World Trade Center (1973–2001)

. Note: 'This article is about the original World Trade Center complex which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks. For the rebuilt World Trade Center complex, see- World Trade Center (2001–present). For the main building of the rebuilt complex, see One World Trade Center. For other uses, see World Trade Center (disambiguation).'

Over view
The World Trade Center was a large complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. It was a major twin office block unit owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that was erected in 1973 in Manhattan's financial district. It was a key fixture of the district for 37 years until it was destroyed by the terrorist attacks of 9\11. It featured landmark twin towers, which opened on April 4, 1973, and were destroyed in the September 11 attacks, with 7 World Trade Center collapsing later that day due to the damage it suffered when the twin towers collapsed that morning. The other buildings in the complex were severely damaged by the collapse of the twin towers, and their ruins were eventually demolished.

At the time of their completion, the "Twin Towers" — the original 1 World Trade Center, at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center, at 1,362 feet (415 m) — were the tallest buildings in the world. The other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. All these buildings were built between 1975 and 1985, with a construction cost of $400 million ($2,300,000,000 in 2014 dollars). The complex was located in New York City's Financial District and contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space.

The World Trade Center experienced a fire on February 13, 1975, a bombing on February 26, 1993, and a robbery on January 14, 1998. In 1998, the Port Authority decided to privatize the World Trade Center, leasing the buildings to a private company to manage, and awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in July 2001.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the complex, beginning with the North Tower at 8:46 a.m., then the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., in a coordinated act of terrorism. After burning for 56 minutes, the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. 29 minutes later, at 10:28 a.m. (102 minutes after being struck by the plane), the North Tower collapsed. The attacks on the World Trade Center killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft.

Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires that the debris initiated in several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the other buildings in the complex and caused catastrophic damage to ten other large structures in the surrounding area, including the World Financial Center and Deutsche Bank Building; three buildings in the World Trade Center complex collapsed due to fire-induced structural failure, and when the North Tower collapsed, debris fell on the nearby 7 WTC, damaging it and starting fires so that it eventually collapsed. The process of cleaning up and recovery at the World Trade Center site took eight months.

The World Trade Center complex was rebuilt over a span of more than a decade. The site is being rebuilt with six new skyscrapers, while a memorial to those killed in the attacks and a new rapid transit hub have both opened. One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the United States, is the lead building for the new complex, reaching more than 100 stories upon its completion in November 2014.

Stats

 * name = World Trade Centre
 * location = Lower Manhattan, New York City
 * status = Destroyed by terrorists on 9\11\2001 and replaced by the One World Trade Center in 2014.
 * Planned out=
 * Groundbreaking = 1966.
 * start_date =  .
 * completion_date = 1973.
 * opening =  1973.
 * renovation_date = 1983, 1979 and 1993-1994.
 * building_type = Twin tower office block.
 * architectural_style= Modernist
 * antenna_spire = A tall communication mast one and a short communications mast on the other.
 * roof level height =
 * floor_count =
 * elevator_count =
 * Unit cost =
 * Floor_area =
 * architect =  Minoru Yamasaki and Emery Roth & Sons.
 * structural_engineer=Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson and Leslie E. Robertson Associates.
 * main_contractor =
 * developer =
 * owner = Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
 * Facility management = Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The topping out ceremony of 1 WTC (North Tower) took place on, December 23, 1970,, while 2 WTC's ceremony (South Tower) occurred later on July 19, 1971.

Local Geology
The western portion of the World Trade Center site was originally under the Hudson River, with the shoreline in the vicinity of Greenwich Street. It was on this shoreline close to the intersection of Greenwich and the former Dey Street that Dutch explorer Adriaen Block's ship, the Tyger, burned to the waterline in November 1613, stranding Block and his crew and forcing them to overwinter on the island. They built the first European settlement in Manhattan. The remains of the ship were buried under landfill when the shoreline was extended starting in 1797, and were discovered during excavation work in 1916. The remains of a second ship from the eighteenth century were discovered in 2010 during excavation work at the site. The ship, believed to be a Hudson River sloop, was found just south of where the Twin Towers used to stand, about 20 feet below the surface.

