NEW YORK | One World Trade Center (1WTC) | 541m | 1776ft | 104 fl | T/O

[JD47]

Originally Posted by parsonsnose

Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of the Catholic diocese of New York was recently elevated to a Cardinal by the Pope. The lights of 1WTC have been colored red in his honor.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few ex choirboys whose arses went red in his honour before now.

What a sick thing that would be. You are probaly right though.

[RobertWalpole]

Originally Posted by Sławek

WOW. A very unusual form of the monument of Katyn crime.

Stunng photo.

[ThatOneGuy]

Is the cladding still at the octagon point?

[Kanto]

Originally Posted by bgdrewsif

As do I... yes we all greatly miss the old WTC... but what is replacing them is in almost every sense superior to what was lost (physical nope, safety yup, engineering yup, aesthetics nope, integration into surrounding community nope and street grid yup, environmental impact yup)

Btw, I have new pics

image hosted on flickr

IMG_0998 by Aussie Browne, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Freedom Tower by rvnix, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

New York is the perfect model of a city, not the model of a perfect city... by FerPecT_sHotz, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Freedom Tower and Friends by Babylon and Beyond Photography, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

One World Trade Center Progress March 2, 2012 by RBudhu, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

IMG_0980 by Aussie Browne, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Downtown Sunset by Matthew Pugliese, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

One Last View of the Freedom Tower in Progress by Babylon and Beyond Photography, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Sunset in the City by Matthew Pugliese, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

lower Manhattan by pmarella, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Night Sky over NYC by Jack Ballenger, on Flickr

And the PA cam at the end

[Eric Offereins]

thanks for searching the www for pics again.

[the sock]

has it got 1 or 2 jumps to pass the empire state ?

[MusicMan84]

Took some photos yesterday - thought I would share a couple.

[tim1807]

Originally Posted by ThatOneGuy

Is the cladding still at the octagon point?

Yes, about one floor under it. The diagonal steel beam is right between the vertical beams.

[JD47]

Great pictures guys.

[bgdrewsif]

Kanto, if you are going to type this:
"As do I... yes we all greatly miss the old WTC... but what is replacing them is in almost every sense superior to what was lost (physical nope, safety yup, engineering yup, aesthetics nope, integration into surrounding community nope and street grid yup, environmental impact yup)"

I think it fair to know why you do not feel that the new WTC will not be physically superior, aesthetically superior, or better integrated into the surrounding community than the old WTC?

As I see it, the new WTC buildings are airier, roomier, let in far more natural light, and provide much better comforts for building occupants (some of the office photos I have seen from the original towers are downright claustrophobic and dire looking). From the outside the entire complex is covered in glass and beautifully reflects the lights and skyline of neighboring buildings and even Jersey City is clearly reflected in the almost mirror-like finish of 4WTC in many photos I have seen... The old towers, while they had become familiar landmark, were in many ways a brutalist appendage upon the base of Manhattan and buildings 3 (hotel) and 4, 5, 6, and tower 7 were hardly renowned as attractive or memorable architectural works from an aesthetic standpoint compared to the new Towers 1, 2, 3, 4, the museum pavilion, and the Calatrava-designed transit hall which are generally beautiful and shimmering structures even if towers 3 and 4 are not 'revolutionary' in their overall structural designs...

And the new WTC complex reintegrated the street plan of lower Manhattan that the local community desperately wanted (particularly the new building 7 vs the footprint of the old building 7 which cut off lower Manhattan from the rest of the city's streets and views). The new complex provides the memorial complex and hundreds of trees, grasses, waterfalls, and accompanying wildlife (birds and squirrels and whatnot) compared to the brutalist and stark concrete expanse that was the former Austin J. Tobin Plaza that was almost universally regarded as a barren expanse of concrete despite continual efforts to 'liven' it with planters, benches, speakers, and the occasional concert stages and performances... Can you honestly support the argument that Tobin Plaza was better for New York and the Lower Manhattan community that that memorial site and its landscapes?

