WTC’s Freedom Tower to rise higher than Empire State building today (1 Viewer)

[jamny]

WTC’s Freedom Tower to rise higher than Empire State building today

This is one rivalry with sky-high stakes.

The owners of 1 World Trade Center — which will surpass the height of the Empire State Building today — are waging an all-out business war against its Midtown cousin, The Post has learned.

WTC operators want to steal business from the Empire State Building by promoting their observation decks and winning back broadcasters that beam their signals off of the Midtown skyscraper’s massive antenna.

“We’re looking to maximize revenue and maximize the reputation of 1 World Trade Center,” Douglas Durst, who is building the Freedom Tower in partnership with the Port Authority, told The Post.

The antenna business alone could easily rake in $10 million in revenue, estimates show.

And as for the observation deck, the sky’s the limit.

WTC managers say it’s hard to estimate how much revenue the tower could generate because it’s still not decided what amenities will be included in the final design — like gift shops and snack concessions.

But one thing is for sure: the WTC’s observation deck will certainly include much more than just the puny gift shop featured at the Empire State Building, Port Authority sources said.

“You’ve got to get people back to thinking of the trade center not as a site of an attack but as a center of commerce,” said one person who has been involved with the reconstruction of lower Manhattan.

“You’ve got to think about it as a real-estate thing. And real estate is transactional — it’s about competition and retail and tourists.”

The WTC will soon hire an outside firm to design, operate and market its observation deck, which will open with the rest of the structure by early 2015.

And last week, the PA’s board approved a resolution to get back into the antenna business — something that was lost along with nearly 3,000 lives when the Twin Towers fell on 9/11.

The two moves are no coincidence — instead, they should be read as a new aggressiveness on the part of the WTC, sources told The Post.

The PA is even taunting the owners of the Empire State Building.

Tonight, the agency will light the new tower in a blue-and-white color scheme, in celebration of surpassing the Empire State Building’s 1,250 feet.

Those colors, sources said, are supposed to mock the Empire State Building’s controversial 2010 decision not to light the building in honor of the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s birth.

The owners of the 82-year-old Empire State Building declined to comment on their rivals’ plans.

“The world’s most famous office building, the ancestor of all super-tall towers, welcomes our newer, taller cousin to the skyline,” the Empire State operators said. “We’ve watched you grow, and now we salute you.”

 

[Doctor Detroit]

I was wondering about this when I was in the city this past weekend. Nothing like a little skyscraper taunting.

 

[jamny]

I was wondering about this when I was in the city this past weekend. Nothing like a little skyscraper taunting.

yeah, there was some grumbling when the ESB didn't change their colors to red to honor the newly-anointed Cardinal Dolan so the new Freedom Tower did it instead. link

 

[glock]

Great. Will they be be lighting a bull's eye on it as well?...

 

[Mario Kart]

Great. Will they be be lighting a bull's eye on it as well?...

When did Target become a sponsor?It's a 400 foot antennae. Does New York get back their cell reception now?

 

[identikit]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

 

[17seconds]

Kind of surprised to see the negativity in here. I think this is a great thing and I got a little misty seeing it on CNN this morning.

 

[Ignoramus]

Kind of surprised to see the negativity in here.

New here?

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

 

[Foosball God]

I think the Empire State building will be just fine. There is a nostalgia there that can't be matched just because 1 World Trade Center is a couple of floors higher.

 

[identikit]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

One tower?

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

One tower?

So you would just build two 1500 foot buildings just because?

 

[identikit]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

One tower?

So you would just build two 1500 foot buildings just because?

Is any building built 'just because'?

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

One tower?

So you would just build two 1500 foot buildings just because?

Is any building built 'just because'?

You seem to think so.

 

[identikit]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

One tower?

So you would just build two 1500 foot buildings just because?

Is any building built 'just because'?

You seem to think so.

No.

 

[Apple Jack]

The name is so stupid I'm almost embarrassed for it.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

The name is so stupid I'm almost embarrassed for it.

What if Arby's owned the building? Beef and Cheddar Center? Better or worse?

 

[belljr]

My only negative is the red tape that took this 11 years but other than that

 

[Brady Marino]

The name is so stupid I'm almost embarrassed for it.

What if Arby's owned the building? Beef and Cheddar Center? Better or worse?

I vote for better. It's got a certain ring to it.

 

[Billy Bats]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

The extra 400 ft is all antenna. The building itself will actually be shorter than the Sears tower.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

The extra 400 ft is all antenna. The building itself will actually be shorter than the Sears tower.

Antenna counts. There will never be a taller building built in the U.S., not in my lifetime anyway. Probably not in three lifetimes.

 

[cstu]

Much better looking than the old ones.

 

[flapgreen]

The name is so stupid I'm almost embarrassed for it.

What if Arby's owned the building? Beef and Cheddar Center? Better or worse?

I'm lovin it!TM

 

[Fennis]

The name is so stupid I'm almost embarrassed for it.

What if Arby's owned the building? Beef and Cheddar Center? Better or worse?

Too bad Trump doesnt own the thing.

 

[Foosball God]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

The extra 400 ft is all antenna. The building itself will actually be shorter than the Sears tower.