Before the World Trade Center


Later, the area became Radio Row. New York City's Radio Row, which existed from 1921 to 1966, was a warehouse district on the Lower West Side in the Financial District. Harry Schneck opened City Radio on Cortlandt Street in 1921, and eventually the area held several blocks of electronics stores, with Cortlandt Street as its central axis. The used radios, war surplus electronics (e.g., ARC-5 radios), junk, and parts often piled so high they would spill out onto the street, attracting collectors and scroungers. According to a business writer, it also was the origin of the electronic component distribution business.

The idea of establishing a World Trade Center in New York City was first proposed in 1943. The New York State Legislature passed a bill authorizing New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey to begin developing plans for the project but the plans were put on hold in 1949. During the late 1940s and 1950s, economic growth in New York City was concentrated in Midtown Manhattan. To help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, David Rockefeller suggested that the Port Authority build a World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.

Plans for the use of eminent domain to remove the shops in Radio Row bounded by Vesey, Church, Liberty, and West Streets began in 1961 when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was deciding to build the world's first world trade center. They had two choices: the east side of Lower Manhattan, near the South Street Seaport; and the west side, near the H&M station, Hudson Terminal. Initial plans, made public in 1961, identified a site along the East River for the World Trade Center. As a bi-state agency, the Port Authority required approval for new projects from the governors of both New York and New Jersey. New Jersey Governor Robert B. Meyner objected to New York getting a $335 million project. Toward the end of 1961, negotiations with outgoing New Jersey Governor Meyner reached a stalemate.

At the time, ridership on New Jersey's Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M) had declined substantially from a high of 113 million riders in 1927 to 26 million in 1958 after new automobile tunnels and bridges had opened across the Hudson River. In a December 1961 meeting between Port Authority director Austin J. Tobin and newly elected New Jersey Governor Richard J. Hughes, the Port Authority offered to take over the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad to have it become the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH). The Port Authority also decided to move the World Trade Center project to the Hudson Terminal building site on the west side of Lower Manhattan, a more convenient location for New Jersey commuters arriving via PATH. With the new location and Port Authority acquisition of the H&M Railroad, New Jersey agreed to support the World Trade Center project. In compensation for Radio Row business owners' displacement, the PANYNJ gave each business $3,000 each, without regard to how long the business had been there or how prosperous the business was. After the area had been purchased for the World Trade Center in March 1964, Radio Row was demolished starting in March 1965. It was completely demolished by 1966.

Approval was also needed from New York City Mayor John Lindsay and the New York City Council. Disagreements with the city centered on tax issues. On August 3, 1966, an agreement was reached that the Port Authority would make annual payments to the City in lieu of taxes for the portion of the World Trade Center leased to private tenants. In subsequent years, the payments would rise as the real estate tax rate increased.

Sky Lobbies
A sky lobby is an intermediate interchange floor where people can change from an express elevator that stops only at the sky lobby to a local elevator which stops at every floor within a segment of the building. When designing very tall (supertall) buildings, supplying enough elevators is a problem – travellers wanting to reach a specific higher floor may conceivably have to stop at a very large number of other floors on the way up to let other passengers off and on. This increases travel time, and indirectly requires many more elevator shafts to still allow acceptable travel times – thus reducing effective floor space on each floor for all levels. (The other main technique to increase usage without adding more elevator shafts is double-deck elevators.)

Early uses of the sky lobby include the original Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the John Hancock Center in Chicago.

