The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 20

The Daily News reports that law enforcement officials are concerned about the construction of Towers 2, 3, and 4 along Greenwich Street at Ground Zero. They're worried that they are covered with too much glass, or are located too close to the street.

Law enforcement counterterrorism specialists have pinpointed serious flaws in key components of the Trade Center site, including three of the signature office towers projected to open by 2012.

Towers 2, 3 and 4 - which will rise between Greenwich and Church Sts. to 79, 71 and 64 stories, respectively - contain too much glass, sources familiar with the issues said.

They also are not set back far enough from the two streets - where uninspected trucks will whiz by - to meet the most rigorous security standards, the sources said.

"The reimposition of the street grid is an integral part of the plan to bring vibrancy to lower Manhattan," said Avi Schick, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.

"The administration understands the need to balance that goal with legitimate security concerns."

Another concern: The buildings do not meet Department of Defense or Department of Homeland Security blast standards. That means they can withstand certain types of explosions - but not more powerful blasts.

For starters, these are concerns that have been present since the day the Master Plan was orchestrated to include running the street grid back through the site along Greenwich Street. The WTC complex prior to 9/11 had created a 16 acre superblock with no streets running through the site. Greenwich Street stopped at the border.

The planners thought that relinking Greenwich street through the site was a good idea, although it was something I had repeatedly pointed out was a bad idea from a security perspective, not to mention that it took away vital space that could be devoted to memorial and/or office space instead (see this from 2005 for example).

Meanwhile, the steel that will form the skeleton of the Freedom Tower continues to be fitted out in Virginia after coming from Luxembourg where it was formed and is making its way to New York City for erection at Ground Zero. A photo montage of the castings and finishing along with erection at the site can be found here. Already, the Freedom Tower steel is starting to peek out from the site at ground level.