Antenna counts. There will never be a taller building built in the U.S., not in my lifetime anyway. Probably not in three lifetimes.

What makes you say that?

 

[otb_lifer]

I think the Empire State building will be just fine. There is a nostalgia there that can't be matched just because 1 World Trade Center is a couple of floors higher.

ESB is the Babe Ruth of skyscrapers/tallboys ... (Chrysler Building is Gehrig).

 

[Arizona Ron]

I wouldn't work in that building for triple my current salary.

 

[Riversco]

Much better looking than the old ones.

This new building has style.

 

[dparker713]

I wouldn't work in that building for triple my current salary.

Bull####.

 

[Arizona Ron]

I wouldn't work in that building for triple my current salary.

Bull####.

I'm afraid of heights, don't want to work in NY and constantly being reminded that I'm working at a 'target' location would be a deal breaker.

 

[Apple Jack]

I wouldn't work in that building for triple my current salary.

Bull####.

No way I'd work in that building.

 

[Slapdash]

The name is so stupid I'm almost embarrassed for it.

What if Arby's owned the building? Beef and Cheddar Center? Better or worse?

That sounds like a tasty building.

 

[dparker713]

I wouldn't work in that building for triple my current salary.

Bull####.

I'm afraid of heights, don't want to work in NY and constantly being reminded that I'm working at a 'target' location would be a deal breaker.

Its inside, there are worse places to live - like reno, and the first 20 floors are a bunker. Triple your current salary is big hike.

 

[Arizona Ron]

I wouldn't work in that building for triple my current salary.

Bull####.

I'm afraid of heights, don't want to work in NY and constantly being reminded that I'm working at a 'target' location would be a deal breaker.

Its inside, there are worse places to live - like reno, and the first 20 floors are a bunker. Triple your current salary is big hike.

This isn't making it a more attactive location to work.

 

[Arizona Ron]

I need Otis, Righetti and some of the other NYC FBGs to check in on this question.

Would you work in the new tower?

 

[otb_lifer]

I need Otis, Righetti and some of the other NYC FBGs to check in on this question.Would you work in the new tower?

I certainly would ..., knew at least 100 or so folks, including family members, who worked in the originals. Most of them were there for the first hit in '93 as well. That being said, the field(s) I work in aren't likely to be housed in this type of building.

 

[jamny]

I need Otis, Righetti and some of the other NYC FBGs to check in on this question.Would you work in the new tower?

I would. Nice new building/offices would be great. Can't worry about what might happen.

 

[the moops]

I wouldn't work in that building for triple my current salary.

Bull####.

I'm afraid of heights, don't want to work in NY and constantly being reminded that I'm working at a 'target' location would be a deal breaker.

Its inside, there are worse places to live - like reno, and the first 20 floors are a bunker. Triple your current salary is big hike.

I like Reno

 

[Apple Jack]

Reno's proximity to Tahoe makes it preferable to 98% of the country.

 

[dparker713]

I need Otis, Righetti and some of the other NYC FBGs to check in on this question.Would you work in the new tower?

Its annoying working in an extremely tall building. There are no quick trips to grab something. But, its got a subway stop directly under it, so thats a plus. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I wouldn't have an issue working there.

 

[Marvin]

Reno's proximity to Tahoe makes it preferable to 98% of the country.

Wondering if dparker has ever been to Reno.

 

[Apple Jack]

Reno's proximity to Tahoe makes it preferable to 98% of the country.

Wondering if dparker has ever been to Reno.

Wondering also if dparker is in proper awe of what happened in '93 and '01 at the WTC.

 

[cstu]

Even if terrorists could plan it, I think it would be a hard sell to the people they want to hijack the plane.

"You want me to fly a plane into the building they just built after we blew up the old one? Aren't they just going to build it again?"

 

[Righetti]

I need Otis, Righetti and some of the other NYC FBGs to check in on this question.Would you work in the new tower?

I would. Nice new building/offices would be great. Can't worry about what might happen.

I would..

 

[dparker713]

Reno's proximity to Tahoe makes it preferable to 98% of the country.

Wondering if dparker has ever been to Reno.

Wondering also if dparker is in proper awe of what happened in '93 and '01 at the WTC.

Don't really need to be in awe of what happened in '01. I'm fully aware of it. Still wouldn't prevent me from working there.

 

[griff321]

Still say both towers should have been rebuilt taller than they were, and long before the point we are at now (10+ years and running).

The Freedom Tower will be more than 400 feet higher than the originals. 1776>1350

One tower?

So you would just build two 1500 foot buildings just because?

I would have rather have them build two 1350ft buildings ASAP, than the BS that evolved into the freedom tower.

 

[Foosball God]

Even if terrorists could plan it, I think it would be a hard sell to the people they want to hijack the plane."You want me to fly a plane into the building they just built after we blew up the old one? Aren't they just going to build it again?"

Because they always go about these things logically...

 

[RBM]

Even if terrorists could plan it, I think it would be a hard sell to the people they want to hijack the plane."You want me to fly a plane into the building they just built after we blew up the old one? Aren't they just going to build it again?"

As long as innocent people are dying, they would do it.

 

[kentric]

Tower going up today. Quite a sight.

 

[Tony Jabroni]

Tower going up today. Quite a sight.

The top "spire" part?