Thirteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attack the resurrected World Trade Center has opened its doors again, marking an emotional milestone for both New Yorkers and the nation. The 104-story, $3.9 billion skyscraper dominates the Manhattan skyline. The fact Americans can move past the attacks and rebuild what was lost has given America a sense of pride and nationalism, said Christina Akanoa, professor of political science at BYU-Hawaii. “Rebuilding the Towers shows any other extreme group that we can prevail. We picked ourselves up and are moving on.”The publishing giant, Conde Nast, became the first commercial tenant in America’s tallest building, the new 1 World Trade Center. Staff began working in the tower on Nov. 3.The building is the centerpiece of the 16-acre site where the decimated Twin Towers once stood and where more than 2,700 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, buried under smoking mounds of fiery debris, said Associated Press.“The New York City skyline is whole again, as 1 World Trade Center takes its place in Lower Manhattan,” said Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Patrick Foye, whose company owns both the building and the World Trade Center site. Jaden McCarrey, a senior in peacebuilding from Alaska, said, “It’s not that we can forget the past, but healing cannot take place if we don’t move on.” Foye’s agency began moving into neighboring 4 World Trade Center two weeks ago. He said 1 World Trade Center “sets new standards of design, construction, prestige and sustainability; the opening of this iconic building is a major milestone in the transformation of Lower Manhattan into a thriving 24/7 neighborhood,” according to an article by the Associated Press.“The Trade Towers are the place for international trade and business,” said Professor Akanoa. “We rely on each other to foster relations. All the people there speak a universal language, regardless of nationality, the language of economics.” There is no country that does not want economic development, said Professor Akanoa.Still, it’s a bittersweet victory, one achieved with the past in mind as the architects created 1 World Trade Center. T.J. Gottesdiener, of the architectural company Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, told the Associated Press the high-rise was built with steel-reinforced concrete making it as terror attack-proof as possible. He said the firm went beyond the city’s existing building codes to achieve that. “We did it. We finally did it,” Gottesdiener said.“I think the 1 World Trade Center now being the tallest building in America is symbolic. American is…able to rise above the tragedy and atrocities that occurred,” said Davis Kane, a BYUH alumnus from Hawaii.
Writer: Trenton McCullough ~ Multimedia Journalist
