Towering symbol: The fog rolls out across downtown Manhattan, captured from the 80th floor of One World Trade Center
Posted on 01/01/2012 1:35:07 PM PST by NYer
When it is completed, it will be the tallest building in Manhattan and one of incredible poignancy for New York City.
One World Trade Center reached its 90th floor this week - with just 14 more floors to go until the top. The structure can now be seen from all five boroughs of the city.
Stunning pictures showed how the area has been reborn since the 9/11 attacks more than a decade ago where almost 3,000 people lost their lives in the worst ever terrorist attack on American soil.
Towering symbol: The fog rolls out across downtown Manhattan, captured from the 80th floor of One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center is on track to be completed by 2013 with construction workers approximately finishing a floor a week in downtown Manhattan.
Electrical contractors at the tower agreed to give it a festive feel and wrapped the exterior lamps they use with coloured cellophane in time for Christmas.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Christmas spirit: Exterior lights at One WTC were covered in coloured cellophane by electrical contractors for a festive feel
It stands in the footsteps of the original twin towers among a small forest of oak trees in an eight-acre plaza. It features two 50ft-deep pools, each containing fountains, along with a museum with exhibitions and artefacts to teach visitors about the events of September 11.
At One World Trade Center, there is almost 3million square feet of office space - half of which had already been leased. There is also an observation deck planned more than 1,241ft above ground, fine-dining restaurants and a sprawling public lobby boasting 50ft ceilings. There will be eventually be six skyscrapers on the site altogether.
Breathtaking: Looking east from the 77th floor as construction work carries on below
The heart of New York City: One World Trade Center, from the 80th floor looking North, is due for completion in 2013 and will be the city's tallest building
Place of remembrance: The eight-acre plaza features a small forest of oak trees and a museum to teach visitors about the events of September 11
Wow. Thanks.
Cool photos but the photographer likes the HDR a bit too much.
Very cool.
Nice, but still think they should have done Two Towers instead of just one.
Thanks for the post and the pictures!
I could never work on a skyscraper. I get a queasy feeling just thinking about being up that high with no walls.
What kind of an attitude would the people take there in NYC if this tower had an attack of any kind?
I get queasy seeing that monstrous city below. Truly a place I never want to visit.
Cool photos but the photographer likes the HDR a bit too much.
It seemed like everyone working on the building lost friends and/or family on 9/11. They wanted to be at 100 floors by 9/11/11 but there was way too much snow last winter (when we were living there) to get that done.
It seemed like everyone working on the building lost friends and/or family on 9/11. They wanted to be at 100 floors by 9/11/11 but there was way too much snow last winter (when we were living there) to get that done.
Very nice but the whole World Trade Center rebuilding is a sorry commentary on how far we have fallen.
It took less than 16 MONTHS to build the Empire State Building from the start of excavation to ribbon cutting.
This is taking over a decade and there is still huge squabbling over everything.
The whole complex should have been excavated and restored to what it was within 5 years.
Oh, it’s a fascinating city. Don’t be prejudiced. I don’t want to live there anymore—or in any city—but it has wonderful, wonderful things about it.
Well, I guess changing the decorative bulbs on the Chrysler Building is just out. ;-)
They call this new building “One World Trade Center.” That’s an abomination and a total insult to the people that died in the REAL One World Trade Center. There will never be another one. How insensitive.
Umm, the address is 1 World Trade Center. It’s not a “One World” thing.
Agreed. HDR is great but it can be overdone.
That is not what the article said. Sorry.
Not to mention the tax dollars confiscated to build it...
I walked a 12 in wide flange 210 ft above ground years ago with no belts! The Steel Workers were impressedand I got their respect as the Project Engineer on the Job, but now I still have nightmares!! They told me way back then: “Don’t worry if You are above 40 ft! It won’t hurt!”
Going off a High dive is bad enough, think of those poor Souls who had to dive out of those burning Buildings 1000 ft above ground because of those Rabid Muslim Terrorists on 9-11-01!! Islam is NO a religion of Peace, it is a cult of Hate.
If I were renting one of the top floors I would have a parachute in my office.
What’s that building with the domey looking top?
One little quibble. Those 3,000 lives were not lost. They were taken.
I walked a 12 in wide flange 210 ft above ground years ago with no belts! The Steel Workers were impressedand I got their respect as the Project Engineer on the Job, but now I still have nightmares!! They told me way back then: “Don’t worry if You are above 40 ft! It won’t hurt!”
