Ground Zero Redevelopment
 

Here's an article on what's happening at Ground Zero:
http://www.lowermanhattan.info/news/...o__a_53475.asp

Side note: Does anyone know how this location got the name "ground zero".

I think it was derived from the term used for the exact spot of a nuclear detonation.

While all four airplane crashes were far less severe than a nuclear detonation (I was actually thanking God that it was only airplanes as I was evacuating from my home on that day,) the fires at "Ground Zero" burned for months, at over a thousand degrees. The site's sights and smells evoked the phrase "Hell on Earth" by many locals, and world leaders. It was so horrific, for so long, that it was the focal point for where 9-11 started. "Ground Zero" just seems appropriate. Also, its a lot easier to say than the "former World Trade Center site."

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030326.html

-Rudey

I'm glad that NY is finally rebuilding. I drive by the OKC Bombing memorial every day between the office and the courthouse. What we've done there is very tasteful. And the new federal building is quite a bit nicer.

I was and still am kind of against turning all of our terrorist sites into memorials because it's simply giving up some of our most valuable land to something that looks pretty. In OKC's case though, it actually brings in quite a few tourists.

The site was really baren when I was there last summer. Having not seen WTC except from afar before 9/11 (flying into Newark)- I didnt have the sense of the magnitude that the destruction and removal of the buildings has been for those who live in the area or had been to NYC before 9/11.

I work only 2 blocks away from Ground Zero (had to be relocated for 6 months after 9/11). Let me tell you - the smell was nothing short of HORRIFIC!!!! You could smell it from blocks and blocks. :( :(

I live a half mile north of it. That smell was in my apartment for weeks until I bought an air purrifier. It wasn 't fun.

Cornerstone Laid
 

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...er_nygb107.jpg

NEW YORK - A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was laid Sunday at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the skyscraper that will replace the destroyed towers.

The ceremony marked the start of construction on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, designed as a twisting glass and steel tower that evokes the Statue of Liberty, including a 276-foot spire resembling her torch.

Gov. George E. Pataki said he chose July 4 to begin rebuilding to show that the terrorists who attacked New York on Sept. 11, 2001, didn't destroy America's faith in freedom.

"How badly our enemies underestimated the resiliency of this city and the resolve of these United States," Pataki said. "In less than three years, we have more than just plans on paper — we place here today the cornerstone, the foundation of a new tower."

More of the story is here:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...reedom_tower_6

I've herd that the Burj Dubai tower in UAE will be about 150 meters taller then the Freedom Tower. It should be done 2 years earlier then the Freedom Tower. Not really sure though.

It looks that way.
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagra...ex.php?2063133

There seems to be a sudden competition to make the tallest structures in the world. I know that Freedom Tower and Burj Dubai tower is competing with each other.

Now, I also herd that Indonesia and JApan are competing with each other to make the tallest tower. I know Indonesian project has just started and will be completed by 2010. I believe it will rise up to 558 meters, about 5 meters taller then the CN Tower.

Here is the model:
http://www.detik.com/berita-foto/200...ges/ACFB2B.jpg

Not very original, but I think it'll do good thing for the city.