# What to do with the WTC site? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 1, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836 "2002-06-01T03:02:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/21 "2002-06-03T01:20:05Z")
As a humble Aussie and loyal ally of the U.S. - may I make the following suggestion please? Build the the two towers exactly the same as before except this time, don’t make them office towers which are open for business tenancy (who would want to work in them?) but rather, make them two giant atriums filled with magnificent hanging gardens and waterfalls filled with nesting spots for the worlds most beautiful birdlife. Indeed, build some lovely restuarants at various levels within the atriums giving diners an open sense of eating amongst the worlds largest greenhouses. A lovely and innocent reminder of what existed before… This strikes me as being the most spiritually complete way of ‘bouncing back’ without putting further lives in a target zone as it were. Oh, of course, on top of the buildings, put up the most powerful devastating array of anti-aircraft missiles in the world too. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/22 "2002-06-03T04:06:51Z")
You know what I find odd? There’s been meetings in NYC as to what to do with the site, and people have submitted plans/designs for the site, but a google search turns up nothing on them. One would think that there’d be _something_ on the web showing the various proposals by now. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/23 "2002-06-03T04:57:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Boo Boo Foo \* > \*\*Build the the two towers exactly the same as before except this time, don’t make them office towers which are open for business tenancy (who would want to work in them?) but rather, make them two giant atriums filled with magnificent hanging gardens and waterfalls filled with nesting spots for the worlds most beautiful birdlife. Indeed, build some lovely restuarants at various levels within the atriums giving diners an open sense of eating amongst the worlds largest greenhouses. A lovely and innocent reminder of what existed before… > \*\* A lovely sentiment, but Manhattan real estate is scarce as it is - that is valuable property located in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district… They will erect a memorial, but be certain there will be office space built, and lots of it. ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/24 "2002-06-03T14:45:30Z")
> [@](#): > > My guess is those who suggest that the buildings are built bigger, taller or just like they were, don’t live in NYC. Well you have guessed incorrectly. I live in NYC and I want to see the biggest baddest fucking building(s) ever to go up in the histroy of the world. > [@](#): > > Would YOU work in them? Your god damn right I would. On the top floor. Gladly. Fuck a bunch of that fear shit. I agree with the sentiment that if we build anything smaller we are handing the terrorists a greater victory. DaLovin’ Dj ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/25 "2002-06-03T14:54:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\* > That being said, if they rebuild them, I would be damn proud to work on the top floor with a window seat. We can do one of two things in regards to 9/11: > > 1.) Hide our heads in the sand > 2.) Stick our fists in the air and extend our middle fingers > > Personally, I prefer to do number two, and I’m sure the folks who’re going to be moving into the repaired section of the Pentagon would agree with me. \*\* The thing is, it’s not ‘us’ who are going to rebuild the trade center. It’s not ‘our’ property and ‘we’re’ not paying the insurance premium. That is, unless you’re proposing it as a public works project. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > **You know what I find odd? There’s been meetings in NYC as to what to do with the site, and people have submitted plans/designs for the site, but a google search turns up nothing on them. One would think that there’d be something on the web showing the various proposals by now.** Googling “rebuilding the world trade center” turned up this: [http://archrecord.construction.com/wtc/newWTC.asp](http://archrecord.construction.com/wtc/newWTC.asp) ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/26 "2002-06-03T16:56:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dalovindj \* > \*\*Well you have guessed incorrectly. I live in NYC and I want to see the biggest baddest fucking building(s) ever to go up in the histroy of the world.Your god damn right I would. On the top floor. Gladly. Fuck a bunch of that fear shit. > > I agree with the sentiment that if we build anything smaller we are handing the terrorists a greater victory. > > DaLovin’ Dj \*\* [hijack, sort of] Remember in 1986 after the _Challenger_ disaster there was a lot of people saying that it would kill the space program, that no one would want to risk another shuttle flight, etc. etc.? Within a month there were people wearing t-shirts with a drawing of the shuttle and the words, I **still** want to go! [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/27 "2002-06-03T17:14:30Z")
“The thing is, it’s not ‘us’ who are going to rebuild the trade center. It’s not ‘our’ property and ‘we’re’ not paying the insurance premium. That is, unless you’re proposing it as a public works project.” Odd that you would say this, listing your location as New York City. The World Trade Center was – and the site still is – owned by the Port Authority, which is a public corporation owned by the states of New York and New Jersey, which is to say ultimately the legal residents and taxpayers of New York and New Jersey. Therefore, while it isn’t “my” property (being that I don’t live in New York or New Jersey), it IS “your” property and it IS a public works project! ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/28 "2002-06-03T17:34:45Z")
The lease belongs to Silverstein Properties for the next 99 or so years as far as I know. The bank I work for brokered the deal. At the time of the sale of the lease I was in the real estate department. I hand delivered a bill for millions and millions of dollars (the bank’s fee) a couple weeks before they were destroyed. We (they) got paid a few days before the buildings went down. I’ve often wondered how this will work out for that guy Silverstein. Imagine you successfully complete one of the biggest real estate deals ever, book the property for 99 years, pay everybody involved in the deal, and then boom - no more buildings. He still has the lease, but he is not the final word (by a long shot) concerning what will go up. Either way, I think the PA controls the property, Silverstein has the lease, and it is ultimately owned by the nearby church whose name escapes me right now. So who’s property is it? In a sense it is everybody’s. In another sense it is the city’s (government’s), because they have to approve any plans. No one is asking me for my opinion, so as much as it is mine and yours in spirit, it is a privately leased, government controlled piece of property. DaLovin’ Dj ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/29 "2002-06-04T00:04:32Z")
