The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 168

The new Fiterman Hall, which is part of the Borough of Manhattan Community College Campus, is set to reopen next week. The original building was heavily damaged by the collapsing Twin Towers and 7WTC during 9/11. It sat in limbo until 2009 when city and state officials agreed upon a course of action to demolish and rebuild the structure.

The building differs greatly from the design aesthetic of the other towers going up in and around the World Trade Center complex. Rather than glass curtain walls, Fiterman Hall is dominated by concrete panels that mimic the look of brick and mortar. Despite the use of the brick-style panels, there's something cold and antiseptic about the design.

Meanwhile, families groups are still fighting over where and how to retain the remains of the unidentified victims from the attacks. Officials had planned to put the remains in a secured vault/crypt area beneath the Memorial/Museum complex, but some families want them to be located at a ground-level location. The latest fight over the remains has extended to demands to make public the list of all victims' relatives names and addresses so that those fighting for the changes can have the names to poll them.

Memorial developers plan to keep them 70 feet below ground, entombed behind a granite wall emblazoned with the Virgil quote: "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."

Rosemary Cain, whose firefighter son George Cain died on 9/11, said keeping the “sacred remains” in the basement is “not respectful” and “not a tribute to any of the blessed victims.”

“We want them above ground, we want them in a place of respect and dignity,” she said. "They don’t belong in the bowels of a museum, turning that place into a freak show.”

Many relatives, like retired FDNY deputy chief Jim Riches, whose firefighter son, Jim Riches Jr. was killed, want the city to build an aboveground commemorative tomb.

“We want a proper burial for our loved ones,” Riches said. “They’re American heroes, they died heroes that day and they deserve better than to be put in a basement of a memorial museum."

A spokeswoman for the 9/11 Memorial declined to comment on the appeal Monday and referred questions to the city. The memorial is not a party in Siegel’s lawsuit.

In the past, representatives of the museum said that the remains would not be on display and that the space would be managed by the Medical Examiner's office.

In addition, the museum also plans a private family room adjacent to the repository where relatives can reflect in privacy.

The remains will be periodically tested by the Medical Examiner to continue attempts to identify them.

In the past, several 9/11 family members wrote a letter of support for the plan, saying it "treats the remains with the utmost care, respect and reverence."

A spokesman for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum has said rebuilding officials have repeatedly consulted with families, through many mailings, forums and hearings over the past 10 years.

"[The families] have repeatedly stated it is essential the remains return to the sacred bedrock of the site," the spokesman has said.

A fight is continuing over plans to restore the Ground Zero cross to the Museum. Atheists have fought the plan, claiming that that would be state-sanctioned support of religion, but that ignores that it was an artifact revealed in the decimated remains of the World Trade Center complex, and that it came to be a source of hope and support for those working to find victims and remains of those murdered in the attacks.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 167

Fiterman Hall is nearly complete. The exterior is essentially completed and interior spaces are being prepared for a fall opening. That's tremendous news for the CCNY, which has been craving the space since they were forced out after 9/11 left the original building seriously damaged and contaminated.

Meanwhile, Santiago Calatrava's signature PATH transit hub should start to rise above street level in coming weeks. The final shape of the structure has been completed, and while it will be several more years before it is fully open to the public, the nearly $4 billion hub is making progress.

If that $4 billion figure seems high, it should. The transit hub was originally expected to cost $2.2 billion, but has steadily risen even as the delays have mounted.

The costs for the transit hub are one of the main reasons that the Port Authority has needed to raise tolls and fares - it's a huge blow to its budget and it has to recoup those costs. AAA has been suing the Port Authority claiming that the toll hikes were being used to fund rebuilding of non-transportation components of the rebuilding efforts.

Work on the Vehicle Security Center, which is being built on the site of the former Deutsche Bank Building is continuing as steel is being erected below street level (and partially visible from PATH as it winds underground adjacent to the work site.

That comes as 4WTC has been topped out and work is progressing elsewhere on the site except at the WTC museum, which continues to be subject to ongoing acrimony between the memorial foundation and the Port Authority. The fighting comes amid yet more demands that the National Park Service take over the memorial and museum operations, and that's a move that I'd fully support - though I still blame the Port Authority for the ongoing delays at the museum and elsewhere on the site.

Elsewhere near the World Trade Center, a Morton's Steakhouse will be coming to 130 Cedar Street, which overlooks the Trade Center site.

In more ominous news, Egypt's newly elected President, Mohamad Morsi is reportedly expected to call for the release of 1993 WTC Bombing mastermind Sheikh Abdel Rahman.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 141

There's a pretty frenetic pace of work going on around Ground Zero these days.

The Freedom Tower continues rising. The glass exterior is keeping pace with the rising steel, and scaffolding has now appeared on the mechanical spaces from the 10-20 story level, which means that those spaces will soon get their cladding.

Fiterman Hall is getting its outer skin and windows. While the exterior appears to be glass and brick, the brick was installed in large panels so that there wasn't any actual bricklaying on site.

Even work on the foundations for 2WTC are underway.

The Port Authority is even working on leasing arrangements for the retail space that will occupy significant portions of the underground space in and around the PATH Transit Hub. It's working out a deal with Westfield Properties that began with talks in 2008 to fill the space:

These sources said the Port wants to know by mid-fall if it can seal a deal with Westfield. That would give the agency enough time to either find another partner or move forward by itself in developing a plan for the approximately 360,000 square feet of retail space that will be initially built at the site. Roughly 200,000 square feet of that space is in the Calatrava transit hub, which is slated to open in 2014.

In 2008, the Port Authority and Westfield signed a letter of intent whereby the Port agreed to provide approximately $825 million toward the $1.45 billion project, with Westfield providing the other $625 million. However, that deal was based on projections of about 488,000 square feet of retail space. That total has shrunk, in part because there are no immediate plans to build one of Larry Silverstein's three towers.

Meanwhile, a federal circuit court ruled that the Port Authority can be sued by Con Ed and its insurers over the collapse of 7WTC on 9/11. A lower court judge, Alvin Hellerstein, had precluded Con Ed's suit, claiming that the terms of the lease prevented Con Ed from suing the Port Authority on a negligence claim.

