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Early Addition
You may recall that the original Freedom Tower design had to be scrapped (because the NYPD thought it was too susceptible to attack) and redesigned with a concrete base. Now the Daily News' I-Team takes up concerns law enforcement officials have with "security weaknesses" in the new towers at World Trade Center.
The three new towers have too much glass and are "positioned too closely to city streets, increasing their vulnerability to attack." Also, it's expected that daily inspection of "some 2,000 delivery trucks and sightseeing buses" will be difficult and the "vehicle security center...hasn't been fully designed and relies on vehicle inspection technology that hasn't even been developed yet."
Various state officials involved with the plan say safety concerns are top of mind and the technology will be in place when the buildings are completed. When the NYPD was interviewed, the comment was, "The NYPD has been in talks with the Port Authority, but we don't disclose any information about possible security vulnerabilities for obvious reasons."
The News also remarks that the buildings don't "meet Department of Defense or Department of Homeland Security blast standards," which skyscrapers rarely follow but are what embassies are built to. It would be unrealistic to think of the redeveloped World Trade Center as entirely impenetrable, but given its symbolic importance and history of two attacks, the article inevitably raises a form versus function debate and questions about whether anything should have been built there after the first WTC fell.
You can see developer Larry Silverstein's WTC vision here and FEMA has a library of documents, "Building Design for Homeland Security," which shows different methodologies for determining risk.
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The three new towers have too much glass and are "positioned too closely to city streets, increasing their vulnerability to attack.
this basically describes every building in this city.
Panty piddling paranoid in action yet again.
Developer Larry Silverstein's WTC vision is just "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!"
Just rebuild the Twin Towers, restore the skyline, and tell Larry Silverstein to feck off.
How are these buildings any different from every other office building in NY? Just because they're on the WTC site?
You know what? I have a better idea. Let's just jack off for 5 more years and maybe everything will work itself out. Every piece of news that comes out about the progress is like a turd falling into my drink.
hahaha TOO MUCH GLASS? have these officials looked at any of the new buildings going up lately? the perfect building in their eyes would be a windowless , 100 story high bunker with surface to air missile capabilities on the top. viewing deck, fire a missile!
I bet al-Qaeda is laughing at us. 7 years since 9/11 and nothing has been built.
al-Qauda doesn't laugh... they snicker.
I bet al-Qaeda is laughing at us. 7 years since 9/11 and nothing has been built.
Exactly how fast do you think buildings get built when you start with a blank piece of paper? Do you think the original WTC went from one sketch to finished buildings in two years?
We need a moat (with alligators) where Vesey, West, Liberty & Church streets are now. And battlements, lots of 'em.
why not just put anti aircraft guns on top of the towers and have the trucks deliver to a pier on the west side highway and then build an undergound system to send the deliveries to the buildings once it has passed through inspection - bomb scanning etc.. keep trucks away from the buildings and turn the street into a walking mall
why not just put anti aircraft guns on top of the towers and have the trucks deliver to a pier on the west side highway and then build an undergound system to send the deliveries to the buildings once it has passed through inspection - bomb scanning etc.. keep trucks away from the buildings and turn the street into a walking mall
"Developer Larry Silverstein's WTC vision is just "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!""
Given that office buildings in manhattan generally cost millions of dollars (if not more) to build, I see nothing wrong with Silverstein wanting to earn a return on his investment. Chalk delays up to city bureaucracy and everyone wanting to put their 2 cents in (some people's sense of entitlement astounds me) No one stands to gain financially from a huge gaping hole in lower manhattan remaining a huge gaping hole.
I frequently find comments painting Mr. Silverstein (or Henry Kravis of KKR fame, or anyone that has done well for themselves) as having sinister motives akin to emporer palpatine. Having personally met Mr. Silverstein, I can assure he is quite nice and in fact, a man of humble beginnings.
If you find it further soothing, I can also assure you that he is rather docile, and likely unable to recoil quickly if you throw a good jab, in fact, when meeting him, he recounted a story where he was hit by a taxi cab sometime post his 50th birthday so I imagine he likely has a bum hip. So, yeah, I'm not overly concerned, I think I could take the old man in a one-on-one, lest of course he sends his manical henchment first (or if the fight takes place on a beach and he throws sand).
