1 WTC Spire finished

[US 41]

The WTC in NY City is now the tallest bulding in the Western Hemisphere. It's 1,776 feet tall. I think it is great that we have such a tall builing in America. We are letting the world know that terrorism won't defeat us and we aren't afraid to build tall structures. God Bless America!

[M3019C LPS20]

They successfully installed it last Friday, and the building looks beautiful. The lower Manhattan skyline has been finally revitalized. Below, is a picture of World Trade Center 1 with its new spire. From Jersey City, N.J. Taken last Friday.

[Henry]

So this means that after 40 years, the tallest skyscraper in America will once again be in New York! Well, Chicago had a good run with the 1,454-foot Sears Tower (I will never call it the Willis Tower!).

[Desert Man]

The new WTC tower is a powerful reminder for America to rebuild from tragedy and strongly stand on our national pride representing freedom the terrorists on that dark day (9/11, 2001) couldn't take down. I remember 9-11 as vividly like it was yesterday, being woken up by my mother when I lived in her house 12 years ago, and I put on the CNN (?) news on my TV set to witnessed both the twin towers and switched on to find the pentagon are under attack. Man, I was awfully angry and distraughted, but a decade later when Osama Bin Laden was cowardly killed instead of surrendering, the message is "good always triumphs over evil"

[1995hoo]

I still kind of liked this design.

[Brandon]

So this means that after 40 years, the tallest skyscraper in America will once again be in New York! Well, Chicago had a good run with the 1,454-foot Sears Tower (I will never call it the Willis Tower!).

It's only a spire, not a floor or a roof.  The roof is actually at 1,368 feet, and the highest floor is only at 1,268 feet.  Compare with the Sears Tower at 1,454 feet for the roof and 1,354 feet for the top floor.  The Sears Tower observation deck is also still higher.  If we include spires, then we should include antennae at which point the Sears Tower has a height of 1,729 feet.  I don't include spires or antennae.

[texaskdog]

So this means that after 40 years, the tallest skyscraper in America will once again be in New York! Well, Chicago had a good run with the 1,454-foot Sears Tower (I will never call it the Willis Tower!).

What choo talkin bout???  Willis?

[NE2]

The WTC Spire was an inside job. Because Bengoatse.

[Brandon]

The WTC Spire was an inside job. Because Bengoatse.

No, it was an outside job.  Now, the top of the Chrysler Building was an inside job.

[WillWeaverRVA]

I still kind of liked this design.

I don't know, I'm not a huge fan of buildings shaped like the Tripod logo.

Tripod doesn't allow hotlinking.

[triplemultiplex]

^^
I assume that's the one where someone Photoshopped the twin towers into a giant middle finger?



Spires vs. antennae has had pedants grumbling for almost 100 years now.  The argument for including spires is that they are supposed to be part of the structure of a building.  Like Chrysler and Empire State.  Antennae are supposedly just stuck on top of a building.  Like the old One World Trade.  The spire on the new One World Trade looks very antenna-like though; like a fancy antenna. Am I wrong in assuming they will actually broadcast TV/radio from it again?  Unless the stations are satisfied with the post-9/11 broadcast locations they have found.

Despite spires "counting" and antennae not, for some reason, buildings that are all spire don't count towards being the world's tallest "building".  Places like the CN Tower and the Space Needle have to use this term of art "tallest free-standing structure".  It's all pretty stupid if you think about it; a silly international dick measuring contest.

All I care is that One World Trade is a cool looking building.  It's unique, but with a nod to it's predecessors.  Most importantly, it fills a physical void that served as a sad reminder of tragedy.  Some may lament how long it took to get built, but really if you start from when the site was finally cleared and design had actually begun, that's probably about as long as it would take to build such a huge skyscraper anywhere in Manhattan from concept to topping out.  Especially with a major transit hub underneath it (more or less).