However, a portion of Hellerstein's decision was upheld, relating to Con Ed's failure to provide timely notice on certain claims.

"In short, we conclude it was error to read the parties' lease as precluding claims by Con Edison against Port Authority premised on Port Authority's negligence in connection with the construction of 7WTC or the installation of the diesel fuel tanks in the building," the appeals court order said.

But the order upholds the lower court judge on the more general negligence claim, saying Con Edison had not properly notified the Port Authority of its intention to sue on those grounds.

Overall, this ruling opens up the Port Authority to significant financial liability and stems from claims that the Port Authority had improperly allowed its tenants (the New York City Office of Emergency Management) to place diesel fuel tanks used for back-up power, and that the burning tanks had accelerated the collapse of the building late in the afternoon of September 11.

Also, the special master under the Zadroga Act has expanded the geographical area of coverage, but that doesn't satisfy all those who claim to be affected as it excludes areas in Chinatown and Brooklyn where dust and debris came down.

UPDATE:
From the Port Authority site:

1 WTC Construction Status

Steel has risen to the 70th floor.
Installation of glass curtain wall has risen to the 44th floor
Installation of concrete floors has risen to the 64th floor
Installation of podium glass will begin in 2012 to allow for construction activities and deliveries to proceed in this area.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 125

Today marks the end of the former Deutsche Bank building after years of delays, a deadly fire that resulted in two firefighters losing their lives when standpipes and other safety measures were not in place, and decontamination of the building that took much longer than expected.

The building had been damaged by falling debris from the South Tower on 9/11 and the LMDC took ownership of the property so that it could make room for the vehicle security center and another office tower for the WTC complex. It was an ongoing symbol of the failure to rebuild in a timely fashion.

Freedom Tower viewed from WTC Memorial

Good riddance.

Meanwhile, construction proceeds throughout Ground Zero and workers continue raising steel on the Freedom Tower/1WTC along with 4WTC, and Fiterman Hall is being built out as well. The Freedom Tower's glass cladding is being installed above the 25th floor level, and you begin to get a sense of how close the tower will resemble its sketches and elevation views.


The 9/11 Memorial and Museum construction continues as more trees are being planted in the memorial grove and the museum structures are being built out. The PATH transit hub is also underway.

Here's an overhead view of the construction at Ground Zero:

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 118

These photos were taken October 28, 2010 from around Ground Zero.

The first shows crews working on spraying insulation on steel more than 100 feet in the air:

 

This is the new Fiterman Hall with 7WTC on the left. The building will eventually reach nine stories and they are just a few weeks away from topping out and beginning to clad the exterior.

 

This shot of the Freedom Tower (1WTC) from Church street shows that the tower is quickly approaching the height of the World Financial Center and continues climbing at a rate of more than 30 feet a week. They are assembling the steel in three story increments, and then build out the individual floors by pouring the concrete and then linking those structures with the inner core which remains mostly hidden from view.

 

This is the remains of the former Deutsche Bank building, which shows that there are just about five stories remaining before it is at ground level. This demolition cannot happen soon enough and stands in the way of building a new vehicle security center and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed by the falling Twin Towers.

 

Just beyond the security fence, you can see the fall colors of the memorial grove that has been installed at the 9/11 memorial plaza. When completed, there will be more than 400 trees in the plaza. They're just about 10% done thus far.

 

As part of the 9/11 memorial and museum, organizers included parts of the original Twin Towers. Directly underneath one of the many tower cranes that dot Ground Zero are two tridents that formed the outer skin and structure of the Twin Towers. They were recovered from Ground Zero and stored at JFK airport until the site was ready to reincorporate them. The tridents had to be installed before the rest of the museum because of their sheer size and bulk that made it all but impossible to relocate them to the site at any other point during construction.

 

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 95

Scott Pelley of CBS News takes an in depth look at the situation at Ground Zero and calls it an outrage that the situation isn't as far along as it should have been. It's a situation that I've been detailing for years. Welcome to the party pal. Where have you been? CBS News has offices uptown, but they most certainly know that Lower Manhattan is still missing the towers at Ground Zero as promised. This isn't a surprise.

What is a surprise is that it took CBS News years before they sent 60 Minutes to Ground Zero to take a look at the sorry state of affairs that I've been cataloging since before I started blogging it on A Blog For All. It's a disgrace that the Port Authority is passing the buck and blaming Larry Silverstein for delays when the Port Authority is years behind on its own schedule for rebuilding the transit hub and repeatedly delayed handing over the site in a condition suitable for rebuilding.

Silverstein had sued the Port Authority for $2.75 billion over the delays and while the court found that the Port Authority had indeed repeatedly delayed handing over the site in accordance with prior agreements, Silverstein was not entitled to damages.

Moreover, the LMDC, a public entity, has still been incapable of demolishing the former Deutsche Bank building that was severely damaged on 9/11 and it was only a few short months ago that Fiterman Hall was finally demolished after it stood hulking over the triangle in front of the newly rebuilt 7WTC, which Silverstein had rebuilt within three years time.

Each delay builds on the next, which is why fanciful schedules and timelines claiming that various components of the rebuilding will be completed come with expiration dates and probability charts. More often than not, the Port Authority will not make its deadlines, pushing the rebuilding even further into the future.

The lack of urgency in rebuilding is still omnipresent. The failure to obtain sufficient funding for this shovel ready project is also astounding. At a time when the federal government is throwing hundreds of billions of dollars around to stimulate the economy, where's the money to help rebuild Ground Zero? 4 WTC was pretty much canceled last week because of a lack of financing, which is simply unconscionable. That means that should the building be reconsidered at some point in the future, it will mean a far higher cost and inconvenience to those who commute through the site to say nothing of those who live and work in the area who have to deal with the ongoing construction that will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 90

It's the year end edition of the rebuilding of Ground Zero series, and it ends more or less as it began the year. The former Deutsche Bank building remains a hulking ruin looming large over the rest of the Ground Zero site. In more than a month since demolition resumed, only two floors have been removed. There is no timetable for when the building will finally be gone, despite the fact that the site is critical to the rebuilding of the rest of the Ground Zero site.

