Ninety floors... and counting: The breathtaking views from One World Trade Center

Daily Mail ^ | December 16, 2011 | Louise Boyle

[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. 

[NYer]

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

[Pharmboy]

Wow. Thanks.

[cripplecreek]

Cool photos but the photographer likes the HDR a bit too much.

[bigheadfred]

Very cool.

[rbg81]

Nice, but still think they should have done Two Towers instead of just one.

[Red_Devil 232]

Thanks for the post and the pictures!

[Blood of Tyrants]

I could never work on a skyscraper. I get a queasy feeling just thinking about being up that high with no walls.

[Eye of Unk]

What kind of an attitude would the people take there in NYC if this tower had an attack of any kind?

[doorgunner69]

I get queasy seeing that monstrous city below. Truly a place I never want to visit.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Cool photos but the photographer likes the HDR a bit too much.

---

Indeed. And they don’t seem to care about skewed horizons of curved horizons that can easily be corrected.

[Dilbert56]

Discovery had a great series about this building. It's a much stronger building than the Twin Towers. It is designed with the idea that someone will detonate a truckload of explosives near its base or fly an airliner into it. The first few dozen stories are essentially a reinforced-concrete bunker The upper floors are also of a more resilient design than the Twin Towers, which relied on the walls to bear the bulk of the weight of the floors above.

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.

[Dilbert56]

Discovery had a great series about this building. It's a much stronger building than the Twin Towers. It is designed with the idea that someone will detonate a truckload of explosives near its base or fly an airliner into it. The first few dozen stories are essentially a reinforced-concrete bunker The upper floors are also of a more resilient design than the Twin Towers, which relied on the walls to bear the bulk of the weight of the floors above.

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.

[slorunner]

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.

[ottbmare]

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.

[6SJ7]

I could never work on a skyscraper. I get a queasy feeling just thinking about being up that high with no walls.

Well, I guess changing the decorative bulbs on the Chrysler Building is just out.   ;-)

[upchuck]

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.

[Dilbert56]

Umm, the address is 1 World Trade Center. It’s not a “One World” thing.

[Principle Over Politics]

Agreed. HDR is great but it can be overdone.