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Austin J. Tobin Plaza

1973 establishments in New York CityBuildings and structures completed in 1973Buildings and structures destroyed in the September 11 attacksFinancial District, ManhattanFormer places
New York CitySquares in ManhattanUse mdy dates from September 2024World Trade Center
World Trade Plaza, 1993 (9171406653)
World Trade Plaza, 1993 (9171406653)

The Austin J. Tobin Plaza, also known as the World Trade Center Plaza, was a large public square that was located on the World Trade Center site from 1966 until its destruction during the September 11 attacks in 2001. It covered 5 acres (220,000 sq ft; 2.0 ha), making it the largest plaza in New York City by acreage at the time. The plaza opened on April 4, 1973, and was renamed after Austin J. Tobin in 1982. Several sculptures were located there, including The Sphere and Ideogram. The plaza was damaged by a car bomb in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and it was destroyed eight years later in the September 11 attacks.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Austin J. Tobin Plaza (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Austin J. Tobin Plaza
Greenwich Street, New York Manhattan

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Latitude Longitude
N 40.711666666667 ° E -74.0125 °
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Memorial Entrance

Greenwich Street 180
10007 New York, Manhattan
New York, United States
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World Trade Plaza, 1993 (9171406653)
World Trade Plaza, 1993 (9171406653)
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World Trade Center (2001–present)
World Trade Center (2001–present)

The World Trade Center is a mostly completed complex of buildings in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, U.S., replacing the original seven buildings on the same site that were destroyed in the September 11 attacks. The site is being rebuilt with up to six new skyscrapers, four of which have been completed; a memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks; the elevated Liberty Park adjacent to the site, containing the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and Vehicular Security Center; and a transportation hub. The 94-story One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, is the lead building for the new complex. The buildings are among many created by the World Trade Centers Association. The original World Trade Center included the Twin Towers, which opened in 1973 and were the tallest buildings in the world at the time of their completion. They were destroyed on the morning of September 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the complex in a coordinated act of terrorism. The attacks on the World Trade Center killed 2,753 people. The resulting collapse of the World Trade Center caused structural failure in the surrounding buildings as well. The process of cleaning up and recovery at the World Trade Center site took eight months, after which rebuilding of the site commenced. After years of delay and controversy, reconstruction at the World Trade Center site started. The new complex includes One World Trade Center (aka, the Freedom Tower), 3 World Trade Center, 4 World Trade Center, 7 World Trade Center, and one other high-rise office building being planned at 2 World Trade Center. The new World Trade Center complex also includes a museum and memorial, and a transportation hub building that is similar in size to Grand Central Terminal. 7 World Trade Center opened on May 23, 2006, making it the first of five skyscrapers to have been completed in the World Trade Center complex. 4 World Trade Center, the first building completed as part of the site's master plan, opened on November 12, 2013. The National September 11 Memorial opened on September 11, 2011, while the Museum opened on May 21, 2014. One World Trade Center was opened on November 3, 2014. The World Trade Center Transportation Hub opened to the public on March 4, 2016, and 3 World Trade Center opened on June 11, 2018. 2 World Trade Center's full construction was placed on hold in 2009.

World Trade Center (1973–2001)
World Trade Center (1973–2001)

The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC), 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space. The core complex was built between 1966 and 1975, at a cost of $400 million (equivalent to $3.56 billion in 2022). The idea was suggested by David Rockefeller to help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, and his brother Nelson signed the legislation to build it. The buildings at the complex were designed by Minoru Yamasaki. In 1998, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided to privatize it by leasing the buildings to a private company to manage. It awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in July 2001. During its existence, the World Trade Center symbolized globalization and the economic power of America. Although its design was initially criticized by New York citizens and professional critics, the Twin Towers became an icon of New York City. It had a major role in popular culture, and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. The Twin Towers were also used in Philippe Petit's frequent tightrope-walking performance on August 7, 1974. Following the September 11 attacks, mentions of the complex in various media were altered or deleted, and several dozen "memorial films" were created.The World Trade Center experienced several major crime and terrorist incidents, including a fire on February 13, 1975; a bombing on February 26, 1993; a bank robbery on January 14, 1998, and finally a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The latter began after Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the Twin Towers within minutes of each other. Between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the Twin Towers when they were struck. The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes’ burning jet fuel, which along with the initial damage to the buildings’ structural columns, ultimately caused both towers to collapse. The attacks in New York City killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires that the debris initiated in several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the WTC complex's buildings including 7 World Trade Center, and caused catastrophic damage to 10 other large structures in the surrounding area. The cleanup and recovery process at the World Trade Center site took eight months, during which the remains of the other buildings were demolished. On May 30, 2002, the last piece of WTC steel was ceremonially removed. A new World Trade Center complex is being built with six new skyscrapers and several other buildings, many of which are complete. A memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks, a new rapid transit hub, and an elevated park have been opened. The memorial features two square reflecting pools in the center marking where the Twin Towers stood. One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet (541 m) and the lead building for the new complex, was completed in May 2013 and opened in November 2014.

WTC Cortlandt station
WTC Cortlandt station

The WTC Cortlandt station (signed as World Trade Center on walls and historically known as Cortlandt Street and Cortlandt Street–World Trade Center) is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway in Lower Manhattan. The station is located under the intersection of Greenwich Street and Cortlandt Way within the World Trade Center. It is served by the 1 train at all times. The original Cortlandt Street station was built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and opened in 1918 as part of the Dual Contracts. The station was renovated in the 1960s when the original World Trade Center was built. Around that time, the portion of Cortlandt Street above the station was demolished to make way for the World Trade Center. The Cortlandt Street station was destroyed on September 11, 2001. Although service on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through the area was restored in 2002, the station's reconstruction was delayed until 2015 because the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had to first rebuild the World Trade Center PATH station beneath it. After an extensive reconstruction, the Cortlandt Street station reopened on September 8, 2018, as WTC Cortlandt. The station contains connections to the PATH at the World Trade Center station, as well as an out-of-system passageway to the Chambers Street–World Trade Center/Park Place/Cortlandt Street and Fulton Street subway complexes via the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.