The Freedom Tower

The Economist says the “Saudi kingdom has long been a fountainhead of jihadist radicalism, with martyrdom-seekers going on one-way tickets to such places as Chechnya, Iraq and the Twin Towers in America. At first rather complacent about Islamist terror, the Saudi rulers rumbled into active opposition only after their own cities came under fire, starting with a series of bombings in their capital, Riyadh, in May 2003. Now, in a move that suggests growing confidence in thwarting jihadist violence, Saudi courts have begun procedures to try 991 prisoners held on terrorism charges, in the most sweeping legal action yet taken in the global campaign against the extremists.

Aside from its scale, the mass prosecution is notable because the trials will take place under Islamic law before a panel of judges who are, like all those in the arch-conservative kingdom, schooled in the strict Wahhabist interpretation that has helped to inspire the ideology of groups such as al-Qaeda itself. Saudi officials are quick to assert that sharia sentences should therefore carry greater legitimacy than those handed down by the military tribunals favoured by other countries, which many Muslims, and not just jihadist sympathisers, dismiss as suspect.”

Investor’s Business Daily says a “nation as powerful and capable as the U.S. should have finished the rebuilding by now. Instead, according to the timetables announced recently, only the 9/11 memorial will be open by the 10th anniversary of the attacks, and even it will not be fully finished.

The centerpiece of the reconstruction, the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower skyscraper, is not expected to open at least until 2013. A $3.2 billion transit hub, now $700 million over budget, will open at the site no earlier than 2014. This glaring display of can’t-do spirit may prove in the long run to be just a local scandal. But we’re not so sure it has left the nation’s confidence unscathed.

You would think (to use an old line) that a country able to put a man on the moon could get a couple of office buildings, even big ones, rebuilt in less than a decade, along with a suitable memorial. The unfinished work at Ground Zero may make the world wonder — may even make Americans wonder — if this nation could put a man on the moon again, if it can’t even do this.

Perhaps (Mayor) Mike Bloomberg is thinking that, now that he is in line to get just one more term, he can be there to cut the ribbon at the Freedom Tower in 2013. We certainly hope that some New York mayor, whoever he or she is, will get to do that before the next term is up.

But if things had gone as they should, Bloomberg would have cut all the ribbons by now and would be leaving office with his job well done.”

The STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE says “Sept. 11, 2001, is a date that lives in infamy.
Nowhere, of course, more so than on Staten Island, where the impact of the World Trade Center tragedy remains a fact of daily life for many people. Though it’s at least 5 miles from us, what goes on at Ground Zero is still close to our heart.
This is why we deplore the public hawking there of death and destruction: Illicit mementos being sold by street vendors in a circus-like way.
There ought to be a law, as the saying goes.
In fact, there is — but it doesn’t work.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says the department’s Peddler Task Force and 1st Precinct officers have repeatedly arrested illegal vendors at the site of the World Trade Center, only to have them come back over and over.
“Peddlers treat the relatively small fines as a cost of doing business and return to their illegal activity immediately,” Mr. Kelly pointed out.
Not only 9/11 hats and T-shirts are for sale. Illegal profits are being made on photos of flames and exploding debris from the deadly jetliner attacks by terrorists on the Twin Towers.
Over 2,700 innocent people were killed there on Sept. 11, including more than 200 Staten Islanders.”

ecorazzi … “the latest in green gossip says Chrissie Hynde of the rock group The Pretenders is making plans to expand her vegan-restaurant empire with potential interest in NY’s new Freedom Tower. The development, currently under construction on the site of the World Trade Center, is looking for interested restaurant owners. In an interview with PETA, Hynde said how the success of her vegan hotspot Vegeterrannean is causing her to eye new locations. Here’s a highlight (emphasis in bold is mine):

“I’d like to expand to Las Vegas so tourists from all over the world can see how great vegan food can be,” she said, “and of course in LA I’ve read that Freedom Tower in New York City, the new development where the World Trade Center once stood, is looking for a notable restaurateur. I’d like to throw my hat into the ring. There’s been so much horrific blood and guts and violence there that it’d be fitting to open a cool restaurant where no mangled, burnt bodies are on the menu.”

Um, yea. Look, I’m all for more vegan restaurants, but comments like that are not going to win points. I don’t know if she intended it to come across that way, but talk about poor taste.”

The Boston newspapers have grits in their Op-Ed pages today. The Herald swiped at a nearby town police union with just cause.
“New York City police officers show up to work each Sept. 11 somber, surely, but with no expectation of earning extra pay,” the newspaper says.

“But the trauma suffered by cops in Peabody, Mass. - 250 miles away from Ground Zero - apparently will be soothed on that sad anniversary only by the promise of a day off or more cash in the pay envelope.

Has this union no shame?”
Apparently not.

The New York Times says the World Trade Center redevelopment project in the old days used elaborately staged events to bolster support for this controversial project. Most often, these announcements were almost always followed by disasters.

“Having learned a painful lesson in public relations, officials are now content to let actual milestones speak for themselves.

Observant passers-by have been able to spot just such a turning point, now that the massive concrete core of 1 World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower, has emerged into public view from the depths of ground zero. On Oct. 10, Collavino Construction poured 520 cubic yards of concrete, raising the top of the core 14 feet, thereby bringing it 13 feet 8 inches above sidewalk level.

The walls of the core range from three to four feet thick. The concrete is extremely high strength, with a rating of 14,000 p.s.i. — that is, a strength under compression calculated at 14,000 pounds per square inch.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey made no formal announcement, though it did note the moment on its World Trade Center Progress page.”

In the post 9/11 world, more companies have emergency evacuation and disaster recovery procedures in place, but officials say they need more resources to combat obstacles, according to a recent survey that compared results from a similar poll in 2007.

Three facilities management experts — Victoria Hardy, chief executive of Star Island, a nonprofit that sponsors conferences and retreats in Portsmouth, N.H.; Suzanne Kennedy of the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston; and Kathy Roper of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta — reviewed the survey findings Thursday at the International Facility Management Association’s World Workplace 2008 Conference and Expo at the Dallas Convention Center.

The team set out to determine the impact of 9/11 on emergency preparedness.

“How does a company prepare for a total catastrophic event?” asked Ms. Hardy, the former head of Wentworth’s design and facilities department, “It doesn’t have to be terrorism. We now have many examples of hurricanes and floods.”

On Sept. 11, 2001, the Port Authority of New York’s was able to safely evacuate more than 18,000 people from the World Trade Center complex in the 1 hour, 42 minutes and 5 seconds between the initial attack and the last building’s collapse, Ms. Hardy said. The main reason so many people survived was because the Port Authority made many changes to its building and its emergency procedures after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, she said.

The Port Authority’s changes to the former World Trade Center included adding reflective paint to all exits, installing speakers throughout, having backup power sources and designated floor wardens.

In May 2007, the team surveyed 100 facility management professionals about their evacuation practices to determine if 9/11 had a long-term impact on emergency practices.

“We were horrified at what we found,” said Ms. Hardy. “There were serious numbers of people who didn’t do drills at all, and more than half didn’t feel that they had a good plan.”

The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) announced today that it has supplied special bar quality steel for use in constructing the antenna tower for the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site in New York City.
Timken® steel will be used to build the supporting legs of the 450-foot-antenna tower on top of the building. Timken was selected as a supplier for the project by DCM Erectors Inc. of Toronto, Canada, which is the project’s steel erector and will build the tower’s 12-sided antenna. Tishman Construction Corporation of New York is serving as Construction Manager for the Freedom Tower.

The Freedom Tower, being built by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, will stand 1,776 feet tall, and will serve as an inspirational and enduring beacon in the New York City skyline.

Six people directly affected by the attacks on the World Trade Center will share their stories in a benefit called Performing Tribute Oct. 20-21 at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center in Manhattan, according to Playbill.

The 7:30 PM performances are presented by The Tribute WTC Visitor Center, a not-for-profit organization that provides a destination for visitors coming to Ground Zero. The center was created by the September 11th Families’ Association to share the personal stories of victims, survivors, rescue and recovery workers, volunteers and residents of Lower Manhattan.

According to production notes, Performing Tribute “consists of perspectives from six individuals who were separately yet directly impacted by the events of 9/11 — family members who lost loved ones, a survivor who lived through the bombing of the WTC on Feb. 26, 1993 and the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, an evacuated resident of Liberty Street on the South side of the WTC site, a retired FDNY firefighter who responded on Sept. 11, 2001, and a New Jersey resident who came to help by volunteering with the Salvation Army. The individual experiences are told first-hand and woven together in a theatrical presentation sharing their unique and inspiring responses.”

Performers will include Gerry Bogacz, Bridget Damiano, Gail Langsner, Paul McFadden, Katherine M. Richardson and Ann Van Hine.

Donna Kaz, a Tribute Center volunteer and a playwright and director, has combined the Tribute volunteers’ personal experiences into this 75-minute stage production.

The play, which will be a script-in-hand experience, “explores the neighborhood and community of the World Trade Center, the timeline of events of 9/11, and the months of recovery effort. Volunteers share their individual challenges, stories of healing, and how the Tribute Center has inspired their hope for the future.”

Kaz told Playbill.com, “We hope this will move on to more productions, eventually touring, so that those who can’t come to the site will be able to hear the stories.”

The production’s designers include Daniel Brodie (projection design), Dan Hansell (lighting design) and Ann Warren (composer, sound design).

Each presentation Oct. 20-21 will begin with a 6:30 PM reception, followed by a 7:30 PM performance, as well as a chance to meet the performers and enjoy coffee and dessert at 8:45 PM.

The Tribute Center volunteer training program “combines the academic, performing arts, spiritual, and therapeutic disciplines. The comprehensive program helps volunteers learn to define their own stories in relation to 9/11 and provides emotional guidance enabling volunteers to further their healing process.”

The Tribeca Performing Arts Center is located at 199 Chambers Street between Greenwich and West Streets.

For a glimpse into the future, go to: dvice.com/archives/2008/10/train_station_o.php
This site offers a detailed look at the World Trade Center’s transportation hub, revealed a few days ago after numerous redesigns. Created by architect Santiago Calatrava, “the soaring organic architecture features a glass and steel structure with gorgeous undulating ceilings and spines sticking out the roof,” the site authors say.

“This is classic Calatrava, with snow white interiors constructed in repeating motifs that remind us of the spectacular art museum Calatrava designed for Milwaukee that we’ve visited many times. It’s awe-inspiring. The guy knows how to capture emotion in steel and glass, creating buildings that will look as good 100 years from now as they do today. We look forward to walking through this other-worldly building when it’s completed in 2012.”