Construction of 2WTC and 3WTC remains shrouded in mystery because of the ongoing flap between Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority.

Yet, there is some good news to be had. Fiterman Hall is gone and a new tower will rise in its stead adjacent to Silverstein's 7WTC. The Goldman Sachs building across from Ground Zero was finished this year, and the Freedom Tower is finally rising above street level as two tower cranes and 2 heavy lift cranes have been raising steel more than 150 feet into the air (which is still less than 10% of the Freedom Tower's final height of 1,776 feet). Construction at 4WTC is also underway, with two tower cranes now operating on that site as well.

Work on the memorial and transit hub both continue apace, and the Port Authority's website provides semi-regular updates, including video and photos of construction progress.

UPDATE:
Curbed has more photos of Ground Zero, including an insider look at the 1WTC/Freedom Tower construction. The 9/11 Memorials are taking shape, including the walls that will eventually comprise the waterfalls at the heart of each of the tower "footprints".

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 88

Groundbreaking on the new Fiterman Hall took place yesterday, but it was not without a bit of controversy sparked by none other than the irritable and despicable New York City Councilman Charles Barron, who took offense with not being on the dais for the ceremony and got into a shouting match with a CUNY Trustee.

Barron accused Mayor Bloomberg and others of "disrespecting" him and the students who had fought for a new building.

"The mayor gets up here and doesn't even respect us enough to even mention that students were even involved in it at all," Barron said during the groundbreaking for Fiterman Hall at Borough of Manhattan Community College.

At that point, CUNY trustee Jeffrey Wiesenfeld rose from his front-row seat and said, "When was the last time you respected somebody? You're a disgrace!"

"You be quiet. No one's talking to you," shot back Barron, chairman of the council's Higher Education Committee, as a couple of hundred invited guests looked on in wonderment. "You're a sickening racist, so you can go to hell!"

When Wiesenfeld told Barron to await his turn to speak, the councilman retorted: "Whether you like it or not, I'm here and I'm not going nowhere."

The exchange is here:



Even as the groundbreaking was underway, Steve Cuozzo reminds everyone that Fiterman Hall could have been refurbished and rebuilt following the damage sustained in the 9/11 attacks. The years of delays in securing financing led to the very problems alleged - mold infestations that proved too much to clean:

So after it was damaged on 9/11, CUNY held out for a whole new building. The original very likely could have been fixed -- but, as then-Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff told us in 2004, "They don't think it's the ideal building for their purposes."

If it was truly beyond repair, CUNY never proved it. Although it had $120 million in insurance funds for repairs, it wanted $56 million more from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to knock it down and start over -- holding the eyesore hostage for years as it cast a pall on the doorstep of the new 7 World Trade Center.

The Fiterman fiasco bounced back and forth among CUNY, three governors and City Hall. When the LMDC finally agreed to put in more dough, CUNY designed a fancier building and demanded even more money. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver squeezed a reluctant Mayor Bloomberg to pump $70 million into a bloated $259 million tab.

By the time CUNY got everything it wanted, Fiterman Hall had finally turned as toxic as the school first claimed -- further delaying demolition.

Meanwhile, a look around Ground Zero would reveal a hive of construction on multiple projects. There are at least nine heavy lift cranes operating around the site - four alone at the Freedom Tower, including two tower cranes. Two other tower cranes are operating at Ground Zero, not counting the tower crane for the ongoing demolition of the former Deutsche Bank building, which appears to have had it's current top floor demolished by the look of the scaffolding slowly coming down.

Steel continues rising on the Freedom Tower (1WTC), and the steel crosswork and angular form of the lower floors of the tower are starting to come into focus.

At the same time, construction is underway throughout the temporary PATH station, including new stair access to the subway platforms and overlaying and interlacing the Calatrava design on top of the existing structures. It strikes me as a tremendous waste of money to see so much of the temporary station demolished; it was built with five tracks and three platforms, but two of the tracks are now fully out of commission and one platform is out of service. Was it necessary to build that additional capacity in the temporary station when the final design would require their demolition? It would have made more sense to pare down the temporary station so that construction could proceed, saving everyone money in the process.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 86

In a sign that progress is occurring at Ground Zero and its environs, we have addition by subtraction. Fiterman Hall is now just a bitter memory.

The building, which was severely damaged by the collapsing Twin Towers and 7WTC is now officially demolished. Work will soon begin on a dazzling new building for the Borough of Manhattan Community College designed by IM Pei's architectural firm.

The building, which had just undergone a $65 million renovation, was contaminated beyond repair by toxic dust and mold.

But plans to demolish and rebuild it ran into years of multiagency delays and arguments over environmental rules and funding. Until this month, it had been an eyesore surrounded by construction scaffolding and safety netting.

A funding breakthrough announced last November by Mayor Bloomberg and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver paved the way for a piecemeal removal of Fiterman, which began in May and is now all but complete.

The end of Fiterman Hall will be formally announced tonight at a City University of New York board meeting.

CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said Fiterman's long-awaited and hard-fought removal will send a powerful signal that lower Manhattan and the city are moving forward from the devastation of 9/11.

The new building will offer much-needed relief for the school's crowding, according to Manhattan Community College President Antonio Perez.

The new Fiterman Hall, to be completed in spring 2012, will be used by the school's 20,000 full- and part-time students.

UPDATE:
This traffic camera happens to provide pretty good coverage over the Southern and Eastern portion of Ground Zero, including the former Deutsche Bank building.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 83

First, we have the Freedom Tower rising. There are now four massive cranes assembling the lowest levels above street level that make up the lobby atrium area:

 

That's followed by Fiterman Hall falling. Fiterman Hall has been an eyesore on the northern side of Ground Zero since after the 9/11 attacks seriously damaged the building, which is part of the Borough of Manhattan Community College campus. The demolition was a long time coming, but it is expected to be completely razed by December, and a new building will begin rising on the location shortly thereafter.

