Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2007 03:18:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC Rebuilding #529:Six Years,and they offer Dwarf Towers? The impending Tuesday of course marks six years since the attacks that caused this mailing list and the interest that unites its members to exist. Last Sunday the NY Times had a front page story on memorial-anniversary fatigue...headlined "As 9/11 Nears, A Debate Rises:How Much Tribute is Enough?" The article tells of how the inevitable is happening as disastrous events recede into history...more and more people are getting tired of huge annual commemorations.Let us hope that we can get to the point of HEALING the violated skyline before much more has been wasted on plans dictated by desire to showcase how badly our attackers hurt us. Already the issue of scaling down the coverage has been in the media... the Daily News had a story on WABC cutting coverage of the name-reading: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2007/09/06/2007-09-06_channel_7_to_cut_911_memorial_coverage.html The Post wrote about how they changed their minds: http://nypost.com/seven/09072007/news/regionalnews/9_11_kin_slam_abc_snub.htm So we still get the hours of coverage in the local market (what other cities would cover it?) this year...but how much longer? Meanwhile,Silverstein's people are trying to show "progress", as these forwarded stories show...but more work on building structures unfit to replace the Twin Towers is not progress worthy of the name! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 20:16:38 -0400 From: Joe Wright To: 'Louis Epstein' Subject: NYTimes article September 7, 2007 Developers Unveil More Plans for Trade Center Site By DAVID W. DUNLAP From deeply somber to brightly kinetic, a picture emerged today for the first time of what pedestrians can expect to see five years from now along the Greenwich Street side of the World Trade Center memorial. Rather than emphasizing the distant bird's-eye perspectives typical of most ground zero design unveilings, the developers and architects who are working on the redevelopment project stayed pretty much at street level, showing many of the details that will make or break the pedestrian experience. They showed two of the distinctive steel tridents that once supported the facade of 1 World Trade Center, up to 90 feet tall, housed behind glass in the entrance pavilion to the memorial museum. They showed a 90-by-35-foot "media wall" of light-emitting diodes, with transparent elevators to the side, overlooking the channel between the two voids that compose the most recognizable element of the memorial. They showed stores that would face the memorial across Greenwich Street. They also showed a wall of polished black granite that would reflect the memorial plaza. Greenwich Street will offer a critical transition between the sanctity of the memorial plaza itself, on the west side of the street, and the unabashedly commercial quarter on the east side. Therefore, the three enormous office buildings being developed at the trade center site by Silverstein Properties -- Tower 2 at 200 Greenwich Street, Tower 3 at 175 Greenwich Street and Tower 4 at 150 Greenwich Street -- will have a great effect on the memorial. New design details for all three buildings and also for the memorial museum pavilion on Greenwich Street were described today in a news conference at 7 World Trade Center. Joseph Daniels, the president of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum (as the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation is now known) said that two raw steel tridents from the north face of the north tower would be brought back to the trade center site. They are now in Hangar 17 at Kennedy International Airport, where the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been storing large-scale 9/11 artifacts. ---------- End forwarded message ---------- Had we had advance notice,we could have attended this news conference. Joe Wright spotted the story on NY1 television and reported that Speaker Silver presented the designs...his quotes below are disturbing in their enthusiasm for the revolting proposals. Write to him at speaker@assembly.state.ny.us to tell him what should really be built...perhaps point him to the ever-growing signatures at www.twintowersalliance.com and the countless sentiments voiced there.DO BE POLITE,BUT FIRM. The TTA is running advertisements on WINS Radio this weekend, and inviting people to record their own proposed pro-Towers radio spots...please...either offer a radio spot or help pay for the ones they are running,they take PayPal contributions that are tax-deductible! As for the tridents in the official memorial... http://nypost.com/seven/09042007/news/regionalnews/trident_true_symbol.htm ...they could certainly be reused better! The Calatrava PATH terminal faces slight cost cuts: http://nypost.com/seven/09062007/news/regionalnews/costly_wtc_station_will_still_.htm More details on the hopelessly inadequate proposed replacements for the Twin Towers are in the following article: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 21:59:31 -0400 From: Cecil A. Shepherd To: 'Louis Epstein' Subject: Refined Designs and Construction Schedules Presented for Three World Trade Center Towers NEW YORK, September 6, 2007 - World Trade Center developer Larry A. Silverstein and representatives of world-renowned architects Lord Norman Foster, Fumihiko Maki and Lord Richard Rogers gathered at 7 World Trade Center today to provide an update on designs and construction plans for the three World Trade Center towers being developed by Silverstein Properties. The three buildings will rise along the site's eastern edge, forming what will be the heart of a revitalized Downtown Manhattan's retail, transportation and office corridor. Construction on the three towers will begin next year. The presentation of refined and more detailed architectural plans for towers 2, 3 and 4 were part of a larger World Trade Center development update today that included presentations by New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Executive Director Anthony Shorris, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation President Avi Schick and National September 11 Memorial & Museum President Joe Daniels. In December 2005, Mr. Silverstein