed with the names of those who were killed in the blast. It
37627-490: Was later destroyed following the September 11 attacks. The names of the victims of the 1993 bombing are included in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum . In January 1998, a DeCavalcante crime family member Ralph Guarino gained maintenance access to the World Trade Center. He arranged a three-man crew for a heist that netted over $ 2 million from a Brinks delivery to the North Tower's 11th floor. On
37824-589: Was nearly double the 23,000 recorded at the 2000 Census. In the New York City Council , the Financial District is part of District 1 , represented by Democrat Christopher Marte . List of aldermen /councilmen who have represented the Financial District The Financial District is part of New York's 27th State Senate district , represented by Brian P. Kavanagh . In the New York State Assembly ,
38021-412: Was necessary before the excavation of material from the interior of the site could begin. The 1,200,000 cubic yards (920,000 m) of excavated material were used (along with other fill and dredge material) to expand the Manhattan shoreline across West Street to form Battery Park City . The Port Authority awarded $ 74 million in contracts to various steel suppliers in January 1967, and excavation of
38218-513: Was reopened to the public on September 17, 2002, the first major structure to be completely restored following the attacks. Starting March 11, 2002, eighty-eight searchlights were installed and arranged to form two beams of light shooting straight up into the sky. This was called the Tribute in Light , and was originally lit every day at dusk until April 14, 2002. After that, the lights were lit on
38415-503: Was scheduled to land at nearby JFK Airport , was flying at a much lower altitude than regulations recommended. The 1995 PCA world chess championship was played on the 107th floor of the South Tower. On February 8, 2000, a worker was crushed to death and another was injured by an industrial cooling unit. Slow leasing was a hallmark of the old World Trade Center complex. The Twin Towers suffered high vacancy rates for decades. The complex achieved 95% occupancy only in mid-2001. Following
38612-411: Was signed. The tower was a collaboration between Studio Daniel Libeskind and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architect David Childs . Childs acted as the design architect and project manager for the tower, and Daniel Libeskind collaborated on the concept and schematic design. The design was finalized in 2004, but was revised extensively after the NYPD raised security concerns, which delayed the start of
38809-523: Was suggested by David Rockefeller to help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, and his brother Nelson , then New York's 49th governor, signed the legislation to build it. The buildings at the complex were designed by Minoru Yamasaki . In 1998, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided to privatize it by leasing the buildings to a private company to manage. It awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in July 2001 . During its existence,
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