I think the silly paranoid commentary needs to stop and perhaps you should shake someone's hand and have a chat with them before you decide that they're up to no good. Especially when we New Yorkers know that the only true evil residing in the bounds of our great city is the MTA.
"Developer Larry Silverstein's WTC vision is just "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!""
Given that office buildings in manhattan generally cost millions of dollars (if not more) to build, I see nothing wrong with Silverstein wanting to earn a return on his investment. Chalk delays up to city bureaucracy and everyone wanting to put their 2 cents in (some people's sense of entitlement astounds me) No one stands to gain financially from a huge gaping hole in lower manhattan remaining a huge gaping hole.
I frequently find comments painting Mr. Silverstein (or Henry Kravis of KKR fame, or anyone that has done well for themselves) as having sinister motives akin to emporer palpatine. Having personally met Mr. Silverstein, I can assure he is quite nice and in fact, a man of humble beginnings.
If you find it further soothing, I can also assure you that he is rather docile, and likely unable to recoil quickly if you throw a good jab, in fact, when meeting him, he recounted a story where he was hit by a taxi cab sometime post his 50th birthday so I imagine he likely has a bum hip. So, yeah, I'm not overly concerned, I think I could take the old man in a one-on-one, lest of course he sends his manical henchment first (or if the fight takes place on a beach and he throws sand).
I think the silly paranoid commentary needs to stop and perhaps you should shake someone's hand and have a chat with them before you decide that they're up to no good. Especially when we New Yorkers know that the only true evil residing in the bounds of our great city is the MTA.
An obvious and simple solution to the "vulnerable to vehicles" problem: close off the area to vehicles.
Too much consideration is given to people in cars ... too little to people who walk.
I propose a new building code for the construction every new building in any city with a population density of more than 10,000/sq mile. Here are some requirements:
They will only be built with reinforced concrete and have windows no larger than 1 foot wide by 3 feet tall, and have at least 5 feet of uninterrupted horizontal wall and 10 feet of vertical wall between them. The windows must be made from bullet proof double paned glass. Only official government authorities (Homeland Security, FEMA, US Military, FBI, state and local police, firefighters and other undisclosed agencies) will be authorized to operate these windows, and they will remain sealed at all times. Remotely manned robotic armor piercing machine guns nests will be placed in defensible positions at every entrance. The outer walls of the building must be at least 15 feet away from the road, and there will be a 3 foot curb wall on all roads running alongside the building. Entry to the building will be monitored and controlled by biometric systems to determine, grant or deny access privileges.
Should make for a beautiful New America.
Restrict passenger cars maybe -- leaving aside police vehicles, post office, other government officials, handicapped-- but how do you expect to serve as many people that would be in those buildings without cars and trucks? Furnishings, supplies, water for the water cooler...
The way some people on this site talk about cars and trucks, I wonder if they think the local store/deli/bodega just wishes things into existence.
Especially when we New Yorkers know that the only true evil residing in the bounds of our great city is the MTA.
As much as I loathe the MTA I can't really call it evil. Evilness requires a certain degree of competency, in other words the entity in question must be competent enough to know that its actions/inactions are evil. The MTA is just plain incompetent.
I don't see any Ramparts. If you're going to build a fortress, you need ramparts!
FACK!
I understand not being scared 24/7, but how is it wrong to worry a little about terrorism? After all, the last 2 buildings WERE knocked down. It happened.
That being said, it can happen to any building in this city, not just ones built on this site. It seems strange to worry about these new structures.
I understand not being scared 24/7, but how is it wrong to worry a little about terrorism? After all, the last 2 buildings WERE knocked down. It happened.
That being said, it can happen to any building in this city, not just ones built on this site. It seems strange to worry about these new structures.
"Exactly how fast do you think buildings get built when you start with a blank piece of paper? Do you think the original WTC went from one sketch to finished buildings in two years?"
Look how fast they rebuilt WTC 7. But that is a little different as that building was not owned by the state and in turn was not subject to a slow moving bureaucracy and public opinion. The reasons for the slow rebuilding process at ground zero goes far beyond that of engineering, financial issues and so on.