Windows on the World restaurant


Windows on the World was a complex of venues at the top floors (106th and 107th) of the One World Trade Center\Original building\North Tower\Building One of the original World Trade Center (1973–2001) in Lower Manhattan that included a restaurant called Windows on the World, a smaller restaurant called Wild Blue, a bar called The Greatest Bar on Earth, and rooms for private functions. Developed by restaurateur Joe Baum and designed initially by Warren Platner, Windows on the World occupied 50,000 square feet (4,600 m²) of space in the North Tower. The restaurants operated from April 19, 1976, until 2001 when they were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

The Windows on the World was a complex of venues at the top floors (106th and 107th) of the North Tower (Building One) of the original World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan that included a restaurant called Windows on the World, a smaller restaurant called Wild Blue, a bar called The Greatest Bar on Earth, and rooms for private functions. Developed by restaurateur Joe Baum and designed initially by Warren Platner, Windows on the World occupied 50,000 square feet (4,600 m²) of space in the North Tower. The restaurants operated from April 19, 1976, until 2001 when they were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

Other buildings
Five smaller buildings stood around the 16 acres (65,000 m2) block. One was the 22-floor hotel, which opened in 1981 as the Vista Hotel, and in 1995 became the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC) at the southwest corner of the site. Three low-rise buildings (4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC) in the same hollow tube design as the towers also stood around the plaza. 6 World Trade Center, at the northwest corner, housed the United States Customs Service and the U.S. Commodities Exchange. 5 World Trade Center was located at the northeast corner above the PATH station and 4 World Trade Center was at the southeast corner. In 1987, a 47-floor office building called 7 World Trade Center was built north of the block. Beneath the World Trade Center complex was an underground shopping mall, which in turn had connections to various mass transit facilities including the New York City Subway system and the Port Authority's own PATH trains connecting Manhattan to New Jersey.

One of the world's largest gold depositories was stored underneath the World Trade Center, owned by a group of commercial banks. The 1993 bombing detonated close to the vault. Seven weeks after the September 11 attacks, $230 million in precious metals was removed from basement vaults of 4 WTC, which included 3,800 100-Troy-ounce 24 carat gold bars and 30,000 1,000-ounce silver bars.

World, National, State and city records

 * Tallest building in the world- 1971 to 1973.
 * Tallest building in the USA- 1972–1974
 * Tallest building in New York State 1971- 2001.
 * Tallest building in New York City 1971- 2001.

1979
The fire fighting equipment and elevators were up-graded.

1983
Entrance security, lift winding gears and firefighting equipment was upgraded.

In-house police station
Due to it's size, economic activity, demographic profile, security issues and working population, it needed a small in-house NYPD police station.

World Trade Center station (PATH)
World Trade Center is a terminal station in Lower Manhattan for PATH rail service. It was originally opened on July 19, 1909, as Hudson Terminal, but was torn down, rebuilt as World Trade Center, and re-opened July 6, 1971. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, a temporary station opened in 2003. This station serves as the terminus for the Newark – World Trade Center and Hoboken – World Trade Center routes. The main station house, the Oculus, opened on March 4, 2016, and the terminal was renamed the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, or World Trade Center for short.

February 13, 1975 fire
On February 13, 1975, a three-alarm fire broke out on the 11th floor of the North Tower. Fire spread through the tower to the 9th and 14th floors by igniting the insulation of telephone cables in a utility shaft that ran vertically between floors. Areas at the furthest extent of the fire were extinguished almost immediately and the original fire was put out in a few hours. Most of the damage was concentrated on the 11th floor, fueled by cabinets filled with paper, alcohol-based fluid for office machines, and other office equipment. Fireproofing protected the steel and there was no structural damage to the tower. In addition to damage caused by the fire on the 9th - 14th floors, water from the extinguishing of the fires damaged a few floors below. At that time, the World Trade Center had no fire sprinkler systems.

January 14, 1998, robbery
In January 1998, Mafia member Ralph Guarino, who had gained maintenance access to the World Trade Center, arranged a three-man crew for a heist that netted over $2 million from a Brinks delivery to the eleventh floor of the World Trade Center.

The 9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks (also referred to as 9/11) were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of September 11, 2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people and injured over 6,000 others and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage and $3 trillion in total costs.

Four passenger airliners operated by two major U.S. passenger air carriers (United Airlines and American Airlines)—all of which departed from airports on the northeastern United States bound for California—were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists, losing one of their passports in the WTC area. Two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Within an hour and 42 minutes, both 110-story towers collapsed, with debris and the resulting fires causing partial or complete collapse of all other buildings in the World Trade Center complex, including the 47-story 7 World Trade Center tower, as well as significant damage to ten other large surrounding structures. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense) in Arlington County, Virginia, leading to a partial collapse of the building's western side. The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, initially was steered toward Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers. It was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed respectively.