This reply is _not_ meant to be smartassed. I’ve read here, and heard IRL, the “Make it Bigger” sentiment. Maybe so, but I just can’t see OBL sitting around with his buddies in 2008 saying “They rebuilt it, and made it even _bigger_. Now I’m really depressed”. 😃 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/30 "2002-06-04T03:28:06Z")
Last I heard, the President of Silverstein Properties wanted very much to rebuild the WTC, and stated that he’d do it as soon as the city let him. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/31 "2002-06-04T03:41:36Z")
From an interview with Silverstein in last week’s issue of _The Economist_: > [@](#): > > “THERE is not a doubt in my mind Wall Street will come back,” says Larry Silverstein, as he sketches out an evolving vision for the site of what was once the World Trade Centre. “There will be the best buildings in the world, with the best environmental systems, the best safety, the best communications…” and so on. > [@](#): > > A new foundation [for Seven World Trade Center] will be poured in June, with the power station, comprising the first ten floors of the new building, due to be completed next year, and the rest of the glass and steel tower by 2005. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/32 "2002-06-04T19:42:04Z")
“Having said that, I think that in this age of advanced telecommunications (Attrayant shines his own apple), companies don’t need to be geographically located in major metropolitain areas any more. I would bet that many companies are looking at cheap land in low-rent cities with the intention of rebuilding remotely and installing a T1 to set up a VPN so that all their locations, no matter where they are, will seem like they’re in the same building.” People have been predicting this, or something like it, going back to the 1950s. During the dotcom boom, when everything “brick and mortar” was considered passe, gurus were predicting the death of offices (along with the death of stores, of course). Everyone will telecommute! Downtowns will be nothing but server farms! Didn’t happen. IMHO, won’t happen. I know I’ve gotten more done in some face-to-face meetings (yes, I know, ugh, meetings 🙂 ) than in a month’s exchange of e-mails and telephone calls with the same parties on the same matter. IMHO, the face-to-face really does matter. I’m a Chicagoan, born and bred. My entire adult working life has been spent in the area of the Loop, and I’ve had a Metra rail pass in my pocket nearly every month for a decade now. I can attest from personal experience that office builidngs are BEING built downtown and office buildings are PLANNED to be built downtown. My present office is in the growing area just west of the train stations, and a major bank is building an office tower for its back-office operations on the block between my office and one of the train stations. Not a front office downtown and a back office out in the 'burbs or some Sunbelt sprawlville, but the front office and back office both downtown. Include residential and retail development in the mix, and a lot is going on in the heart of Chicago. Buildings going up all over the bloody place. It’s a cliched joke because it’s true: the Chicago city bird is the crane. The “man in the street” interviews a week or so after 9/11 showing (selected?) people proclaiming fear of living in or visiting the city have been disproven by the sheer number of people in the city on weekends, not only weekends with festivals but ordinary weekends as well. As another poster pointed out for another city: “Manhattan real estate is scarce as it is - that is valuable property located in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district.” If office parks and shopping malls and “billions for freeways but not one cent for transit” haven’t killed downtown, a bunch of yahoos hijacking planes isn’t going to either! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/33 "2002-06-04T21:04:08Z")
There were numerous proposals during the early days of the Cold War for de-centralization of US cities. They went nowhere. Super tall buildings may not be built for some years, but they will be built again. The demands of modern civilization require it. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/34 "2002-06-04T21:10:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by masonite \* > \*\*I feel that if we don’t rebuild the towers to at least their former height and glory, the terrorists have won. > \*\* ROTFLMFAO!!! It’s been a long time since I heard “… then the terrorists will have won!” And here I thought it was already passe. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/35 "2002-06-05T03:27:40Z")
Truckerfan: Here. Knock yourself out: [http://www.gothamgazette.com/rebuilding\_nyc/](http://www.gothamgazette.com/rebuilding_nyc/) ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/36 "2002-06-05T04:29:42Z")
I think the problem with renting vertical real estate space will be a real one, especially after most of the displaced companies have had to move somewhere else and set up shop. Jersey City is booming from what I hear How about a ballpark? The Yankees wanted to move to Manhatten. Open land, excellent access. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/37 "2002-06-05T04:32:19Z")
Another question ; how contaminated is the site? Any environmental concerns? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836/38 "2002-06-05T05:26:51Z")
As a native of NYC, I’ll add that I have no problem working in such places. I’m sure a lot of namby pamby shit-in-their-pants chicken littles will have such a problem for a while, but that will fade. As to the enviro problems, that is being studied, and recent studies show no serious issues beyond the general ones for lower Manhattan. As to the death of distance argument, crap I say. Lower Manhattan is about finance, and Finance is about relationships, and relationships are about personal connections. Anyone who makes these arguments has never had to do deals. You don’t do deals by email and video alone, you fucking press the flesh when it comes down to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-wtc-site/111836.md?page=1)