# Why only WTC buildings **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-wtc-buildings/128519 "2002-09-15T05:40:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dave\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@Dave\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_D)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-wtc-buildings/128519/1 "2002-09-15T05:40:47Z")
Hi all, I know, there’s way too much 9/11 stuff this week but I saw something that puzzled me on one of these retrospectives. Ok let me just say I’m not into conspiracies or anything like that. Anyway I noticed that all the WTC buildings, 1-7, were destroyed by those air strikes last year. However none of the other buildings around there went down despite being heavily damaged. Ok, I can under stand 3-5 going down.(I really wouldn’t expect anything in the complex to do to well since the towers came down on top of them.) I guess my real question is why did 7 go down but no other building outside the WTC complex? Was the wind just blowing north or something that day? Just an odd coincidence? Sorry to bring up such a morose thread but it did peak my curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-wtc-buildings/128519/2 "2002-09-15T05:50:58Z")
IIRC, all the WTC buildings were on the same structural foundation “raft”. That may have had something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-wtc-buildings/128519/3 "2002-09-15T06:35:06Z")
Actually, a few other buildings DID go down. St. Nicholas’ Greek Orthodox Church, for one. There’s the black Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty, which is indeed coming down: > **[Community | Battery Park City Online | United States](https://www.batteryparkcityonline.com/)** > > Battery Park City Online - Where Community Unites It had a huge slash in the middle and frankly, was pretty ugly and unloved to boot. Restoration would have cost more than it was worth. Another closed building is a 1907 masonry one on Liberty Street, which still needs work but paradoxically survived much better than the modern buildings around it. As for Seven’s collapse, it is a bit mysterious; there was immense damage, of course, but it seems to have been diesel fuel stored in the structure, in a way believed to have been safe before: > **[Academics](https://www.wpi.edu/academics)** The Millenium Hilton is still up, but also still closed: > **[Millennium Hilton New York Downtown Hotel](https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/nycmlhh-millennium-hilton-new-york-downtown/)** > > Book the Millennium Hilton New York Downtown hotel, located in Lower Manhattan's Financial District near the World Trade Center, Wall Street, SoHo and Tribeca. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-wtc-buildings/128519/4 "2002-09-15T06:38:02Z")
I have no idea what the Happy Jewish Guy is doing in my post. Really. Anyway, check out the Hilton website for more. I had a friend staying in that hotel that just escaped with his life. The wind that day was west, actually, out towards Brooklyn, although the buildings were large enough to have their own zip code and sort of pushed air around willy-nilly when they were burning and when they collapsed. As for the wind, I’m afraid I saw the smoke firsthand. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-wtc-buildings/128519/5 "2002-09-15T14:54:05Z")
Having come from the WTC site last month I was VERY impressed on how well they did cleaning it up. I only saw two building with scortch marks on them. So they either they cleaned the other buildings up or they went down. Anyway if you didn’t know what happened it would look like just another construction site. Abet a large one.