 

Both these photos were taken today on my cellphone.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 82

The former Deutsche Bank building is expected to be gone by December 2010, which is years after the building was originally slated for demolition due to a deadly fire, serious problems with the contractors involved in the work, and new more onerous rules designed to prevent future accidents at the site.

LMDC President David Emil said he expects the demolition to begin on Nov. 2. Until a few floors come down, he said, it's too soon to be able to predict how quickly the work can be done and when it would be finished.

The tower suffered a 15-story gash on 9/11, and was filled with toxins from the collapsed World Trade Center.

Work to demolish the Deutsche building began in March 2007. It was expected to be done by the end of 2008.

But the project has had a history of setbacks, including an August 2007 blaze in which two city firefighters died, unable to get water from standpipes that had been cut. The fire and ensuing investigation stopped work for 10 months.

Costs have risen dramatically, too. In 2004, the price tag for demolition and cleaning the tower of toxins was put at $82 million. The cost now is estimated at well over $200 million, not including the $90 million the LMDC spent to buy the site.

Corruption charges have also hit former contractors. Yesterday, Robert Chiarappa, 45, was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for billing the government for $1.2 million in supplies that were never delivered.

Meanwhile, Fiterman Hall across Ground Zero from the Deutsche Bank building is nearly gone. About three stories remain of that building, and a new IM Pei designed building for the Borough of Manhattan Community College will soon rise on the site.

At the same time, the massive steel beams making up the exterior base of the Freedom Tower continue to be installed, and the north core tower crane was jacked to accommodate the rising tower. There are now four massive cranes (two tower cranes and two movable cranes) operating on the Freedom Tower site.

Meanwhile, some folks haven't been paying attention to the real work done at the site. This guy at Business Week thinks there hasn't been any work on the site.

Also, there has been some uproar over the fact that a contract to manufacture blast-resistant glass for the Freedom Tower went to a Chinese company.

"This new tower is going to be made out of subsidized Chinese glass, putting factory workers out of their jobs in America," said Scott Paul, director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a partnership of the United Steelworkers and some manufacturers.

On Thursday, the Alliance sent a letter to U.S. trade officials asking that they address what they see as unfair trade practices. Specifically, the group says that the Chinese government spends billions of dollars subsidizing the glass industry's energy costs.

"Our domestic glass industry is the most efficient in the world, but it cannot compete against production that is heavily subsidized by the Chinese government," according to the letter. "As a result, glass production in the U.S. has suffered in recent years, with plant closings and thousands of lost jobs throughout the country."

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke are slated for trade meetings in Hangzhou, China, later this month.

A Chinese spokesman on trade issues did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. glass industry has lost more than 40,000 jobs since 2000, according to Department of Labor figures, even as the Chinese glass industry has experienced explosive growth. Between 2000 and 2008, U.S. imports of Chinese glass have tripled.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 81

It's about damned time. The former Deutsche Bank building demolition will finally resume its work after a two-year delay resulting from a deadly fire that killed two FDNY firefighters because standpipes were cut and other safety issues that were discovered in the aftermath.

Now, three and a half years after demolition of the 41-story tower began, workers next week will start the arduous job of dismantling its 26 remaining stories and removing 15,750 tons of concrete and 11,000 tons of steel.

Crews have already replaced the black plastic netting shrouding the building with blue, fire-retardant netting; removed all the walls, glass, plumbing and work sheds from the interior; and erected a plywood perimeter around the top three floors. The construction manager, Bovis Lend Lease, expects to get a permit from the city’s Buildings Department early next week to resume demolition.

In the coming months, ironworkers, operating engineers and laborers will go floor by floor, smashing the concrete into rubble, cutting the steel beams and lowering the debris to the ground under the watch of a small army of fire guards, inspectors and regulators. Sometime next spring, the star-crossed building will cease to exist.

“We believe we have developed a plan utilizing the latest techniques and best practices to safely and efficiently deconstruct 130 Liberty Street,” Steven H. Sommer, a senior vice president of Bovis Lend Lease, said in an interview on Tuesday.

Demolition work is also progressing on the nearby Fiterman Hall that was plagued by political indecision and an inability of the City and State to get the demolition work underway. Fiterman Hall will eventually be rebuilt for the Borough of Manhattan Community College, but plans for a new structure on the site of the former Deutsche Bank building are up in the air. It will be the site of a vehicle security center for vehicles entering Ground Zero, but beyond that, it isn't clear what will happen.

What we do know is that the delays in demolition have delayed reconstruction efforts throughout Ground Zero since that building was to provide access to the rest of the site.

UPDATE:
The WTC Memorial Plaza continues to be built out; construction of the SW portion of the site is now underway. There are 694 pieces of steel involved in this section, and after this work is done, only a small section adjacent to the PATH station will need to be erected. The SW corner has been exceedingly difficult to build because of foundation work and the close proximity to the PATH tracks. When the work is done, the PATH tracks will be nearly completely enclosed but for that one area adjacent to the station.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 80

Fiterman Hall is finally coming down, and is now several stories lower than it had been just weeks ago. That stands in stark contrast to the often delayed demolition of the former Deutsche Bank building. Deconstruction was supposed to resume over the summer, but further delays have meant that the hulking ruin continues towering over the Southern side of Ground Zero and delays the rebuilding efforts throughout the site.

Meanwhile, Governor Paterson signed into law a provision allowing Ground Zero workers to sue over medical claims.

The law immediately allows more than 3,000 Ground Zero workers to revive lawsuits that were thrown out by a federal judge in July on the technical ground that they were not filed within 90 days of the workers' conditions being diagnosed.

-- PHOTOS: Ground Zero immediately after 9/11

-- PHOTOS: Ground Zero today

It will also allow new lawsuits from an untold number of workers who never even filed claims.

One of them is Chris Klein, 38, a carpenter from Broad Channel, Queens, who worked for three months at Ground Zero in 2002 and is now on disability with a lung condition. Attorneys told him he waited too long after his diagnosis in 2004 and couldn't file a lawsuit.

"I put my life on the line to help the city and the state, and we were lied to that the air was good to breathe," said Klein, who said he also has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and chronic sinusitis.

