The Freedom Tower

This is fun. Go to: papercraftparadise.blogspot.com/2008/03/world-trade-center-papercraft.html

A column in New York Magazine called “Grub Street” reports that “the chance to put a restaurant at the top of the Freedom Tower seems like a peerless opportunity all right — at least, that’s what the Port Authority hoped when it invited restaurateurs to propose plans for the new space, set to open in 2013, earlier this week.
But we only know one person who has created a major restaurant atop the city’s highest skyscraper: Michael Whiteman, who with his partner Joe Baum created Windows on the World (which the Freedom Tower’s restaurant will be the de facto replacement for). Whiteman is something of an expert on skyscraper restaurants: He also created the modern version of the Rainbow Room, along with top-floor restaurants in Singapore and Taipei. We asked him how hard it was going to be for whoever won the contract.

“It could cost about $30 million to build,” Whiteman says, “or maybe more. It’s a big gulp in any case. But anybody who went after it would be expecting a very big tenant allowance [a kind of operating subsidy] from the Port Authority.” Whiteman says that while the location makes the build-out more timely and expensive, it doesn’t really present any special challenges: “It’s like swimming — once you start it doesn’t matter how deep the water is beneath you.” The restaurant will succeed, he thinks, as long as its operator keeps his eyes on the prize culinarily. “The place should function on its own even if the building were fogged in and you could see nothing on the outside. Which happened quite often at Windows on the World.” Whiteman thinks the bigger financial challenge might be the insurance, which could be prohibitively high. The reasons for that are fairly obvious — though we doubt you’ll be reading much about that in 2013’s neuro-dispatches.

A website called “OhmyGov! reports that a “fearless(ness) of a third attack does not exist inside the city government of New York that appears committed to leasing out a large quantity of space in the new World Trade Center (WTC) towers. The proposed lease will give the city 600,000 square feet of office space in Tower Four for fifteen years at the hefty price of $577 million. Developer Larry Silverstein, who is overseeing reconstruction at the WTC site, has through 2009 to accept the city’s offer; otherwise the potential space is up for grabs. But the city isn’t the only potential suitor for the new WTC office space. Federal and state governments, having lost numerous offices in the 9/11 attacks, are also eyeing a piece of the WTC, including 1 million square feet of the Freedom Tower. Freedom TowerFor those of us that haven’t kept up with the glacial pace of the World Trade Center reconstruction efforts, here’s the deal: the original WTC site consisted of seven buildings, all of which were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks. The reconstructed site will consist of a centralized memorial, surrounded by five buildings of increasing height (a sixth building, 7 World Trade Center, has already been built on an adjacent site), culminating in the Freedom Tower (shown in the picture), which will hit the 1,776 foot mark, making it the world’s tallest building. Of the thousands of lives and billions of dollars lost on 9/11, a significant share fell under the domain of the federal government. The Customs Service (now U.S. Customs and Border Protection), the Internal Revenue Service, the Secret Service, the Department of Defense, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; each agency had offices in the WTC complex prior to the terrorist attacks. Prior to 9/11, the city of New York had a relatively minor presence in the WTC buildings: court and tax department offices, and, controversially, Mayor Rudy Guiliani’s emergency command center, located on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center. With so much lost in what was the complex’s second terrorist attack in a decade, why haven’t the federal and local governments decided to relocate to a safer location? Though the city of New York has already staked its 600,000 square foot claim, there is as yet no official lease drawn up with the federal government for its piece of the Freedom Tower. Supposedly, the Department of Homeland Security wants 650,000 square feet in the main tower, about 1/3 of it. One wonders why, after witnessing the chaos of 9/11, the federal government would choose such a historically vulnerable site to place what would be arguably our nation’s most vital federal agency in the event of another attack. Why, as the city of New York regains its former stability, would the city choose to put so many eggs in this one basket, oblivious to the lessons that could be gleaned from past misfortune? The moves by the local and federal government to locate offices with operations essential to the public’s safety post-disaster warrants the repetition of the old Chinese proverb: ‘fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ Only next time we might have to add: “fool me three times, I’ll just never get it.”

Beyond Belief is a documentary film that follows two 9/11 widows from suburban Boston, as they try to raise money to help war widows in Afghanistan.

The film is by Beth Murphy who follows Susan Retik and Patti Quigley. The New York Times says their rationale is “Afghan poverty , a major reason the Taliban government built a symbiotic relationship with Al Qaeda; therefore, raising Afghan families’ standard of living might reduce the possibility of future attacks.

