# Downtown Manhattan 'Rescued' From The Scourge (IMHO) Known As The Freedom Tower **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 5, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588 "2005-05-05T20:18:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/21 "2005-05-18T16:56:52Z")
I say build it back exactly as it was. However, I’d like to see some redundancy in support of the floor slabs. Floors without columns are great, but I’d trade some floor space for a little redundancy. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/22 "2005-05-18T17:01:42Z")
I think the Gaudi design would complement the Empire State & Chrysler Building very nicely. GO FOR IT! And to all those who call the design “phallic”…well, all skyscrapers are, more or less. And it would show the world that New York is in the mood again… ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/23 "2005-05-18T18:01:00Z")
Update: [Tabloid reports](http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/46794.htm) obtaining a letter from Libeskind to Trump, after the former referred to him as an egghead > [@](#): > > "Reading about your interest in the Freedom Tower, I thought you might want to know which egghead did what in designing the tower, which has been sent back to the re-drawing board. The footprint and shape of the twisting tower are the product of David Childs. He also had the idea to include windmills at the top of the building. The location, height and spire were my contributions…I am sure that all of us, whatever the shape of our head or its decorative accessory agree that security is the paramount concern for the new tower… This clown, who sued the developer for **$840,000** in _genius fees_ is claiming, “ **The location, height and spire were my contributions** ”.[ul][li]Wow - 1,776 feet: What a grand concept.[_]The Location: Amazing. Who would’ve thought to put a building there![_]A spire that only pigeons can perch on: How practical![/ul] [/li] (But I do have to concede I did like his line about Trump’s decorative head accessory.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/24 "2005-05-18T18:14:21Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > …all those who call the design “phallic”…well, all skyscrapers are, more or less. And it would show the world that New York is in the mood again… Which is probably why Trump ([who just wrapped up his press conference](http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/18/news/newsmakers/trump_twintowers/)), sees the need to have 2 phalli/phalluses…whereas most people are content with just one. > [@](#): > > “In a nutshell, Freedom Tower should not be allowed to be built, it’s not appropriate for downtown Manhattan, it’s not appropriate for Manhattan, it’s not appropriate for the U.S. and it’s not appropriate for freedom,” The link above has real player video for CNN subscribers of the Twin Towers 2 unveiling - for all those who don’t get enough of a Trump fix from reality TV. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/25 "2005-05-18T18:28:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I say build it back exactly as it was. That was my opinion at first, until it was pointed out to me that such a design would immediately become Terrorist Target #1. No one would rent space there, and _no one_ would insure the things. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/26 "2005-05-18T18:28:27Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > And we’ve let the opportunity for putting huge, needless domes over the cities completely pass by. Maybe you’re on to something here. If there had been a huge plexiglas dome over NYC, the terrorists wouldn’t have been able to crash into the towers… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/27 "2005-05-18T18:41:56Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > maybe it’s time we started building some of those huge, blocky megabuildings with too few windows, integrated electronic billboards, and meaningless Japanese characters on the sides. > > I mean, we’re _already_ too far behind on the flying car angle… Just move to L.A. in [14 years.](http://www.fantascienza.com/cinema/blade-runner/media/22.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/28 "2005-05-18T18:48:14Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I’m still votin’ for the [Gaudi](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2687565.stm) design. I can hardly wait for it to be built, and then will come the film, **Queen Kong** where instead of just climbing onto the building… ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/29 "2005-05-18T19:00:00Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > That was my opinion at first, until it was pointed out to me that such a design would immediately become Terrorist Target #1. No one would rent space there, and _no one_ would insure the things. Untrue. All proponents & supporters of rebuilding the original Twin Towers have pushed modern designs that would be impervious to such attacks - without the need to mount anti-aircraft artillery on the roof (or supplying tenants with [mini-parachutes](http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/20020826/200/123&e=9888)) > [@LeeshaJoy](#): > > Maybe you’re on to something here. If there had been a huge plexiglas dome over NYC, the terrorists wouldn’t have been able to crash into the towers… That idea _stinks_. It would be akin to sitting in the back seat of a 22 square mile taxi cab. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/30 "2005-05-18T19:10:02Z")