Klein said he will now join a separate group of about 10,000 police, firefighters, construction workers and others who worked at or near Ground Zero in the months after 9/11 and who filed lawsuits seeking compensation for subsequent illnesses. They contend the government had told them, falsely, the air conditions were safe.

UPDATE:
A convoy of trucks from Maryland is heading to New York's JFK Airport with a batch of steel recovered from Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks. The steel was tested and examined by NIST, and is on its way back to a hanger at the airport pending its use in the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero or for use at a memorial or monument elsewhere in the country.

9/11: Eight Years Later

*** This post will remain on the top of the page. Scroll down for other coverage. ***

It's pretty hard to believe that eight years have passed since the deadly 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people were murdered by 19 al Qaeda terrorists who hijacked four airliners with the intent to crash them into the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon, and either the White House or Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

The vivid memories of the attacks have faded, and have instead been replaced with asinine ad campaigns for the WWF.

Local television networks are contemplating the extent of coverage of the memorial service at Ground Zero, which will include the reading of the names of all those murdered at the Twin Towers.

On the morning of the 9/11 anniversary, it's expected all the local stations will once again go wall-to-wall with coverage of the name-reading ceremony at Ground Zero.

They'll do as they have for the previous seven anniversaries, tossing out commercials and carrying the coverage until the last victim's name is read.

However, there's a growing reluctance to do so, one partly driven by money.

"This is crazy," said one station insider. "Nobody wants to be the first to pull out."

From a moral standpoint, station officials know well that airing the ceremony is the right thing to do. The ceremony is New York, and it has been an emotional event each time before.

They eventually will stop covering this, although it is only two years until the 10th anniversary of the attacks, and the nation's collective memories will fade even further. The problem is that many are still living with the effects of the attacks, particularly in the New York metro area, and Jay-Z has responded with a benefit concert (and whose tickets were promptly scalped for up to $3,000 when face tickets started at $54.50). Proceeds from ticket and concert merchandise sales will go to the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund.

The tragic circumstances of the aftermath is continuing to take lives. Reports indicate that the number of people who have died as a result of their exposure to Ground Zero has increased. Moreover, several responders have committed suicide.

More than 800 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers have died since 9/11 -- and cancer has killed at least 270 of those heroes, new data show.

The figures also show that 33 WTC responders committed suicide.

State researchers have tallied 817 deaths of workers and volunteers who toiled at toxic Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill, where rubble was sifted.

Benny Gordon will be racing on September 11 in Virginia in a NASCAR event in a car adorned with 9/11 themed logos to raise awareness for the fundraising efforts for the National 9/11 Museum and Memorial at Ground Zero.

It is interesting to see the difference that a year of construction makes at Ground Zero. This is a photo taken of the Freedom Tower from across West Street at the Vesey Street overpass last year:

While much of the site is still below the level of the streets surrounding the 16 acres, tower cranes are erecting steel and concrete for 1WTC, the Freedom Tower, and 4WTC on the opposite corner. The memorial and museum are underway (new renderings of the memorial and museum pavilions were released September 10 and picked up by Curbed), although construction deadlines are in doubt whether they will be completed in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks (the museum is scheduled to open in 2012 and the memorial should at least be partially open by September 11, 2011).

Here's a photo taken from nearly the same vantage point just over a week ago:

 

Meanwhile, the cornerstone that was dedicated in 2004 is back at the shop where it was originally fabricated and no one knows what will become of it. In the meantime, it will be placed in a garden at the fabrication facility in Hauppaugue.

Still, the work on the Freedom Tower is a tangible sign of progress, which stands in stark contrast to the lack of visible work on the former Deutsche Bank building and Fiterman Hall. Fiterman Hall is finally being deconstructed, and it's likely that the Deutsche Bank building will follow. Both should have been deconstructed long ago, but the City, State, and public authorities responsible for the sites failed miserably to do what had to be done.

It's only been in the last few weeks that Larry Silverstein gained control over the site for 2WTC and 3WTC, and there's no timetable for when those projects will be completed because there's some effort underway to build the towers as nothing more than stumps that will be finished when the business climate improves. I think that's a terribly shortsighted mistake, and it means that construction in and around Ground Zero will persist for decades to come.

The business climate and the financial market meltdown has meant that demand for office space has declined, but it will eventually come back, and Class A space will be in high demand at some point. In other words, top quality office space is always in demand, and at favorable rates, it will draw businesses to consider working in Lower Manhattan. Turning Ground Zero into a perpetual work zone is a guarantee that those businesses wont come, because they wont want the hassle of working in such an environment.

Yet, local politicians aren't making much of an issue of Ground Zero redevelopment during the current election season. It's not even an issue, despite the fact that we're talking about $10 billion in redevelopment ongoing in and around the site. Redevelopment has become an afterthought, and no one in government has taken it upon themselves to stand guard and make sure that development takes place. Instead, we get a muddled mess and resigned indifference.

It's hoped that the 9/11 memorial will be finished in time for the 10th anniversary, but other memorials have been completed around the region, including one on Staten Island.

 

This is a closeup of the Staten Island 9/11 Memorial, which sits across from Lower Manhattan. The defining feature of this memorial is that not only are the names and ages of those murdered in the attacks provided, but each person's silhouette was carved into their stone marker. It's a very personal touch, and a powerful one at that. Family and friends have left photos and other personal effects from time to time.

Never forget.

There are memorials all around the nation, yet none is more powerful than the absence of the Twin Towers and the tribute of light that shines from near ground Zero in a silent testimony to those murdered on 9/11.

 

UPDATE:
Others carrying remembrances and commemorating 9/11: Don Surber, Lorie Byrd, Ed Morrissey, The Anchoress, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin, and more will be posted as I get a chance.

UPDATE:
Today's commemorations in New York City are taking place under gloomy conditions with heavy rain and strong winds, which is quite unlike the startling beautiful morning immediately prior to the first of two planes to crash into the WTC.

For my prior year recollections and postings, see September 11, 2008, September 11, 2007, September 11, 2006, and September 11, 2005, in which I wrote:

As I write this, the names of the WTC victims are being recited at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan.

