By Kit Dillon 12/12/12 2:19pm

The Neverending Story

Round and round she goes. (Kit Dillon)

A Spire! After 11 Years, 1 World Trade Center Gets to the Point

Crane-lifts up the side of any building are a delicate affair, let alone up the side of 104-story glassy tower with sloping sides at the center of the most-watched construction site in the world. That is why it seemed like the Port Authority was taking its time this morning as its construction workers carefully hoisted up the first crowning piece of 1 World Trade Center’s spire. After all, the media, as always, were watching.

A small cohort of workers in high-vis jackets went about the work of checking the heavy lift sling and talking back and forth through the crackle of radio static. There was a quick speech for the cameras, and then without much more ceremony than that, honeycombed steel circle edged up into the air. Nothing more complicated than any of the tens of thousands of lifts the north crane has made in the construction of this building, if only important now in its symbolism: the final pieces. Read More

By Matt Chaban 11/01/12 11:36pm

The Neverending Story

6 Photos

WTC Brightens the Skyline

Following Massive Flooding, Work Resumes on World Trade Center After Days Rather Than Weeks

So many parts of the city’s crucial infrastructure remain under water, most notably those Con Edison generators downtown, but the city is drying out remarkably fast following the worst storm in living memory. Even some of the subway tubes have come back, if only there was power to run trains through them.

At his press briefing this evening, Gov. Cuomo made a surprise announcement, actually in the middle of talking about what dismal shape the PATH train is in—there appear to be some five miles worth of flooding, the length the line under the Hudson from New York to New Jersey, so that is one thing that will probably be submerged for some time to come. But a place that will not be is the World Trade Center, which, after flooding a good 15 to 20 feet across the site only three days ago, is now dry and in working order.

“Work will recommence at the Ground Zero site tonight,” Gov. Cuomo declared. I was just congratulating some of the workers; there was tremendous flooding at the Ground Zero site. We went from seeing the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel turned into a flume, we walked up the World Trade Center site, where water was cascading into the site from every imaginable angle, at such a decibel level it was disorienting. The entire site was flooded.” Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/15/12 5:50pm

The Neverending Story

1WTC_Red

Why Is the World Trade Center Lit Up Red? It’s Some Kind of Salute to the Troops

We first noticed it two weeks ago, crossing the Pulaski Bridge between Long Island City and Greenpoint. There it was, monolithic on the skyline as it has been for months now. But there was something different about 1 World Trade Center. Poking up from beneath the skyline of the warehouses in the foreground and the office buildings beyond was a band of red lights. It was hard to tell from there, but maybe there were some blue ones, and it was a U.S.A theme, all be it out of order (white-red-blue) in honor of the Olympics.

Then, there it was again this Friday, almost entirely red, plainly visible up and down Sixth Avenue (above), and no doubt the rest of the city. People have started noticing, and pictures have been making the rounds on Twitter, especially this one at right, shot by Inga Sarda-Sorensen. So we asked the Port Authority—what gives? Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/08/12 8:33am

The Neverending Story

After a huge response, no fire was found at 1 World Trade Center this morning. (Getty)

Possible Fire on 88th Floor of 1 World Trade Center, Second This Summer [Update: Or Was It 'Welding Incident'?]

After about 45 minutes this morning, dozens of firefighters got a blaze under control on the 88th floor of 1 World Trade Center. The Fire Department did not yet know the cause of the fire, which only hit the one floor. There were no injuries reported, according to an FDNY spokesman.

The fire was reported a little before 8 a.m., and 84 firefighters from 26 units responded. That is not an unusual number for a high-rise blaze, according to the spokesman. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/07/12 5:21pm

The Neverending Story

13 Photos

1.3 WTC

In Updated Designs for 1 World Trade Center, Does the Spire Still Look Like a Spire?

After all the wrangling over the updated designs for the Durst Organization-overseen 1 World Trade Center (we’ve heard there was a list of 20 changes the developer wanted from the Port, all eventually granted), new renderings have been released for the project. They show a building that looks a little sharper, perhaps a little less striking, but something still bound to dominate the skyline, as if that were not already abundantly clear from the just-about-topped-out tower. Have a look for yourself and decide whether this is an improvement. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/02/12 2:38pm

The Neverending Story

The final column. (AP)

Final Column at 1 World Trade Center in Place, Finally, Topping Out City’s Tallest Tower

Correction 8/3: The Port Authority has not topped out the tower but simply installed the presidential column. The installation of the final steel beam, and thus the topping out of the tower, is yet to come.

A month and a half ago, President Obama arrived at ground zero to much fanfare to inspect the towers rising there and maybe even finish them off.

There was some talk that (maybe) the hemisphere’s biggest building was set to top out, but that happened only this morning at a brief ceremony. Construction workers and police officers assembled to sign the final column of 1 World Trade Center before it was hauled more than 100 stories into place, according to a pool report. Read More