To this end, Ms. Retik and Ms. Quigley embarked on a fund-raising bike ride from ground zero to Boston just before the third anniversary of 9/11, then followed up by visiting Afghanistan: a trip that affirmed their empathy for Afghan war widows and revealed the enormity of the economic gap between their country and ours.

Was the sentiment of these widows naïve? Some of the police and military personnel to whom they describe their plan seem inclined to think so, and stray quotations from Afghan widows suggest that some Afghans don’t know about Al Qaeda and the Taliban’s connection to 9/11 or choose not to believe it.

Throughout, Ms. Murphy hangs back, privileging no political viewpoint but respecting the emotions of all who pass before her lens — particularly Ms. Retik and Ms. Quigley, who were both pregnant when their husbands, David Retik and Patrick Quigley, died, and who still struggle to maintain their composure when reminiscing about them.”

The Times of India reports:

Thirty seven stairs that once connected an outdoor plaza outside the twin towers to the street below survived the 911 attacks. “Tom Canavan saw the stairs through the smoke after tunneling out of debris that buried him when the World Trade Center’s south tower collapsed.

The sun fell on a section of gold awning that led him down the stairs to safety on a nearby street.

The north tower collapsed a few minutes later.”Without that staircase, I don’t see myself getting out of that plaza before the north tower comes down and kills me,” said Canavan, one of countless 9/11 survivors who escaped the burning ruins by the same route.

Today, the stairs remain the only above-ground remnant of the trade center complex.

After years of debate over whether and how to preserve the structure, though, the staircase will be moved this weekend for the first time. Construction crews will station the stairs about 200 feet to be stored on site until they can be installed at the 9/11 memorial.

Preservationists and survivors of the 2001 terrorist attack began campaigning years ago to leave the staircase as it stood, while developers refined plans for office towers, a transit hub and 9/11 memorial.”

CityLimits.org says the city has moved towards a deal to relocate some city agencies to the new World Trade Center.
The deal “gives Ground Zero developer Silverstein a choice to lock the city into a 15-year lease for space in one of the new World Trade buildings.
“It’s nice to have options, and the city last week offered some details on the one it has given to Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein—a choice to lock the city into a 15-year lease for nearly 600,000 square feet in one of the new World Trade Center towers, for a total price tag of $577 million.

The city granted the option in September 2006, as part of a deal with the Port Authority, New York state and Silverstein Properties over control of the WTC site. But ahead of a contract hearing on Wednesday about the lease, the city revealed new details on the deal’s scope, duration, escalating rent and total bill. The city would occupy 581,642 square feet – comprising all of the 7th through 21st floors of Tower 4 – and would pay rent beginning at $56.50 per square foot, rising each year for the next five years and then jumping again in the 10th year of the lease to $73.21 per square foot.

What the city didn’t reveal is which agencies will use the space, because they don’t know yet. Indeed, while the city leases some 22.5 million square feet of space around the city each year, the Tower 4 deal is unique: It applies to a building that doesn’t exist yet, provides space that has no identified need and probably wouldn’t be used until 2013.

That’s if the lease ever takes effect. Silverstein has until the end of 2009 to execute his option and make the lease binding. Leases on Class A office space in Lower Manhattan went for an average of $53 at the end of last year, but the price had increased 17 percent just over the course of 2007. Since Silverstein’s most recent leases at his rebuilt 7WTC are closing at a reported $70 a square foot, the developer might decide that the city’s deal is too cheap. “The cost per square foot that the city is paying is well below market for Class A space and especially new space downtown,” says Dara McQuillan, a spokesperson for Silverstein Properties. On the other hand against a backdrop of a softening national and local economy what the city’s deal lacks in lucre it makes up for it in certainty.”

Something known in building circles as “Intelligent Long Range” technology is taking a leading role in construction of the Freedom Tower, according to a building industry website called A to Z Building.
”Identec olutions has groundbreaking Intelligent Long Range (ILR) RFID technology (that) is playing an instrumental role in the construction of the monumental Freedom Tower located at the World Trade Center site in downtown Manhattan. Construction of the 1,776 foot tower has been underway since April of 2006 with an anticipated opening sometime in 2011.