named Lord Foster and his firm Foster + Partners as the architect for 200 Greenwich (Tower 2). In May 2006, Lord Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Mr. Maki of Maki and Associates were named to design 175 Greenwich (Tower 3) and 150 Greenwich (Tower 4), respectively. Since that time, the three firms have worked in close coordination in a design studio created at 7 WTC as part of a unique team of architects, engineers, government planners and construction professionals. "The World Trade Center Design Team is an unprecedented assemblage of design and engineering talents, all working toward the goal of creating a unified and inspired plan for rebuilding the WTC as a 21st-century urban center," said Mr. Silverstein. "Over the past 16 months, some 120 men and women - from different design and engineering firms but sharing a single set of offices - have put to work their unique expertise. Working together around the clock has fostered a creative energy and level of collaboration rarely achieved on this scale in the architectural world. From a design perspective, each of the three towers is distinct, yet all three are architecturally compatible and work together seamlessly." Each tower has been designed to integrate with what will be newly-created pedestrian thoroughfares along the reconnected grid at Cortlandt and Dey Streets, the Memorial, WTC Transportation Hub, which is located between the towers at 200 and 175 Greenwich, and the rest of the Downtown community, including the Fulton Street Transit Center. "This is a great day for all the residents, workers, visitors and emergency responders of Lower Manhattan," said New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "A little more than six years ago, many believed that Lower Manhattan was finished as a major financial center. But, since that time, my community has overcome obstacles, dealt with setbacks and found new and innovative ways to keep the dream of full redevelopment alive. I applaud Larry Silverstein and his talented team of world-renowned architects, designers and engineers for their hard work in helping make this day a reality. Today, I am more confident than ever that the goal of a better, brighter Lower Manhattan - one that stands in tribute to all who have given their lives in the fight against hatred and terror - is on the horizon. We will get there together." Added Port Authority Executive Director Anthony Shorris, "Rebuilding at the World Trade Center site has come a long way in the last year, but there's much more left to do. We're focused on maintaining the tremendous momentum we've built for our signature projects - the Transportation Hub, Memorial and Freedom Tower - and on clearing the way for the creation of much-needed commercial space downtown." LMDC Chairmain Avi Schick said, "The redevelopment of the World Trade Center site will undoubtedly benefit from what is an all-star team of talented architects. Today we received a valuable glimpse of how the city's skyline, and the financial district in Lower Manhattan, will be reshaped when the rebuilding is complete." Added National September 11 Memorial President Joe Daniels, "We have made remarkable progress on the Memorial & Museum this year. This winter, the steel columns of the Memorial will begin to rise from the site. As construction progresses and the Memorial & Museum experience is shaped, we are continually inspired by the growing number of people from across the country and throughout the world who participate in building the Memorial & Museum. The responsibility to build this tribute is a solemn one, extending to the family and friends of those whose loved ones were killed, to those who survived, and to the millions of people from around the world who will come to the World Trade Center site to learn about what happened on September 11, 2001 and in the aftermath. The National September 11 Memorial will be a symbol of our recovery from the attacks and will be at the heart of a rebuilt and revitalized Lower Manhattan." According to the agreement formalized in November of 2006, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which is responsible for excavating and constructing a new set of slurry walls (a/k/a a "bathtub") along the eastern portion of the site, will turn sites for Towers 3 and 4 over to Silverstein Properties in January 2008 and for Tower 2 in July 2008. Construction of the towers will begin immediately upon completion of the bathtub and will be ready for occupancy in 2012. In anticipation of a January 2008 construction start for Towers 3 and 4, Silverstein Properties has already received bids for foundation work, and several more packages of work have been issued to the market seeking bidders. By the end of October, Silverstein expects to have 70 packages out for bid. By February of 2008, it is expected that contracts will have been awarded for several billion dollars worth of construction. "All of our energy over the past months has been focused on being totally prepared to kick off construction as soon as we get control of the three tower sites," said Janno Lieber, Director of World Trade Center Development for the Silverstein organization. "The design phase is now complete and the construction contracting phase is underway. We're ready to start building the dynamic new commercial corridor that will meet the growing need for top-tier office space and enliven the Downtown streetscape as never before." In keeping with the standards established by 7 World Trade Center and the Freedom Tower, which were designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in collaboration with Silverstein Properties, the three Greenwich Street towers will be models of environmental efficiency, life safety and cutting edge technology. Silverstein Properties has committed to ensuring that each of the three towers will achieve at least a Gold rating, as did 7 WTC, under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. To follow are brief summaries of each Greenwich Street tower. More information and new images of the three designs are available at www.wtc.com. 200 Greenwich Street/Tower 2 Foster and Partners has designed a 79-story tower at 200 Greenwich. The tower, which will rise to 1,270 feet and topped by an 80-foot antenna, is bounded by Greenwich Street to the west, Church Street to the east, Vesey