NEW YORK—Thirteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the resurrected World Trade Center has opened for business—marking an emotional milestone for both New Yorkers and the nation.
Some staffers of publishing giant Conde Nast began working at 1 World Trade Center on Monday. The 104-story, $3.9 billion skyscraper dominates the Manhattan skyline. The publishing giant becomes the first commercial tenant in America’s tallest building.
It’s the centerpiece of the 16-acre site where the decimated twin towers once stood and where more than 2,700 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, buried under smoking mounds of fiery debris.
“The New York City skyline is whole again, as 1 World Trade Center takes its place in Lower Manhattan,” said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns both the building and the World Trade Center site.
The agency began moving into neighboring 4 World Trade Center last week.
He said 1 World Trade Center “sets new standards of design, construction, prestige, and sustainability; the opening of this iconic building is a major milestone in the transformation of Lower Manhattan into a thriving 24/7 neighborhood.”
With construction fences gone and boxes of office equipment in place, the company moved into what Foye called “the most secure office building in America.”
Prior to the move, Conde Nast addressed any issues employees might have had about moving into the tower. The architectural firm, T.J. Gottesdiener of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said it took extra measures to strengthen the steel-and-concrete structure. It said it is a much stronger structure than the twin towers.