Suspicion for the attack quickly fell on al-Qaeda. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, which had harbored al-Qaeda. Many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent terrorist attacks. Although al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, initially denied any involvement, in 2004 he claimed responsibility for the attacks. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. Having evaded capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located and killed by SEAL Team Six of the U.S. military in May 2011.

The destruction of the World Trade Center and nearby infrastructure caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan and had a significant effect on global markets, closing Wall Street until September 17 and the civilian airspace in the U.S. and Canada until September 13. Many closings, evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, and the Pentagon was repaired within a year. On November 18, 2006, construction of One World Trade Center began at the World Trade Center site. The building was officially opened on November 3, 2014. Numerous memorials have been constructed, including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The attacks them selves


Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers took control of four commercial airliners (two Boeing 757 and two Boeing 767) en route to California (three headed to LAX in Los Angeles, and one to SFO in San Francisco) after takeoffs from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts; Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey; and Washington Dulles International Airport in Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia.[93] Large planes with long flights were selected for hijacking because they would be heavily fueled.[94]

 The four flights were: 

Media coverage was extensive during the attacks and aftermath, beginning moments after the first crash into the World Trade Center.
 * 1) American Airlines Flight 11: a Boeing 767 aircraft, departed Logan Airport at 7:59 a.m. en route to Los Angeles with a crew of 11 and 76 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 8:46 a.m.
 * 2) United Airlines Flight 175: a Boeing 767 aircraft, departed Logan Airport at 8:14 a.m. en route to Los Angeles with a crew of nine and 51 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 9:03 a.m.
 * 3) American Airlines Flight 77: a Boeing 757 aircraft, departed Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:20 a.m. en route to Los Angeles with a crew of six and 53 passengers, not including five hijackers. The hijackers flew the plane into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, at 9:37 a.m.
 * 4) United Airlines Flight 93: a Boeing 757 aircraft, departed Newark International Airport at 8:42 a.m. en route to San Francisco, with a crew of seven and 33 passengers, not including four hijackers. As passengers attempted to subdue the hijackers, the aircraft crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m.

At 8:46 a.m., five hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the northern façade of the World Trade Center's North Tower (1 WTC), and at 9:03 a.m., another five hijackers crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into the southern façade of the South Tower (2 WTC). Five hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. A fourth flight, United Airlines Flight 93, under the control of four hijackers, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh, at 10:03 a.m. after the passengers fought the hijackers. Flight 93's target is believed to have been either the Capitol or the White House.[94] Flight 93's cockpit voice recorder revealed crew and passengers tried to seize control of the plane from the hijackers after learning through phone calls that Flights 11, 77, and 175 had been crashed into buildings that morning. Once it became evident to the hijackers that the passengers might regain control of the plane, the hijackers rolled the plane and intentionally crashed it.

Three buildings in the World Trade Center collapsed due to fire-induced structural failure. The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. after burning for 56 minutes in a fire caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight 175 and the explosion of its fuel. The North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m. after burning for 102 minutes. When the North Tower collapsed, debris fell on the nearby 7 World Trade Center building (7 WTC), damaging it and starting fires. These fires burned for hours, compromising the building's structural integrity, and 7 WTC collapsed at 5:21 p.m. The west side of the Pentagon sustained significant damage.


 * Collapse of the South Tower
 * Collapse of the North Tower
 * Collapse of 7 World Trade Center

The NATO casus foederis is enacted
Article 5 of the NATO treaty is it's casus foederis. It commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state to be an armed attack against them all. It was invoked only once so far and it was done by the United States after the September 11 attacks in 2001. Apparently, the governments of Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark showed no overt sympathy to the USA or any condemnation of the attacks, unlike their citizens. If they did not actually offer any covert help either and really meant to see America swing, then they thus breached the treaty's mutual defense aspect. The UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, the USA, Canada, France, Israel and Turkey increased there diplomatic and espionage activity in the Middle East activate in order to stop any immediate threats to U.S. assets in the region.