Street to the north and Fulton Street to the south. It will contain 138,000 square feet of retail (130,000 square feet at or above street level), 60 office floors, including a sky-lobby, that will total 2.3 million square feet, four trading floors and a 65-foot high office lobby. According to Foster and Partners, 200 Greenwich Street's sparkling glazed crystalline form and diamond shaped summit create a bold addition to the New York skyline. Arranged around a central cruciform core, the tower comprises four blocks containing light-filled, flexible, column free office floors that rise to the 59th floor, whereupon the glass façades are sheared off at an angle to defer to and address the Memorial Park. Giving the building its distinctive inclined summit as the second tower in the World Trade Center Master Plan, 200 Greenwich Street also acts as a symbolic marker of the location of the Memorial Park when viewed from any location. The upper floors contained within the summit provide the opportunity for sweeping views of the park, the river and the city. A continuation of Foster and Partners' investigation into the nature of the high-rise tower, 200 Greenwich Street takes structural, functional, security, environmental and urban logic to a new dimension. It accommodates the primary vertical circulation, with high-speed shuttle elevators rising to an intermediate sky lobby where the upper floors are served by two further banks of elevators. It also allows for cross-corridor circulation by providing excellent orientation at every level, and opening views out across the office spaces. 175 Greenwich Street/Tower 3 The 71-story 175 Greenwich tower, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, will rise to 1,147 feet above street level with the antennae reaching almost 1,240 feet. It is located on the site bounded by Greenwich Street to the west, Church Street to the east, Dey Street to the north and Cortlandt Street to the south. The tower will include 193,000 square feet of retail (105,000 square feet on three floors at or above street level), 54 office floors (2.1 million square feet) and five trading floors. According to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, much of the design of 175 Greenwich Street is a function of its position at the center of the various buildings around the WTC Memorial site. As a result, it stands centrally across Greenwich Street from the main axis formed by the two reflecting pools of the Memorial. The design of the tower addresses this central position and accentuates the building verticality relative to the Memorial site. As suggested in the World Trade Center Master Plan, this verticality -- relative to the adjacent and smaller building at 150 Greenwich Street -- is also accentuated by the stepped profile of 175 Greenwich Street and by the antennae. The design uses a structural load-sharing system of diamond-shaped bracing which helps to articulate the building's east-west configuration. All corners of the tower are column free to ensure that occupants of the office levels have unimpeded 360 degree panoramic views of New York. 150 Greenwich/Tower 4 The 64-story 150 Greenwich Street tower, designed by Fumihiko Maki and Maki and Associates, is located on the site bounded by Greenwich Street to the west, Church Street to the east, Cortlandt Street to the north and Liberty Street to the south. The 975-foot tall building will include 56 office floors (1.8 million square feet), as well as five floors of retail, four of which are at or above street level. A third of the office space is slated to be the new headquarters of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. The rest will be retained by Silverstein Properties for commercial use, with a potential for 600,000 square feet to be occupied by the City of New York. According to Maki and Associates, the fundamental approach to 150 Greenwich Street is two-fold: a "minimalist" tower that achieves an abstract sculptural presence, quiet with dignity, on a site directly fronting the Memorial and a "podium" that becomes a catalyst in activating and enlivening the immediate urban environment at pedestrian street level as part of the redevelopment efforts of Downtown New York. The tower façades are clad in floor to ceiling windows utilizing composite glass with multiple layers of coatings intended to achieve a mat metallic quality with a luminous sheen. It embraces an abstract quality with a unique materiality - minimal, light, cool in color and ephemeral, changing with the light of day. Seen from a distance, the tower presents a unique angular profile that is chiseled at the crown acknowledging the spiral composition formed by the group of four towers, in keeping with the World Trade Center Master Plan. ---------- End forwarded message ---------- And there is no excuse for continuing with that wretched Master Plan! We lost Towers of 1,362 and 1,368 feet to their roofs...with the FT matching the shorter tower but not coming close to its 4.4 million square feet,the tallest of these dwarfs falls about a hundred feet short of the taller tower...and the others are all worse. In response to my last appeal to write to the Post, we got letters in: http://nypost.com/seven/08272007/postopinion/letters/bank_on_a_blame_game_following.htm Tal Barzilai,whose letter was printed first,wrote that he was concerned about misinterpretation since some might think he implied something was bad about delay in the official plans, but we got some clear voices through. Further on the above announcements,Silverstein's Lieber pledges "breakneck pace" down the official blind alley: http://nypost.com/seven/09072007/news/regionalnews/wtc_onward__upward.htm but (as the column our letters responded to noted) the Deutsche Bank demolition is stalled: http://nypost.com/seven/09072007/news/regionalnews/toxic_tower_stall.htm ...and the Master Plan can't be completed without it. And the JP Morgan Chase tower proposed for the Deutsche site will need hearings we can attend and demand that it be folded into bigger towers on the site...we must continue to keep our voices up even if it takes six MORE years to cancel the offical garbage! Accept NO substitutes for full-sized Towers,EVER! -=-=- The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again, at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.