Going off a High dive is bad enough, think of those poor Souls who had to dive out of those burning Buildings 1000 ft above ground because of those Rabid Muslim Terrorists on 9-11-01!! Islam is NOT a religion of Peace, it is a cult of Hate.
Not to worry, the mosque two blocks away will go up pig grease lightning fast.
I’m with you Tex. Those lives were sacrificed in the name of allah not lost.
Or floors?
I get queasy being that high WITH walls. Ate at the “Top of the World” at the old WTC years ago, and was never so happy to get out of a restaurant in my life. I’m a terra firma kinda person.
Nice talk. You witness to others with that mouth?
I enter a lot of photography contests and see a lot of wins given based on popularity of HDR over skill and artistry. It won’t always be that way but it can be irritating if you’re wasting good entries against them.
You and me both.
Just looking at the pictures gives me the willies.
I understand where you are coming from as I prefer the country life myself. However, I highly recommend a visit to Manhattan before you die. It is truly a memorable experience. Just make sure you bring plenty of money!
My career takes me to Manhattan on a somewhat regular basis and I've been there on pleasure with my wife several times over the past 30 years. While I would never want to live there, I do love going there to visit.
One thing that amazes me about NYC is how every single block is a city within itself. It would take you weeks to sample every bar and restaurant on any given mid-town Manhattan block and even when you think you've been to them all, there will be many more (known to the locals) that are hidden away in tiny nooks and crannies. I remember having lunch there one day during a business trip and my co-worker took me down a tiny alley, down two flights of steps, and into a soup restaurant where you had these gigantic bowls of delicious soup for just a few dollars. A tourist would have no idea it was ever there but the locals know. After all, the locals are not necessarily made of money and they need affordable places to eat. They are there if you know where to look. I was also taken to bars that had glasses of draft beer for a dollar. Again, not a place a tourist would ever find.
There are over 25,000 restaurants in New York City - if you ate at a different one every day, it would take you nearly 70 years to sample them all. Of course, the restaurants are always changing so even if you had all the time in the world, it would be physically impossible to visit them all.
If you visit New York City, I would recommend skipping the taxis and just walk everywhere. It will help burn all the calories you will be taking in. New York City has the best food in the world. Even something as simple as a slice of pizza or a hamburger tastes much better in Manhattan.
Surprisingly, New York City is one of the safest cities in the world to be a pedestrian in. As 90% of the traffic are taxicabs, you are dealing with professional drivers who are used to stopping on a dime. So if you jaywalk in NYC, you will get honked and cursed at, but they will always stop for you (watch out because the cops are quick to give pedestrians tickets for jaywalking).
Same with crime. Street cops are everywhere in the city proper so violent crime is very rare. So long as you stick to the main drags, you will likely never be hassled with. Do keep your wallet in your front pocket however as pickpockets abound and they are very good at their craft.
New York City is probably one of the few places on the planet where you can stumble out of your hotel room at 3 in the morning and get a decent meal or find plenty of other people to have a beer with. Las Vegas is probably the only comparable place I've been to where it is truly a 24/7 lifestyle.
I also like very tall buildings and Manhattan abounds with them. When I was a kid, I used to study the skyscrapers in the World Almanac of Facts and knew most of the major ones. It's a shame that other countries are now building taller buildings. I would like to see New York City start building some 200-story buildings that tower up to 3,000 feet in the air. That would definitely be a good thing and such buildings are very possible from an engineering standpoint.
“Don’t worry if You are above 40 ft! It won’t hurt!”
That is because I would die after about 15 ft.
“Don’t worry if You are above 40 ft! It won’t hurt!”
That is because I would die after about 15 ft.
what is HDR?
I like these photos
View is from the opposite side.
High Dynamic Range.
One of my most memorable experiences was when my wife and I went to NYC for our honeymoon in 1977. We had dinner at Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center. The view was incredible and unforgettable. The food and service was pretty good also.
why is it that the older I get the worse afraid of heights I am
that photo makes me queasy just looking at it nowadays
I think it started whan I saw a TV show on ‘free climbers’- those morons who climb cliffs and hang over the edge with just their fingertips
Takes a little longer to reach terminal velocity, and it's the sudden stop at the end that kills you.
Thank you for posting. I had dinner several times at the Trade Center. I also “temped” there in my youth and wonder how many of the people I worked with were lost. At that time, I was working for David Stockman.
My husband lost many friends that day - he was well connected to the restaurant.
They were iconic buildings and I mourn their loss.
Thanks NYer.
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