What is thus far the enduring memorial? The Times discusses the ad hoc memorials that sprang up around the city in the days and weeks following the attacks. However, the article itself doesn't mention who did the attacks. There is a passing reference to terrorism, but how are people supposed to remember the day if they don't remember who did this to us? It would be like remembering Pearl Harbor day on December 7 and not saying that it was Japanese fighters that launched the attack, which brought the US into World War II.

So, for the record, let me restate this day. 9/11/2001 was the day that 19 Islamic terrorists hijacked four airliners with the intent to kill tens of thousands of Americans while they were at work, play, travel, and engaging in life, crashed those planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Center's Twin Towers, and murdered more than 3,000 people. Al Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist group with ties to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and a host of other failed states, claimed responsibility.

Yet, there are still a significant portion of the US population who think that the US government was either behind the attacks, or knew of the attacks and did nothing to stop them. Just as bad is the view across the Islamic world, where many simultaneously believe that someone else besides Muslims were behind the attacks (Jews/Israel among the top choices), and cheer that al Qaeda carried out the attacks, despite all the evidence and the fact that al Qaeda has repeatedly taken credit for the heinous attacks.

UPDATE:
The New York Times looks back on the fearful times that immediately followed the 9/11 attacks, and how many people thought that life would never be the same - and that skyscrapers were too dangerous and that another attack could come at any time. Eight years later, the NYC skyline has seen several notable additions, particularly in Midtown, including the NYT headquarters. It should be remembered that President Bush did manage to prevent another mass casualty attack in the US since 9/11. We can only hope that President Obama keeps up the fight and continues that string of good fortune.

UPDATE:
Trooferism is still alive and well. It most recently bubbled to the surface in relation to Van Jones, who was tapped by President Obama to oversee the Administration's Green agenda. It was claimed that he signed a petition calling for additional investigations in to 9/11 and a government role in the attacks. Salon contacted numerous other signatories and wanted to know if they would again sign such a petition. Quite a few said they would, including Ed Asner and quite a few academics. One expressed sadness that Jones recanted, while another, Paul Hawken (cofounder of Smith and Hawken) said he wouldn't, because he never signed the original.

UPDATE:
Legalbgl, my friend and coblogger, has posted a remembrance of Hagay Shefi as he has done remembrances for others murdered on 9/11 in past years.

UPDATE:
Kudos to Bing.com and Ask.com for commemorating the anniversary of the attacks. Google (which also happens to own blogspot) and Yahoo! have no such commemoration.

UPDATE:
For an interesting look back at the events of the day, check out Mediaite.com, which has screen shots taken of major websites in the course of September 11, 2001. Also, check out Instapundit's postings through the course of the day.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 64

You've got to be kidding me that the LMDC and other relevant entities are unable to get the former Deutsche Bank building demolished. Another fire at the site, which pretty much went unreported by the media, stopped work for most of April.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. says the small fire in a power distribution box stopped work for most of April at the former Deutsche Bank tower. Contractors now say it will be January 2010 when the tower is completely dismantled, about three months behind its latest schedule.

The building demolition deadline has once again been pushed back to January 2010.

It was supposed to be demolished by mid 2008, but the discovery of additional remains from the 9/11 attacks, a deadly fire that killed two firefighters and other assorted accidents, has repeatedly delayed the project.

Those delays compound construction delays at the rest of Ground Zero, particularly the construction of the underground transit security facility, the entrance to which is located where the former Deutsche Bank building stands.

Now, deconstruction isn't expected to restart until July. Decontamination work must proceed and be completed before deconstruction can proceed. It's expected that once decontamination work is completed, it should take six months to deconstruct the building. We'll see about that, because everything about this part of the project has been plagued with delays.

Lest we forget, the situation at Fiterman Hall isn't much better. While there haven't been any fatalities or accidents, it still remains a hulking ruin on the North side of Ground Zero, flanked by the gleaming new 7WTC and a stark reminder that the City and State, LMDC, CUNY, Port Authority, and the Dormitory Authority have failed miserably to move these projects along.

UPDATE:
Now Mayor Bloomberg calls for a summit to deal with the Ground Zero mess? We're nearly eight years into the rebuilding efforts, and Bloomberg finally pitches this idea? Where was he three years ago? Five years ago?

The fact is that Bloomberg actually has little sway over rebuilding efforts at Ground Zero since it's between the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties to get a deal done. They've been bickering since day one, and the Port Authority remains behind schedule on getting the site prepared for Silverstein to build.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg's prior ideas for the site included dropping the office space and pushing residential real estate instead (let's ignore that any new office space at Ground Zero would compete with his company's Midtown office space for tenants and which would have favorable leasing rates).

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 60

The Port Authority released a study they commissioned that showed that the World Trade Center rebuilding project is turning out to be one of few reliable building projects in the metro area for the foreseeable future. It's expected to create thousands of jobs directly and indirectly. From the presser:

Presented at today's Board of Commissioner's meeting, the Port Authority study showed that public investments in World Trade Center projects, including One World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower; the World Trade Center Transportation Hub; the National September 11 Memorial & Museum; World Trade Center retail and other related infrastructure will result in the creation of 26,538 direct jobs, including on-site construction, architecture and engineering, and program and construction management. Including indirect jobs, such as those generated by industries that supply services, materials and machinery to the rebuilding effort, the jobs number grows to 62,336.

The World Trade Center projects also are expected to generate $3.7 billion in direct and indirect wages and total economic activity of $14.5 billion.

The number of jobs at the World Trade Center is rising just as the number of overall construction jobs across the region is declining. A recent report by the New York Building Congress found that New York City's building boom will peak this year, and the number of city construction jobs is projected to fall by almost 30,000 by 2010.

Of course, none of this should come as a surprise. The Port Authority touted the Ground Zero rebuilding as a way to create not only construction jobs, but indirect jobs that support and are based on the construction of the transit hub, Freedom Tower (which seems to now go by the moniker 1 WTC once again) and the 9/11 memorial. Anyone following the PANY/NJ press releases on Ground Zero since 9/11 would know that thousands of jobs would come from this project.

