104-storey World Trade Center reopens in New York
View(s):More than 13 years after the original towers were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, the World Trade Center in New York has re-opened for business. The US$3.8 billion skyscraper took eight years to build and is now the tallest building in the US, according to news agency reports.
“The New York City skyline is whole again,” Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority, which owns the restored site, said in a statement, adding that the building was “the most secure office building in America”.
The 1,776ft tall skyscraper is at the centre of the site, which includes a memorial in the footprints of the old towers and a museum, opened this year.
An observation deck at the top of the building will eventually be open to the public.
TJ Gottesdiener of the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill firm that produced the final design, said the high-rise went beyond the city’s existing building code and was built with steel-reinforced concrete.