The last 10 years have been a continual give and take process between the residents, the developers, and governments but I think its is generally accepted that what has emerged as a result of this messy democratic process greatly exceeds what was destroyed (not including lives lost, only the site itself). The original WTC was a monument to eminent domain, government assert its unwelcome will upon the community, and a project without long-term vision... The new WTC is a case study in negotiation, community input from thousands of stockholders, long-term legacy planning, environmental planning and design, etc.

I am not one of those stakeholders... I have only been through JFK twice in the spring and summer of 2004 (which was an awful and shocking experience both times, Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport has been ranked 'America's Friendliest Airport' for numerous consecutive years, a title I cannot imagine JFK getting anytime soon...) so I freely grant to all that my knowledge of the new and old WTC is of an outsider... but based on all that I have seen, read, and researched I cannot imagine how the old WTC could in any objective sense be better that its successor complex...

So, Kanto, my response tries to take some time to thoughtfully argue and support my views in a manner more detailed than 'yup' or 'nope' and I do hope your response will be more involved also... I promise not to get into some silly shouting match as too many on here do since I really have no personal stake in this, I dont live in NY, never visited there, and aside from hoping to see the WTC someday I have no other desire to go to NY... I just wish to hear how others would respond to and defend the opposite perspective on this... Thank you!

[MattSid]

Originally Posted by MusicMan84

Took some photos yesterday - thought I would share a couple.

Which Building is the close-up?

[Dwotci]

Originally Posted by MattSid

Which Building is the close-up?

Two World Financial Center.

[kiyardo]

Does anyone know when they will start the cladding again?

[aquablue]

Originally Posted by bgdrewsif

Kanto, if you are going to type this:
"As do I... yes we all greatly miss the old WTC... but what is replacing them is in almost every sense superior to what was lost (physical nope, safety yup, engineering yup, aesthetics nope, integration into surrounding community nope and street grid yup, environmental impact yup)"

I think it fair to know why you do not feel that the new WTC will not be physically superior, aesthetically superior, or better integrated into the surrounding community than the old WTC?

As I see it, the new WTC buildings are airier, roomier, let in far more natural light, and provide much better comforts for building occupants (some of the office photos I have seen from the original towers are downright claustrophobic and dire looking). From the outside the entire complex is covered in glass and beautifully reflects the lights and skyline of neighboring buildings and even Jersey City is clearly reflected in the almost mirror-like finish of 4WTC in many photos I have seen... The old towers, while they had become familiar landmark, were in many ways a brutalist appendage upon the base of Manhattan and buildings 3 (hotel) and 4, 5, 6, and tower 7 were hardly renowned as attractive or memorable architectural works from an aesthetic standpoint compared to the new Towers 1, 2, 3, 4, the museum pavilion, and the Calatrava-designed transit hall which are generally beautiful and shimmering structures even if towers 3 and 4 are not 'revolutionary' in their overall structural designs...

And the new WTC complex reintegrated the street plan of lower Manhattan that the local community desperately wanted (particularly the new building 7 vs the footprint of the old building 7 which cut off lower Manhattan from the rest of the city's streets and views). The new complex provides the memorial complex and hundreds of trees, grasses, waterfalls, and accompanying wildlife (birds and squirrels and whatnot) compared to the brutalist and stark concrete expanse that was the former Austin J. Tobin Plaza that was almost universally regarded as a barren expanse of concrete despite continual efforts to 'liven' it with planters, benches, speakers, and the occasional concert stages and performances... Can you honestly support the argument that Tobin Plaza was better for New York and the Lower Manhattan community that that memorial site and its landscapes?

The last 10 years have been a continual give and take process between the residents, the developers, and governments but I think its is generally accepted that what has emerged as a result of this messy democratic process greatly exceeds what was destroyed (not including lives lost, only the site itself). The original WTC was a monument to eminent domain, government assert its unwelcome will upon the community, and a project without long-term vision... The new WTC is a case study in negotiation, community input from thousands of stockholders, long-term legacy planning, environmental planning and design, etc.