That's part of the reason I've been critical of the pace of the reconstruction efforts; rebuilding benefits all of Lower Manhattan and helps the local community restore lost business. Job creation would be even further along at Ground Zero had construction progressed at a faster pace and key hurdles overcome sooner. As it is, construction on the security center is well behind schedule because demolition of the former Deutsche Bank building has been repeatedly delayed (a deadly fire and subsequent changes to how the building would be disassembled); it's currently scheduled to be demolished by the end of the year.

Fiterman Hall remains an eyesore on the plaza overlooking 7WTC although demolition there is also expected to occur this year.

At the same time construction on the Freedom Tower is proceeding as steel is now more than 100 feet above ground level for the South core. That core will include the elevator banks that allow tenants and visitors access to the building. Among those elevators will be six that are expected to be the fastest in the Western Hemisphere, traveling more than 2,000 feet per minute, allowing travel from the lobby to the observation deck in under a minute. Contracts have already been signed for the design and construction of those elevators with ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corporation.

Elsewhere on the site, new construction cranes have been assembled over the past few days and preparation for construction along Church Avenue continues.

Leasing across the street at the World Financial Center is about to take a hit as a result of the ongoing mergers and consolidation in the financial industry. Merill Lynch is about to move out of the World Financial Center in its consolidation of space in New York City with Bank of America.

Meanwhile, for those victims of 9/11 who opted out of the Victim Compensation Board efforts to compensate those killed by the Islamic terrorists, closure is nearly at hand. More than 5,500 claims were filed through the VCB, while 95 families chose to sue the airlines, security companies, Port Authority and other parties. 92 of those lawsuits have been settled for a total of $500 million. Three of the suits are moving forward.

Ninety-two families of victims of the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York were paid about $500 million in legal settlements, according to a report approved today by a federal judge.

Unlike the 5,560 claimants who received $7 billion from a victims’ compensation fund, 95 families sued after the attacks with only three failing to reach settlements, according to the report. The remaining cases are scheduled to go to trial.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan formally accepted the report by a mediator who helped settle cases involving the 92 families. Many who sued had lost family members with large incomes or high-income potential and believed the fund wouldn’t adequately compensate them, the judge said in an opinion accepting the report by mediator Sheila Birnbaum. The report included the total settlement amount of about $500 million.

The case is In Re September 11 Litigation, 21-MC-00101, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

UPDATE:
On a safety note, the Port Authority has announced that they've entered into an agreement with the City to abide by city crane rules as they relate to crane operations including jumping, erection, and dismantling of tower cranes.

Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Chris Ward signed an agreement today that will create a new process to verify that any crane or derrick erected, dismantled, jumped, or operated on Port Authority properties in New York City conform to the safety standards set by the NYC Construction Codes and Department of Buildings (DOB) regulations.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the Port Authority has agreed to obtain DOB review and approval of a crane or derrick’s prototype before installing and operating it on a job site. In addition, a crane or derrick on Port Authority property will be subject to annual inspection by DOB’s Cranes and Derricks Unit. The Port Authority will issue a certificate of on-site inspection of a crane or derrick when they determine the equipment complies with all of the City’s technical and safety regulations before it is operated. The Port Authority will also ensure that only riggers and crane operators licensed by DOB will erect, dismantle, jump, and use a crane or derrick on their properties.

As someone who regularly commutes through the area, this is good news given that there are so many tower cranes and other heavy equipment in and around the site and that the city has witnessed two major crane accidents within the past year killing several people and causing millions in damages.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 53

The Port Authority has begun wrapping the exterior fencing of the Ground Zero site with new banners showing plans for the site, including the 9/11 Memorial, PATH transit hub, and the skyscrapers that will ring the site. At the same time, they've reduced traffic on Church Street by one lane to accommodate construction trucks moving in and out of the site.

At the same time, the form is taking shape for the 9/11 Memorial as the structural steel continues rising in the site around what will be the empty void marking where the Twin Towers once stood.

“To see the actual framing of the void is a major step in filling in the wound,” said Joseph C. Daniels, the president and chief executive of the memorial and museum, as he looked across ground zero on Oct. 31, toward the embryonic north pool and the pale-green steel framework that has begun to define the south pool, the site of 2 World Trade Center.

“This is the basic structure of the memorial,” Mr. Daniels said. “So it’s a big deal.”

The pools will eventually be at the bottom of two 28-foot-deep depressions in a landscaped and tree-filled plaza, marking the location of the twin towers, though not their exact outlines. (The pools will be 194 by 194 feet, or 13 feet shorter on each side than the trade center buildings.) The insides of these voids will be lined with waterfalls cascading into the pools at the bottom.

At plaza level, the names of all the victims of 9/11 and of the Feb. 26, 1993, trade center bombing will be inscribed on parapets around the perimeter of the pools.

It is not easy at first to make out the shape of the north pool’s corner against a backdrop of heavy construction, but once spotted, it is impossible to overlook. The best public viewing place is the Liberty Street pedestrian bridge, where large windows offer a commanding view of the site.

The corner of the north pool is composed chiefly of two great beams arranged perpendicularly atop a more slender steel framework. One is 52 feet long and 44 inches deep and weighs 13,104 pounds. The other is 72 feet long and 40 inches deep and weighs 42,696 pounds.

Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg is finally funding the deconstruction efforts at Fiterman Hall. He's putting $139 million towards that effort, which is a long time coming. The eyesore has been looming over the gleaming new plaza in front of 7WTC for far too long and is the first thing that people see when coming out of the temporary PATH station at Greenwich and Vesey.

The mayor announced the city would put up $139 million as part of an agreement with the state to fund the much-delayed reconstruction job at the building at the northern edge of Ground Zero.

For months, the city had balked at helping to finance the project, citing demolition and construction costs that have doubled to $325 million.

Fiterman Hall, a Borough of Manhattan Community College structure, had just undergone a major renovation when it was badly damaged in the 2001 World Trade Center attack.

The condemned building is being cleaned of toxins caused by the collapse of the adjacent 7 WTC, a job that should be completed by early next year.