Every slab of cement throughout this dramatic building, including the footings, core walls, elevator shafts, stairs wells, and all mechanical spaces throughout the Freedom Tower complex, will have utilized IDENTEC SOLUTIONS technology. IDENTEC SOLUTIONS i-Q32 Temperature Tracking Tags are embedded in the concrete and wirelessly send temperature information to the Concrete Maturity Monitoring System (CMMS) developed by Wake, Inc. This process allows the contractor to better manage concrete maturity in all of the walls and other structural components, which can be as thick as 20 feet that make up the building.

As the world’s tallest building when completed, the Freedom Tower utilizes core footings which have a concrete strength of 14,000 psi, three times the norm and a record in the NYC construction industry. The Concrete Maturity Monitoring System (CMMS) provides a major change in the process of collecting temperature data at several locations within a concrete project. The CMMS eliminates the need for probes and wires attached to external devices. This will help the contractor determine ultimate concrete maturity and strength more effectively, thus cutting down on construction time and costs.

“We are honored that IDENTEC SOLUTIONS technology was selected to play an integral role in the construction of this iconic building,” states IDENTEC SOLUTIONS Executive Vice President Global Sales, Peter Linke. “The Freedom Tower will be a significant landmark and we are pleased to be part of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in downtown New York City.”

Currently in progress is the installation of the Freedom Tower’s foundation including rebar installation for the buildings core footings, steel columns, and the pouring of concrete for the foundation.”

Tishman Realty and Construction, the contractor responsible for the overall building of the Freedom Tower, selected IDENTEC SOLUTIONS technology along with Wake, Inc.’s CMMS system as the ideal method for ensuring absolute structural performance while at the same time increasing construction efficiency.

The New York Sun reports:

“The city would foot the cost of health care for city workers suffering illnesses related to toxin exposure at ground zero until they can receive disability payments, if a bill by a City Council member, Michael McMahon of Staten Island, passes.

“I was shocked when I learned that our heroes of 9/11 were not receiving the health care they needed after becoming ill as a result of their work at ground zero,” Mr. McMahon said yesterday in a statement. “The city has an obligation to these men and women to ensure that they receive the best health care possible in their time of need. These are the people who served the city in our time of need without regard to their own health and safety.”

Mr. McMahon will announce the introduction of the bill today at City Hall along with the head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, Patrick Lynch, and representatives from the firefighters and emergency workers unions.”

An assault ship built with scrap steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center, The USS New York was christened yesterday in Avondale, La.

The AP reports that “Thousands of people, including friends and families of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, gathered near the hulking gray ship, trimmed in red, white and blue banners.

The bow stem, which contains 7.5 tons of steel from the site, bore a shield with two gray bars to symbolize the twin towers and a banner over that declaring “Never Forget,” a slogan among New Yorkers.

“May God bless this ship and all who sail on her,” Dotty England said before smashing a bottle of champagne against it, producing a loud thump to go with the spurting liquid and flying streamers.

Story after story of lives lost in, and touched by, the attacks peppered the ceremony, held under the blazing sun and broadcast on large screens. It all brought back painful memories for New York Police Lt. Matt Murphy. But the reason for his being here, though, was a source of pride, he said.

“I tell you, it’s a fantastic day. Sometimes you think you’re over something,” he said, his eyes welling up as he looked off toward the ship, “and then you realize you’re not completely.”

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, husband to Dotty, told the crowd that ship names provide a legacy, and that for their crews they serve as a source of strength and inspiration.

When the attacks occurred, the ship was planned but had no name. Then-New York Gov. George Pataki asked the Navy to commemorate the disaster by reviving the name New York. That required an exception to Navy policy of assigning state names only to nuclear submarines.

The steel from the towers is now part of the ship that splices through the water, leading the way.

“It resurrects the ashes, so to speak, to do great things for our nation,” said Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship builder.

Along with the steel from one of the worst terrorist attacks in the U.S., it also survived one of the nation’s worst natural disasters: Hurricane Katrina.

The ship motivated many of the Avondale shipyard workers to return to the job, even though many lost their homes in the 2005 storm.

The billion-dollar, 25,000-ton vessel is 684 feet long, 105 feet wide. It is the fifth in a new class of warship, designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It can carry a crew of about 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

USS New York’s prospective commanding officer is Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones, a native New Yorker. It is to be commissioned, essentially added to the fleet, next year. It could be used as part of peaceful missions or as part of war, said Adm. Gary Roughead, the Navy’s chief of operations.”