Rising from ashes: World Trade Center gets a new life, 13 years after 9/11

[caption id=“attachment_1786781” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] A street level view of the One World Trade Center tower in New York. The 104-story skyscraper built after 9/11 as the Freedom Tower but now simply called One World Trade Center welcomed publishing giant Conde Nast as its first tenant on Monday. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1786783” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Charles Townsend, CEO of publishing giant Conde Nast, arrives at One World Trade Center with Patricia Rockenwagner, senior vice president of Corporate Branding and Communications in New York. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1786785” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The opening marked a symbolic return to a sense of normalcy for the site where the twin towers fell more than 13 years ago. AP[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_1786787” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Employees work in the lobby of the One World Trade Center tower in New York.  Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1786791” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The area has prospered in recent years. About 60,000 more residents now live in the area — three times more than before 9/11 — keeping streets, restaurants and shops alive even after Wall Street and other offices close for the day. AP[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_1786793” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] “The New York Skyline is whole again” said Patrick Foye, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns both the buildings and the World Trade Center Site. AP[/caption]   [caption id=“attachment_1786795” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The One World Trade Center is 60 percent leased. It’s eight- year construction came after years of political infighting. AP[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1786799” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] A building employee stands in the elevator lobby of the One World Trade Center tower in New York. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1786801” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The stairwells are built with a hardened concrete core, and wider to allow firefighters to move while people exit. The building’s mechanical systems are also encased in hardened concrete. AP[/caption]