The Freedom Tower

The owner of the World Trade Center will move a staircase that was used by survivor in a desperate attempt to escape with their lives that morning in 2001. The staircase, now considered a landmark, will be moved to a new location in the center of the foundation.
The New York Times says the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will move the the Vesey Street staircase used by hundreds of attack survivors who fled to safety that morning in 2001. The staircase has been on public view opposite the 7 World Trade Center plaza.
Over the weekend, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to lower the 58-ton, 21-foot-high staircase to a temporary holding area deep down in the trade center foundations, the Times said.
“It will stay there until the time comes to be installed as part of a larger flight of steps in the underground memorial museum, which is currently expected to open in 2012. This means that the public is not likely to be able to get so close to the “survivor’s stairway” again for at least four years.
The steps once led down to Vesey Street from the Austin J. Tobin Plaza of the original World Trade Center. The staircase made a good escape route on Sept. 11, 2001, because they could be reached by walking alongside 6 World Trade Center, the U.S. Customs House, which had deep overhanging eaves that protected people fleeing the north tower from falling debris and bodies. “They were the path to freedom,” recalled Kayla Bergeron, one of the survivors.