Eurosceptics still maintain the 9\11 attacks were faked by the American government, were not any were as bad as they are said to be, were a heroic blow for freedom, were a Israeli/Jewish plot and or a de facto comedic event\ de jure legal rather than a blood thirsty war crime.

UN opinion on flying civil aircraft in to buildings\'plain slamming'
The UN regards events like 9\11 as illegal because it is horrifically indiscriminate and lethal. Most British people (especially Eurosceptics) have yet to realize this and regard the horrific, dishonest, indiscriminate and\or disproportionate use of force as legitimate, appropriate, cool and\or comedic.

The Falling Man photograph
The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:41:15 a.m. during the September 11 attacks in New York City. The subject of the image, whose identity remains uncertain, was one of the people trapped on the upper floors of the skyscraper who either fell searching for safety or jumped to escape the fire and smoke. At least 200 people are believed to have fallen or jumped to their deaths that day while other estimates say the number is half of that or fewer. Officials could not recover or identify the bodies of those forced out of the buildings prior to the collapse of the towers. All deaths in the attacks except those of the hijackers were ruled to be homicides due to blunt trauma (as opposed to suicides). The New York City medical examiner's office said it does not classify the people who fell to their deaths on September 11 as "jumpers": "A 'jumper' is somebody who goes to the office in the morning knowing that they will commit suicide. These people were forced out by the smoke and flames or blown out."

The photograph gives the impression that the man is falling straight down; however, a series of photographs taken of his fall showed him to be tumbling through the air.

The photographer has noted that, in at least two cases, newspaper stories commenting on the image have attracted a barrage of criticism from readers who found the image "disturbing".

The terrorists' Motives
Osama bin Laden's declaration of a holy war against the United States, and a 1998 fatwā (a holy death warrant) signed by bin Laden and others, calling for the killing of Americans, are seen by investigators as evidence of his motivation. In bin Laden's November 2002 "Letter to America", he explicitly stated that al-Qaeda's motives for their attacks include:


 * 1) U.S. support of Israel.
 * 2) support for the "attacks against Muslims" in Somalia.
 * 3) support of Russian "atrocities against Muslims" in Chechnya.
 * 4) pro-American governments in the Middle East (who "act as your agents") being against Muslim interests.
 * 5) support of Indian "oppression against Muslims" in Kashmir.
 * 6) the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.
 * 7) the sanctions against Iraq.

Replacement building
At 1,776 feet tall, the One World Trade Center is currently (as of 2016) the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The new office block was also developed by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Park51
Park51 (originally named Cordoba House) was to be a 13-story Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan including a "Muslim community center and a mosque." The developers hoped to promote an interfaith dialogue within the greater community. Due to its location two blocks from the World Trade Center site, it has been widely and controversially referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque". Numerous commentators disputed that characterization.

Park51 would have replaced an existing 1850s building of Italianate style that was damaged in the September 11 attacks. The design included a 500-seat auditorium, theater, a performing arts center, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a childcare area, a bookstore, a culinary school, an art studio, a food court, and a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks. It included a prayer space for the Muslim community to accommodate 1,000–2,000 people. Park51 was designed by the Principal of SOMA, Michel Abboud, who wrestled for months with a key problem to make the building fit naturally into its surrounds in lower Manhattan: on the one hand, it should have a contemporary design, and, at the same time, it should look Islamic.

In late September 2011, a temporary 4,000-square-foot (370 m2) Islamic center opened in renovated space at the Park51 location. In summer 2014, it was announced that there will instead be a 3-story museum with a prayer space, as well as condos, at 49-51 Park Place. In September 2015, it was reported that the owner of the site now plans to build a 667-foot, 70-story luxury condominium building at the site to take advantage of the booming residential real estate market in lower Manhattan.

Also see

 * 1) Famous buildings
 * 2) CIS Tower
 * 3) The Pentagon
 * 4) The White House
 * 5) Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (combat operations center)
 * 6) Pennsylvania Station (1910–63)
 * 7) Terrorism
 * 8) Civil aircraft