It's funny, we had a trash design and everyone wanted to build it. Now we have a Stronger, better more pwerful design and no one wants to build it...Life sure does bite you in the a**
Why do people continue to use the phrase "repairing the skyline" when only twin structures, whatever they look like, would accomplish that. That dream has long been killed, I know, but the visual drama we lost was derived from the two, not from height alone.
It will never be regained by a single structure, no matter the design.
better one than none
When is construction supposed to begin in earnest? I thought it was sometime in March or April. Any news?
Next month.Originally Posted by James Kovata
Trump is on Larry King Live now, and earlier in the broadcast a caller asked him if he is currently involved in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. He explained that he is not, and went on to call the Freedom Tower a "monstrosity" once again. I'm sure a transcript will be available shortly.
Trump also stated that he doesn't build "rentals" anymore because he can build a condo for $1.5 M and sell it for $3 M -- and that it would take too long to get a return on building rentals.
The problem of NYC housing in a nutshell!
There are neither enough units for sale or rent. That is the problem in a nutshell.
CNN
March 9, 2006
Larry King Live: Interview with Donald Trump (Partial Transcript)
CALLER: My question to you is are you still pursuing the idea of rebuilding the World Trade Center?
TRUMP: Well, you know, I had a -- it's a great question, actually, because I was very much involved with a group that wanted to rebuild the World Trade Center as it was, one story taller and stronger. And instead they're building this monstrosity. And I've told the governor -- I told Governor Pataki, you'd be the most popular guy in town if you would rebuild the World Trade Center as it was.
I don't want to look at the building that they're building. It's not a good-looking building. It's not appropriate. I would like to see -- you know nobody loved, Larry, the World Trade Center when it existed. When it came down, all of a sudden everybody -- we see pictures of it now.
You see the old movies and everything else. You almost start to cry when you look at the World Trade Center. I said, rebuild the World Trade Center as it was, stronger and one story taller. And then you win. Nobody picked it up.
KING: What are they doing?
TRUMP: They're building a monstrosity. It's too bad.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And they're not even building it. I mean it's taking forever. They haven't done anything.
KING: How tall is it going to be?
TRUMP: It's going to be 1,776 feet. You know they see the great symbolism. But my idea of rebuilding the World Trade Center with, you know, the modern everything would have been fantastic and would have been so popular, and people would have gotten behind it.
© 2006 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
Last edited by BigMac; March 10th, 2006 at 08:45 AM.
Sorry, Trump. Right idea, but a little too late. Yeah we all want to see the original WTC as it once was (below), but everything's set in stone for the Freedom Tower.
The FT is a more interesting concept than the trade center and retains its symbolic shape. Give 1WTC a spire-less twin and they will be reborn.
More interesting concept? What does that mean?
ny post
WTC PLANNERS EYE TOWER POWER FOR PA
By TOM TOPOUSIS
LARRY SILVERSTEIN
March 11, 2006
Last-minute talks over developer Larry Silverstein's future role at the World Trade Center involve a handful of scenarios for sharing the project - including handing off construction of the Freedom Tower to the Port Authority, sources said yesterday.
Silverstein, who has insisted that he has the legal right to rebuild the entire project, has until Tuesday to convince the Port Authority and Gov. Pataki that he has the resources to build all five proposed towers quickly.
One scenario being discussed involves his turning over the Freedom Tower to the Port Authority, relieving him of the site's most complicated and costly project and allowing him to focus on three office towers slated for Church Street.
"It's about the economics of the Freedom Tower," a source said. "The tower is intended to play a public purpose. If it ends up in the Port Authority's hands, that wouldn't be inconsistent."
Construction of the Freedom Tower is set to begin by summer, with completion in 2010.
The 2.2 million-square-foot tower will rise 1,776 feet, topped by observation decks, TV antennae and a 256-foot spire.
So far, Silverstein has not lined up any prospective tenants. Last week, Sen. Charles Schumer called on the Port Authority to commit to moving its headquarters to the Freedom Tower in order to give the project a kick start. The Port Authority would take up about 700,000 square feet.
Port Authority officials, who declined comment on the ongoing talks, have said they are committed to moving their headquarters back to the World Trade Center but have refused to specify to which building.
Mayor Bloomberg and the Port Authority's New Jersey-appointed chairman, Anthony Coscia, have pushed for the bi-state agency to move into to Church Street, to either Tower 3 or 4, and take the two buildings out of Silverstein's hands.
Bloomberg has also called for replacing up to 14 percent of the proposed office space with a hotel and 700 apartments in one of the Church Street towers.
Also on the table is the fate of the fifth, and final, office tower to be built as part of the new World Trade Center - a project that would replace the badly damaged Deutsche Bank building, sources said. The fifth office tower is being talked of as a possible residential building.
Tower 5 sits off the original WTC site, which by law must be developed only for commercial use. Building residential towers on the 16 acres would require approval from the New York and New Jersey legislatures.
Before testifying at a City Council hearing this week, Silverstein's director for the World Trade Center project, Janno Lieber, insisted on the importance of using Towers 2, 3 and 4 on Church Street for private commercial development.
But Lieber would not say whether Silverstein would insist on rebuilding all 10 million square feet in the five towers for office space, as he is entitled to as leaseholder to the site.
"What we are saying," he said, "is that it has to have a critical mass of first-class office space on the World Trade Center site so that it can be a Rockefeller Center-quality complex."
tom.topousis@nypost.com
I mean that while I loved the trade center dearly, I like the tapered edges of the FT better. The great thing about the twins was their shape on the skyline which is still retained by the FT design as it is still square. The twins had a great relationship with each other, like seeing completely different buildings if you looked at them from around NYC. But they weren't the best they could be. The WTC had no interior views, it was like a bunker, hopefully the FT will improve on that as I expect much wider windows. The base may not be so great on this one but I think a smart designer would find a way to somehow fuse the metal and the glass to make it much better.
If we build this, we would reclaim at least part of what was lost.
OK, but you have to play fair. I would say just as the NYC region has 5 business districts (more if you count Westchester and Stamford,) Hong Kong has at least two, Shanghai has three, and Tokyo seems to have about 35. I'm using the scientific method of allocating business districts which is seeing where there are distinct clusters of high rise office towers.
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