Twin Towers
 

My son went to the top of the World Trade Center 2 summers ago while the rest of the family stayed in the lobby. We would like to know if anyone knows the height the towers were and how many stories? It is still unbelievable that they are gone. They were so unbelievably tall and majestic....

Towers...<BR><BR>They were 110 stories each. I was in my office on the 69th floor in tower 2 when the plane hit. Too bad they are gone. Beyond all of the normal responses for the tragedy, here are more thoughts. They were a great place to work. The views were outstanding. They were a convenient place to work too...every bank had a branch in them, Borders books was a great lunchtime hangout, so was all of the shops in the World Financial Center. It was great working in a place where I didn't have to go outside at all to get to work even though I had a 70 mile commute.

Steve, I am glad that you are here and able to write about it~

I woke up that morning with a headache and slept in. By the time I was ready to catch my train into Manhattan, the tragic events of that morning had already unfolded. When I got to my local train station, I was told the trains had stopped running. I thank God every day for sparing my life.

Sam,do you feel like you were spared for some reason,like maybe there is something that you need to do? Glad you were spared too!

I have heard that there are already many drawings for proposed "replacement" buildings -- is there any website for them yet? Is there a general call for plans or have certain architectural firms already been chosen to bid?<BR><BR>Can someone in NY or in the know give us a little info on future plans?

Steve<BR>I've often wondered, where did all those business's, office's, etc., relocate in an already overcrowded New York?

I watched the movie "working Girl" for the 10th time the other day, and realized the whole movie takes place in and around the WTC towers; the opening song by Carly Simon and the scene of the Statue of Liberty, then of the 2 towers is powerful. Sigourney Weavers office in in the tower, you can see the view from her office...there's shots in the lobby, the courtyard, etc. Just l

There are two really good books about the World Trade Center that were reissued after 9/11. "Divided We Stand" by Eric Darton and "Twin Towers" by Angus Kress Gillespie. Originally they wanted to build the towers on the East side where South Street Seaport is, but then New Jersey stepped in.<BR><BR>Plus there is a great description of it when it was first built by the feisty author Helene Hanff in her book "Apple of My Eye".<BR><BR>Currently there are several ideas in the works as to how to replace them. Some families of the victims are not happy with them being rebuilt as places of business. But here in NYC we are cramped for space and that site is too valuable to let entirely go to a memorial. Probably there will be a combination of offices and memorial.<BR><BR>Many of the businesses grabbed space where they could. A lot of them set up in hotels around the city or used available office space. There were plans to turn the Woolworth building into residential condominiums, but that was put on hold to meet the demand for office space.<BR><BR>Also, if you watch reruns of the sitcom "Friends" they have shots of the towers in nearly every episode.<BR><BR>

Many offices in NJ took in temporary tenants,displaced by the attack.A lot of them are staying, some have gone back to new offices in NY.<BR>I wish they would build a series of small buildings and keep a park/memorial in the center, with the names of the victims on it.

Speaking of the Twin Towers on TV, I noticed that on Sex and the City, the opening credits are no longer run with two different shots of the WTC as they used to be. That depressed me. But during the show, one of the characters went to her window, picked up her WTC snow globe, shook it up, and the scene ended focused on the globe. The ending focused on it, too. I thought that was a great way to fit it in the show.

Working Girl...<BR><BR>The building used for that movie was #1 New York Plaza where Chase Manhattan Bank was located. It is about a mile from the tower....<BR><BR>Regarding New Offices....<BR>NY had plenty of office space that was unoccupied. It suddenly got occupied.<BR>

Victims.....<BR><BR>Sick stuff happens when things get really bad like this....<BR><BR>Estimates are that 1000 people faked their deaths in the WTC. As I remember, I heard four news stories to that effect. <BR><BR>I am not diminishing this tragedy that nearly killed me but...<BR><BR>If you were in tower 1 below floor 100 you probably lived.<BR>If you were in tower 2 below floor 80 you also probably lived. A good part of tower 2 above floow 80 evacuated when the plane hit tower 1.<BR>If you were in tower 3,4,5,6, and 7 you also had a 99% percent chance of living.<BR><BR>The people affacted by this were primarily brokerage employees. Many do not show up to work until well after 8:46.<BR><BR>I used to work for a local utility. At that job almost everybody started at 7:00 AM. When I went to work for MSDW, I was amazed at how there was almost nobody in the office at 7:00 and how many people started after 9:00. On the flip side, people worked much later there than at the utility. I believe that this can be attributed to brokerage culture.<BR><BR>So...6,000 is high. In New York a very high percentage of the population has another country to go to if 'things get hot'. It is quite possible that people collected on insurance and went back to their home countries.<BR><BR>Quite frankly, it wouldn't be that difficult to do. Where I worked (MSDW Computer Programmer) about 80% of the people in my department were dual citizens or had strong ties in other countries. They included the Former Soviet Union, India, China, Korea, Taiwan, etc...<BR><BR>Thanks for listening to this diatribe<BR>

It is strange now how movies and TV have tried to remove scenes including shots of the WTC. I was watching MTV Cribs the other night and the home they were showing was a highrise apartment in New York which was located very close to the WTC, so that if you went out onto the patio you could look right at it. After the show aired they placed a text message on the screen telling that the occupant's building had suffered severe structural damage but that none of them were hurt and had since moved elsewhere. The show was obviously taped pre- 9/11, yet I was surprised that they aired it. Especially since the whole focus of the episode (these person's home) was destroyed.

The Simpsons....<BR><BR>There was an episode of the Simpsons where Homer's car was stolen and left in the plaza between the twin towers. I remember that two people, one from each tower had a 'NY Fight' where one said, 'They put all of the jerks in Tower 1'...<BR><BR>Homer Simpson went to get his car and saw and dealt with all of the usual NY stuff.<BR><BR>Needless to say...this episode will never be aired again.<BR><BR>Honestly, as a survivor, and as a person who knew many who perished, this episode does not bother me. <BR><BR>

I think it is very sad when they start editing movies/tv and taking the Towers out as if they never existed..and what exactly is the purpose? Will we be less upset to see them and know they are gone,or to not see them and have them taken away twice? Are we all so simple minded that someone has to think of ways to revise what has happened so we don't have to think about it!<BR>Every day I look over there and see the space! They were there on Monday,Tuesday they were gone, nothing will change that.I like to see them in movies, they make me smile and be sad at the same time.

Kate I agree with you, seeing the towers in movies or in tv shows gives you a good feeling, in that irrespective of their physical absence, their presence will always be with us. god bless the victims

ttt

Hi:<BR>Watched the movie "Cocktail" last night. It had been a loooong time since I last saw it. There were many scenes with the WTC in them. One of the first is a scene on a bus with Tom Cruise pointing to towards the city and the WTC is front and center. A few more scenes take place with WTC in the background. I was touched and haertsick at the same time.

I love the Simpsons episode with the twin towers, and I wish they would show it again. I laughed hysterically when Homer was in the one tower and had to go to the bathroom and raced all the way to the other to go. It was so true!!