The Twin Towers were ugly and probably too big for the office market today, so I don’t think they should be rebuilt. In fact, the new buildings shouldn’t be more than 30-40 stories tall. I don’t believe in height for height’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/31 "2005-05-18T20:08:13Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I can hardly wait for it to be built, and then will come the film, **Queen Kong** where instead of just climbing onto the building… Oh my! :eek: :o ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/32 "2005-05-18T20:49:52Z")
From the AP: > [@](#): > > Donald Trump wants the designers of the Freedom Tower fired. Their plan “looks like a junk yard, a series of broken-down angles that don’t match each other. And we have to live with this for hundreds of years?” the real estate mogul said at a news conference Wednesday. “It is the worst pile of crap architecture I’ve ever seen in my life.” Thus says Donald “black pot” Trump, who has scattered more godawful architectural cow-patties around NYC than anyone since the bad old Bauhaus days . . . ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/33 "2005-05-18T21:03:14Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I can hardly wait for it to be built, and then will come the film, **Queen Kong** where instead of just climbing onto the building… …she’ll really _climb onto the building_! wink wink nudge nudge… ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/34 "2005-05-18T21:15:28Z")
I think creating a giant metal middle finger pointed toward Mecca would be sweet. Okay, if you don’t want to be that controversial, a giant metal middle finger pointed at a billboard of Osama raping a goat. Or would that imply that we were flipping of the idea of Osama raping a goat? Now I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/35 "2005-05-18T21:21:35Z")
> [@SlyFrog](#): > > I think creating a giant metal middle finger pointed toward Mecca would be sweet. I think that’s what they were referring to upthread when they mentioned the five towers, with the middle one the tallest. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/36 "2005-05-18T21:46:43Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > That idea _stinks_. It would be akin to sitting in the back seat of a 22 square mile taxi cab. Actually, it doesn’t. Bucky Fuller (who originally had the idea) figured out that with vents in the top and the lowest section of the dome open, you’d have ample airflow to keep the dome cool during the summer (like 70F cool, not merely below blistering hot), and that in the winter (with the top vents closed) you’d be able to eliminate snow removal, so the cost savings would pay for the dome very quickly. Of course, you’d have to restrict the number of internal combustion vehicles in the winter, to keep the air from getting too polluted, but it’s not like that’s a bad thing. The only thing that Bucky didn’t address is what would happen to the rain that fell on the dome. Somebody’s pushing the idea of rebuilding both towers, but making one tower shorter by one inch for every person who died on 9/11. That way, no matter where you were in the city, you’d be able to see a memorial to those who died. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/37 "2005-05-18T21:49:07Z")
> [@SlyFrog](#): > > I think creating a giant metal middle finger pointed toward Mecca would be sweet. Okay, if you don’t want to be that controversial, a giant metal middle finger pointed at a billboard of Osama raping a goat… That design: [pictured here](http://public.fotki.com/JohnBuckLINY/farks/wtc_foad.html), was rejected in the first round along with the Gaudi & [Twin Hedge](http://www.ele.uri.edu/~veitcha/twinhenge.jpg) designs ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/38 "2005-05-18T21:51:38Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > …Bucky Fuller (who originally had the idea) figured out that with vents in the top and the lowest section of the dome open, you’d have ample airflow to keep the dome cool during the summer (like 70F cool, not merely below blistering hot), and that in the winter (with the top vents closed) you’d be able to eliminate snow removal, so the cost savings would pay for the dome very quickly… Not only that, but Bloomberg could get his Jet’s Stadum built for a lot less $. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/39 "2005-05-18T21:57:37Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I think that’s what they were referring to upthread when they mentioned the five towers, with the middle one the tallest. Sure, but it’s the “at Mecca” or “Osama raping a goat” that makes it clear. Otherwise it could be misconstrued as New Yorkers simply flipping off the world, which is really nothing new. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588/40 "2005-05-18T22:07:10Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > Which is probably why Trump ([who just wrapped up his press conference](http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/18/news/newsmakers/trump_twintowers/)), sees the need to have 2 phalli/phalluses…whereas most people are content with just one.[/SIZE] Atre you accusing Donald Trump of being a Koala Bear? :eek: 😉 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downtown-manhattan-rescued-from-the-scourge-imho-known-as-the-freedom-tower/302588.md?page=3)