Freedom Towers Designs Need More Work, Says NYPD

Now that the plans for Freedom Tower at Ground Zero need to be revised due to police concerns, Gothamist wonders if the skyscraper, meant to heal New York City and, well, the rest of the world but has been mired in all sorts of development meshugas for the past two years (but building only started last year), will even get built. Apparently the NYPD thinks there are security issues with the building, and Larry Silverstein, the developer, is apt to try to figure out how to make the building more secure. Man, you'd think they'd have accounted for NYPD security issues already, but we suppose there are endless ones. Governor Pataki's spokesperson claims that the building's design is secure, but says that reworking any designs will only delay the proposed 2009 opening by months (our money is on 2010) and that all other components of development, including the WTC Memorial, are moving ahead as planned.

A NY Times editorial said that if plans are altered, the public must participate; there is also a dis to Mayor Bloomberg for being obsessed with West Side Stadium planning. But what we don't get is how the editorial can call the design stunning. [Gothamist on Freedom Tower.]

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts and Events on April 26, 2005 7:53 AM

Comments [rss]

hijiki

defiance is a motive for a 2-year-old but is it really something to build a monument to? wouldn't you be more proud of american ingenuity and progress? at least that would be positive.

Tim N.

From the day they broke ground until September 10th, 2001, the WTC was decried as the ugliest buildings in Manhattan. Gerd Kuntzman has a great line when he said he brings visitors to NYC to the top of the WTC so that they can see the city without having to see the towers.

And yet, I can think of no better memorial to the dead and the city than just shootin' those ugly old buildings right back up there. What a statement that would make. It's not nostalgia, it's defiance.

And isn't it sad that the politicians and the money bags have (yet again) taken what was a great civic rallying point (rebuilding ground zero) and crapped all over it. Why do they always do that? Always!

hijiki

yes, please take time. but wind turbines are great! one of the only redeeming freatures of childs' design. far more than being merely symbolic, they actually work to decrease dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (buildings are the largest contributor).

i agree that the symbolism is way too corny, but it's funny that the only argument i've heard for rebuilding is itself purely symbolic. i'm glad rebuilding seems to be a non-issue at this point. fortunately the people selected to make the decisions, corrupt as they may be, at least live in the present and respect today's culture.

harold

it seems based on most polls that people want the towers back up.. It's a small minority that is pushing for them not to be. For that matter, when the results of set of plans the public voted on were released, the Foster towers won by a large majority -- to bad the whole vote was a sham from the beginning. I agree Hiraku, let's get this moving and expose this corrupt process while we're at it..

Kojak

We have to rebuild the area as fast as humanly possible. If we don't, the terrorists win.

I agree TA. They should take their time and come up with a perfect design for the tower that doesn’t have so many symbolic traits to it. Like does it HAVE to have windmills and a birdcage in the top portion of the building? Does it HAVE to be called Freedom Tower? Does it HAVE to be 1776 tall?

This will probably be the cheesiest tower ever built.

hijiki

i don't think so, hiraku. have you ever heard of any country including our own doing something like that? you sort of prove my point... people did not like the towers at all when they were built and now they are demanding they be rebuilt because they have become an icon of the city. if the same people had their way 30 years ago, the towers wouldn't have been built in the first place.

jenny

hiraku -- when the WTC was built, it was actually panned by architecture critics. I think people want it back the way it is not because of the way it looked but of what it represented. I don't like that idea though -- we need to respect the past but to just slap up two towers instead of giving this plan some thought is like trying to rebuild to forgot about what happened. There was one set of twin towers and that's the way it should always be.

T.A.

The original WTC took what, 25 years to build, from concept to finished product? What's the rush?

hiraku shimoda

The original towers were a real icon of NY and were quite beatiful. They should put them back up, though modernized structurally. If some one destroyed an equivalent iconic structure in any other country, it would have gone back up -- it's been 4 years already, lets get on with it.

hijiki

nostalgia is not a good motivation for modern architecture. respect the past, but move forward with something that reflects today's culture. the people who hated the first towers are the same ones who want to rebuild them because they are perpetually scared of anything new. it's almost always the same story with public art and architecture. locals cry about the new monstrosity and a couple years later they've embraced it as a symbol of their community.

Jen

I liked the THINK Design team's plan better. But there's so much pressure and speculation around this project, it's a wonder that anything will be designed.

Kojak

They did a survey recently finding most people would rather see them rebuild WTF the way it was then see this tower rise. One person was quoted as saying it looks like a decapitated pyramid with a birdcage on top.

I never liked the original design, or event he freedom tower, but you kinda feel in love and got used to the original WTC that you want it back.