I am not one of those stakeholders... I have only been through JFK twice in the spring and summer of 2004 (which was an awful and shocking experience both times, Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport has been ranked 'America's Friendliest Airport' for numerous consecutive years, a title I cannot imagine JFK getting anytime soon...) so I freely grant to all that my knowledge of the new and old WTC is of an outsider... but based on all that I have seen, read, and researched I cannot imagine how the old WTC could in any objective sense be better that its successor complex...

So, Kanto, my response tries to take some time to thoughtfully argue and support my views in a manner more detailed than 'yup' or 'nope' and I do hope your response will be more involved also... I promise not to get into some silly shouting match as too many on here do since I really have no personal stake in this, I dont live in NY, never visited there, and aside from hoping to see the WTC someday I have no other desire to go to NY... I just wish to hear how others would respond to and defend the opposite perspective on this... Thank you!

As regards that poster you refer to, all I can say is, you must be new here buddy.

[NYBOY1975]

FROM: NYBOY75

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpNPQh_1cJQ

[DinoVabec]

Before some of you start this conversation that non of us care about again, take it to the Private Messages and please spare us..I'm begging you..

[NYBOY1975]

FROM: NYMAN2010

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5194949...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5194949...in/photostream

[DominoCity]

OWTC has already become a landmark with its current height

[Chapelo]

Originally Posted by bgdrewsif

And the new WTC complex reintegrated the street plan of lower Manhattan that the local community desperately wanted (particularly the new building 7 vs the footprint of the old building 7 which cut off lower Manhattan from the rest of the city's streets and views). The new complex provides the memorial complex and hundreds of trees, grasses, waterfalls, and accompanying wildlife (birds and squirrels and whatnot) compared to the brutalist and stark concrete expanse that was the former Austin J. Tobin Plaza that was almost universally regarded as a barren expanse of concrete despite continual efforts to 'liven' it with planters, benches, speakers, and the occasional concert stages and performances... Can you honestly support the argument that Tobin Plaza was better for New York and the Lower Manhattan community that that memorial site and its landscapes?

I'm really not interested in discussing the merits of the old WTC vs the New, because this thread isn't the place for it, but I'll go ahead and oblige the above.

I agree that removing the street grid back in the 1960s was a bad idea, and disrupted the traffic flow of Manhattan, however, the Tobin Plaza did have it's own merit.

Having the site on it's own superblock led to a sort of "urban tranquility". I say this as someone who worked in the towers for four years and often spent my lunches eating in the plaza, watching throngs of goofy tourists bending their necks to take in the tall spectacle before them; outdated clothes, haircuts, fanny packs, polaroids, and all. It was a really nice place to people watch, eat lunch, and take in beautiful NYC summer days. Because it had no vehicular traffic going through it, it was rather calm and dare I say even peaceful compared to the streets immediately adjacent to the site; an urban respite. Granted, it was no Central Park, but it was still a nice relaxing place, not perfect, but it was something. The only big gripe I had with the plaza was it could get really windy, especially at the base of the towers.

While I think the new memorial plaza will be an aesthetic improvement over the original, I'll still always have fond memories of the original.

Hell, I met the woman who is now my wife in the Tobin Plaza in July 2000, that alone was enough for me.

No offense intended, but unless you experienced the first one, I really don't think you're in a position to talk about the original. Sorry if I offended your sensibilities, but that's just the way I feel.

[bgdrewsif]

Originally Posted by aquablue

As regards that poster you refer to, all I can say is, you must be new here buddy.

Not really... more of a lurker than a poster however unless I feel I actually have something meaningful to contribute... I know that the poster in question has a 'reputation' on this forum but I dont think I should lesson my discourse based on the reputations of others...

(been lurking here for years and years... )