NYP: SKYLINE COURAGE -- Trump shows the way

New York Post ^ | May 19, 2005 | NICOLE GELINAS

[OESY]

Osama... did not attack only the World Trade Center on 9/11. And refusing to build new Twin Towers and reclaim our skyline from terrorists does not make New Yorkers safe. It makes us cowards.

Which is why the plan Donald Trump unveiled... is so refreshing.

Bin Laden and al Qaeda attacked the United States of America — and what it stands for around the world: Global trade and economic power in New York, military might at the Pentagon and democracy in Washington.

But a free civilization does not give up its ideals to the enemy so easily — nor does it surrender the physical symbols that communicate those ideals....

Twin Towers or no Twin Towers — the murderers who struck on 9/11 will try to kill us again and again, until we vanquish them — because we are Americans....

Why? The model represents something that the Freedom Tower could never represent: courage — the courage to go into a soaring office building and go to work.

Two objections to rebuilding the towers are based on practical concerns.

* One: It will be hard to fill up so much office space. But that's just an admission that we've surrendered Lower Manhattan's business vitality to bin Laden. Let the top floors stay empty for a few years, if people are still traumatized. But eventually, they'll come back — and sooner than the cynics think.

* Two: The people cannot tell developer Larry Silverstein what to do. Actually,... Pataki can tell Silverstein what to build, and must tell him to build new Twin Towers for New York.

...Trump said yesterday. "They can just do it.... It is very important to Lower Manhattan. It is very important to this city. It is very important to the country. And it is very important for freedom."...

[OESY]

Trump's Twin Tower design is the only one that attracts a consensus to move us beyond our current impasse. With the right leadership, the towers can be built quickly, restoring our sense of pride and courage.

Whether we build the Trump design or the Libeskind design depends on how optimistic we are about New York's future. I would call that the Spitzer Option. Elect Spitzer governor with his antibusiness, anti-jobs obsessions and not only will NYS have problems attracting companies to the state, but it will have trouble holding the economic base it presently has. Talented people will flee his rising taxes with the result that some floors of the new buildings will never be rented.

The key is not building height but economic prosperity. New York state has to begin to demonstrate it is pro-business, compared to competitive locations in the metro area, other states and other nations. Solid political leadership friendly to business starts with Pataki, Bruno, Silvers, Clinton and Schumer and, sadly, may be too much for residents in this liberal state to expect. Libeskind has the advantage.

[Puppage]

I say, rebuild the WTC and PUT THE UN ON THE TOP 20 FLOORS!!!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Pataki is a RINO idiot.

[Mr. K]

I have never really thought much of "The Donald" but I like this idea

GO TRUMP

[FReepaholic]

...I say, rebuild the WTC and PUT THE UN ON THE TOP 20 FLOORS!!!...

Excellent idea!

[Mr. K]

DING DING DING DING~! WE HAVE A WINNER FOR BEST POST

[CasearianDaoist]

No, rebuilt the WTC and fly a A380 into Turtle Bay.

[Kay Syrah]

Now that's the best idea I've heard in ages.

[LIConFem]

"I say, rebuild the WTC and PUT THE UN ON THE TOP 20 FLOORS!!!"

I'd much rather it be moved to another land, far, far away. The Antarctic would be good. Pluto would be even better. ;o)

[ikka]

Nah, just give the top guy in the Dept of Homeland Security an office and a condo in the top floor - he'll be motivated to make sure it never happens again :-)

[Tennessee_Bob]

The Antarctic would be good. Pluto would be even better

Lots of prime real estate in Atlantis...

[BadAndy]

Rebuild the twins! Taller, Better, Tougher. And I would add a giant hand with the middle finger extended as the TV antenna.

[LIConFem]

"Lots of prime real estate in Atlantis..."

Tough to get flood insurance, though...

[airborne]

I say, rebuild the WTC and PUT THE UN ON THE TOP 20 FLOORS!!!

Bump!

[Alberta's Child]

Trump's plan is idiotic on its face, and is really nothing more than political grandstanding on his part (though I must say that the original "Freedom Tower" concept was pretty much the same thing).

There will be no Trump Twin Towers rebuilt at the site, and there will be no Freedom Tower built at the site. Either of these projects would be a colossol financial disaster, as the office real estate market in Lower Manhattan couldn't even support the World Trade Center before 9/11.

7 World Trade Center, the 52-story building on the north side of the site that collapsed on 9/11, is being rebuilt right now and should be completed soon. The building doesn't have a single lease signed, other than the developer that is building it (Larry Silverstein).

[Who dat?]

There will be no Trump Twin Towers rebuilt at the site, and there will be no Freedom Tower built at the site. Either of these projects would be a colossol financial disaster, as the office real estate market in Lower Manhattan couldn't even support the World Trade Center before 9/11.

7 World Trade Center, the 52-story building on the north side of the site that collapsed on 9/11, is being rebuilt right now and should be completed soon. The building doesn't have a single lease signed, other than the developer that is building it (Larry Silverstein).

And guess what? Trump said essentially the same thing a few weeks after 9/11.

I suspect he is posturing for some reason. He’s either FOS now or was then because he has now made conflicting statements concerning the WTC.

[bboop]

But that is perfect! The UN on the top 20 floors? They could even have free rent. hahahah. I love FR.

[CaptainK]

Embed copies of the Koran into the walls. Wouldn't want to desecrate them with a 747.

[clyde260]

"Nah, just give the top guy in the Dept of Homeland Security an office and a condo in the top floor - he'll be motivated to make sure it never happens again :-)"

And therein lies a big problem. While most of us are for re-building the twins, who is going to work there?

Saturday night I was talking to a friend who had just passed through tower 2 on his way to work when the first plane hit. We all agreed that we wanted the towers put back, but I was struck by an idea.

So I looked at him and said "Bill, if they re-build them, and your office is in there, would you work there?

He looked at me, shook his head, and said "no, I couldn't".

[Dallas59]