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No "Freedom" At Ground Zero, Just 1 WTC
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 26, 2009
Modified Mar 26, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 26, 2009
Modified Mar 26, 2009
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Earlier today, Port Authority chairman Anthony Coscia explained that the agency will be referring to the tallest building at Ground Zero not as Freedom Tower but as its legal address, 1 World Trade Center. The Daily News reports Coscia as saying, "As we market the building, we will insure that it is presented in the best possible way - and 1 World Trade Center is the address that we're using. It's the one that is easiest for people to identify with - and frankly, we've gotten a very interested and warm reception to it."
Is this the Port Authority's way of detaching itself from the protracted design process for the skyscraper and more than a little bit of jingoism? The tower's 1,776-foot (with antenna) design was revealed in 2003 and dubbed the Freedom Tower by Governor Pataki then also, only to be re-designed a few times and have its architects change. According to the Observer, "the name has never been popular with the Spitzer and Paterson administrations and it seems to have been slowly (or delicately) drifting off official references."
Coscia also said, "There are a lot of buildings that have popular names. If the Freedom Tower is the popular name as people think about this, that will be the choice of the people and how they think of downtown. On the other hand, this is a piece of real estate. It has an address. Legally, it is 1 World Trade Center." A tourist from North Carolina disagreed, telling the Daily News, "New Yorkers, you live here! This is part of your everyday lives. For us out-of-towners, it's not like that. Those buildings must be remembered differently. They need to stand out."
Coscia also announced that Chinese firm Vantone will be leasing 190,000 square feet of 1 World Trade Center, the first non-government tenant in the building that is expected to be complete in 2013.
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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