[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.

[rbg81]

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

[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.

[Venturer]

If I were renting one of the top floors I would have a parachute in my office.

[Texas Eagle]

What’s that building with the domey looking top?

[Texas Eagle]

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.

One little quibble. Those 3,000 lives were not lost. They were taken.

[Chode]

[Malone LaVeigh]

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.

[miss marmelstein]

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.

[Focault's Pendulum]

I grew up in Jersey City. When I was very young (in the 60's) my oldest brother swam across the Hudson River on a dare. His friends took the Path train over to meet him (We called them the Tubes).

They had a couple of slices and beers and proceeded to evade the Police in NJ and NY that were looking for him.

It was for a short while a piece of Jersey City bandit behavior.

[ColdOne]

Glad you posted this.

[presently no screen name]

Great thread. Thank you, I viewed the photos with my seat belt on. :-)

[AnalogReigns]

How it will look when done (computer simulation):

[Yo-Yo]

I prefered this design:

[celtic gal]

You can almost see the curve of the earth!

[Lancey Howard]

Wow, great post!
I took a World Trade Center tour back in 1975, and when we were on the roof the guide pointed out where a daredevil French tightrope walker named Phillipe Petit had walked back and forth several times from one tower to the other. I looked out over Manhattan and over at the other tower and thought, "You have to be freaking kidding me."

Here is the account from Wikipedia:

On Wednesday, 7 August 1974, shortly after 7:15 a.m., Petit stepped off the South Tower and onto his 3/4" 6×19 IWRC (independent wire rope core[6]) steel cable. He walked the wire for 45 minutes, making eight crossings between the towers, a quarter mile above the sidewalks of Manhattan. In addition to walking, he sat on the wire, gave knee salutes and, while lying on the wire, spoke with a gull circling above his head.

As soon as Petit was observed by witnesses on the ground, the Port Authority Police Department dispatched officers to take him into custody. One of the officers, Sgt. Charles Daniels, later reported his experience:

I observed the tightrope 'dancer'—because you couldn't call him a 'walker'—approximately halfway between the two towers. And upon seeing us he started to smile and laugh and he started going into a dancing routine on the high wire....And when he got to the building we asked him to get off the high wire but instead he turned around and ran back out into the middle....He was bouncing up and down. His feet were actually leaving the wire and then he would resettle back on the wire again....Unbelievable really....Everybody was spellbound in the watching of it.

Petit was warned by his friend on the South Tower that a police helicopter would come to pick him off the wire unless he got off. Rain had begun to fall, and Petit decided he had taken enough risks, so he decided to give himself up to the police waiting for him on the South Tower. He was arrested once he stepped off the wire. Provoked by his taunting behaviour while on the wire, police handcuffed him behind his back and roughly pushed him down a flight of stairs. This he later described as the most dangerous part of the stunt.

[morphing libertarian]

Thank you. I remember we could see the curvature of the earth from the deck of the original.