There is absolutely no reason that the deconstruction efforts should have taken so long and for the costs to have risen as they have because the City and State dragged their feet on demanding that CUNY take decisive action rather that wait for someone else to bail them out of having to make the necessary decisions. It was clear years ago that Fiterman Hall would have to be razed, and yet no one in CUNY or the Mayor's office appeared interested in acting.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 52

It's been several weeks since I've focused on the developments at Ground Zero and provided a photographic update of the work going on around the site.

The Freedom Tower's core is clearly well out of the pit and now stands at least 30 feet above street level (West Street). It's not quite visible from across the site from the vantage point at street level on Church (East side) because of the topographical change and the obscured fencing. It would need to reach probably 10-15 stories before you can see it from the East. I figure it would be another few weeks before that happens. Workers are scurrying all over the site, both in setting up the concrete forms for the concrete core, and for setting up the steel not only for the Freedom Tower, but for the memorial.

The photos tell the tale.

These photos gives you some idea as to the size of the steel and concrete being set as the foundation for the Freedom Tower:

This photo is taken from Vesey Street and lets you see how the core is rising above the surrounding site.

 

These workers are busy preparing the concrete forms that will make up the core of the building.

 

I frequently take photos from this perspective to give you some continuity as to the ongoing construction. It's getting harder to frame shots from this vantage point as the construction begins heading skyward.

This photo shows the ongoing work at the site of the 9/11 memorial. Steel is being erected all throughout this quadrant of the site, although much of it will not be visible from street level because it is mostly subterranean in nature. The pit of Ground Zero goes down to bedrock nearly 70 feet below the surrounding street level. The memorial itself will be 30 feet below street level.

 

Alas, while there is significant work underway at the Freedom Tower and the 9/11 Memorial, you can't say the same for Fiterman Hall and the former Deutsche Bank building. Both continue to be hulking reminders of the failure of the state and local officials to tear down both buildings in a timely and safe manner.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 48

Santiago Calatrava's vision for the transit hub at Ground Zero may be in jeopardy. He thinks that it can be built on time and on budget, but the Port Authority may scrap parts of the plan, including the vaulting spaces underground that would make construction of other portions of the Ground Zero project more daunting and technologically challenging.

The above-ground portion of the Calatrava hub would remain though.

The Port Authority is attempting to get the construction schedule under control and get the plaza ready for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which is just over three years away. To accomplish that, the steel work below ground has to be completed by July of 2010.

UPDATE:
The NY Observer notes that Speaker Silver appears open to the idea of the Port Authority trimming around the edges of the transit hub to save money. Gee, thanks for speaking up Mr. Speaker. You've done such a great job of getting things done in your district. Oh, did I mention that Ground Zero is in your district? Yes, it is. Too bad you haven't exactly taken a strong interest in getting the site rebuilt sooner or demanding action on Fiterman Hall or the Deutsche Bank demolition. That's after the MTA announced that it was having trouble coming up with the money it needed to finish the Fulton Street transit hub.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 45

The delays keep on rolling for the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building. The building was supposed to already have been razed, but a fire last August resulted in the deaths of two firefighters and a closer inspection of the demolition process. The building was supposed to have been demolished by July 2007. Then mid 2008.

That was still too optimistic.

We're now looking at summer 2009. We've got inspectors looking after inspectors, making this demolition project the most byzantine in the city with red tape. Jobs within the project that should take a few minutes are dragged out for hours as inspectors check every last bit.

Because of the stigma attached to the building following the deadly fire last year, every city agency that has a stake in the building is going by the book.

The cost for the demolition alone? $272 million.

The families of the two firefighters are still waiting for answers and justice.

Meanwhile, Fiterman Hall is in need of demolition as well, and that work has barely started. The LMDC website says that decontamination has been underway and deconstruction of the building should take place in late summer. Well, late summer is already here, and still no outwards signs of deconstruction.

Some of the problems at Fiterman are a direct result of the issues with the Deutsche Bank building, namely the decontamination of the structure followed by the razing. With increased scrutiny and multiple layers of inspections, the pace has slowed to a crawl.

At the same time, costs for the 9/11 memorial continue soaring and there is concern that the memorial will not be ready in time for the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in history.

UPDATE:
Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau is contemplating racketeering and embezzlement charges against John Galt company in connection with last summer's deadly fire that killed two firefighters, Joseph Graffagnino Jr. and Bobby Beddia:

Among the issues being probed is that officials from John Galt Corp., which was subcontracted by Bovis Lend Lease to raze the tower, laundered millions of dollars through various shell companies, sources said yesterday.

Another is whether Galt the inspectors it hired ignored safety guidelines in dismantling the toxic building, including the removal of a standpipe necessary for getting water to the hoses.

The floors and stairwells were also littered with debris that created a maze-like hazard for firefighters.

The Aug. 18, 2007, blaze was sparked by workers smoking on the site and compounded by a confusing maze of environmentally sealed barriers along with the dismantled standpipe that left the firefighters without any water.

Also facing heat is the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. over its management - or mismanagement - of the job.

Investigators found that 40 feet of standpipe had been cut in the basement, which meant that there was no water that could be sent to firefighters in the building through the building's pipes. The FDNY and Buildings Department are also on the hook because they failed to conduct inspections of the building that would have found the unsafe conditions.

Today marks the one year anniversary of Beddia and Graffagino's deaths and the FDNY still hasn't released its own report on why the building wasn't inspected prior to the fire, even though a firehouse is stationed next door.

Meanwhile, CUNY is using Fiterman Hall to shake down the City; if CUNY doesn't get what it wants, they wont move forward on the demolition. It was never entirely clear why the building would need demolition if it was decontaminated like the other buildings around Ground Zero - like 100 Church and 90 Church next door. Yet, CUNY held out to raze the building because they wanted something shiny and new. So, the building remains shrouded in a perpetual stupor and a blight on the North side of Ground Zero.

UPDATE:
Here are a bunch of photos I took earlier today of the Deutsche Bank building and Fiterman Hall. The first two photos are of the Deutsche Bank building and the sidewalk shed designed to protect people from falling debris (an all too frequent occurrence at the building). The second two photos are of Fiterman Hall and the square that fronts 7WTC: