Tag Archives: One World Trade Center

As 1 WTC Reaches Historic Height, An Effacing Empire State Building ‘Salutes’

01 Tuesday May 2012

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By MATT CHABAN 4/30 7:02pm

As of today, as you probably already know, 1 World Trade Center reached the historic height of 1,271 feet, eclipsing the Empire State Building and reclaiming its place as the tallest building in the city. In honor of that achievement, the tower will be lit up red, white and blue tonight. The Observer asked Tony Malkin, owner of the iconic tower, what he thought of being No. 2 again.

“The world’s most famous office building, the ancestor of all super-tall towers, welcomes our newer, taller cousin to the skyline,” Mr. Malkin responded in an email. “We’ve watched you grow, and now we salute you.” He signed it as “Empire State Building.”

It is a fitting tribute, if also unusual, considering Empire State Building staff were told not to discuss its “cousin’s” ascent, according to New York magazine.

Meanwhile, Curbed had a rather amusing video of the history-making column rising to the top of 1 World Trade. It underscores both the banality and the eager emotions surrounding this milestone. We have waited so long for that column to be but into place, though it is still just a 26-foot-long piece of structural steel. This is just another construction site, but also the most important one in the world.

One World Trade Center, Now New York’s Tallest Skyscraper

30 Monday Apr 2012

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This afternoon, One World Trade Center will pass the Empire State Building as New York’s tallest skyscraper, reclaiming the city’s skyline and reviving the race for height that originated in Manhattan but which was resolved with the building of the World Trade Centerover 40 years ago. In just a few hours, workers are scheduled to install the first column of the 100th floor of the tower’s steel frame, which will rise 1,250 feet in the air, peaking just 21 feet over the crest of the Empire State Building’s observation deck.

 Upon its expected completion in 2014, One World Trade Center will stand 1,776 feet and will become the country’s tallest structure, a title which currently belongs to Chicago’s 1,450 foot-tall Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). Much jubilation greeted the announcement for many reasons–the director of the Port Authority giddily anticipated the views from the tower’s future observation platform, while architect David Childs welcomed the progression of construction as a sign towards the eventual rehabilitation of Lower Manhattan’s urban life. Yet, today’s events can hardly be seen as a milestone, says author and chronicler of New York’s skyscrapers Neal Bascomb, who told the NYTimes that the construction is “kind of like competing against a ghost.”