A rendering of what the new World Trade Center project site will look like when all buildings are complete. One World Trade Center (left) is near completion and is currently the tallest structure in the nation.
For years, it remained heartbreakingly incomplete, a painful reminder of the worst terror attacks in U.S. history and a shameful symbol of bureaucratic infighting.
But finally, after 12 years, the new World Trade Center is finally taking shape.
The centerpiece of the site, 1 World Trade Center, now soars 1,776 feet into the air, towering over lower Manhattan. The 72-story 4 World Trade Center is slated to open in two months. And the long-delayed National September 11 Memorial Museum is expected to welcome its first visitors next year.
“For a number of years, there were a lot of fits and starts,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat who represents the downtown area.
The 408-foot spire undergoing installation atop 1 World Trade Center, making it the tallest building in the western hemisphere at 1,776 feet.
The new lower Manhattan is finally taking shape after more than a decade of healing following the 9/11 terror attacks.
The squabbling led to staggering construction delays, rising costs and a devastating hit on local businesses, which long depended on the thousands of World Trade Center workers.
But now, with construction on the skyscraper at the heart of the site nearing completion, they are hopeful that brighter days are on the horizon.
“I’m optimistic,” said Pat BiTillio, 65, who has been running Majestic Pizza on Cortlandt St. for 16 years.
“I better be at my age.”
One World Trade Center now soars atop the Manhattan skyline, as the nation's new tallest building.
BiTillio said the twin blows of the terror attacks and the financial crisis have cut his profits by as much as 40%.
“There are no business accounts,” added BiTillio, who has spent countless hours staring forlornly at the site.
“That’s what we’re missing.”
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