Downtown Manhatten
The World Trade Center in New York City (some time informally referred to as the WTC or the Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings, mostly designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki and developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It was initiated in 1960 by a Lower Manhattan Association created and chaired by David Rockefeller, who had the original idea of building the Center, with strong backing from the then New York governor, his brother, Nelson Rockefeller.Larry Silverstein held the most recent lease to the complex, the Port Authority having leased it to him in July of 2001. The complex, located in
the heart of New York City's downtown financial district, contained 13.4 million square feet (1.24 million mē) of office space, almost four percent of Manhattan's entire office inventory.
Best known for its iconic 110-story Twin Towers, the World Trade Center was beset by a fire on February 13, 1975 and a bombing on February 26, 1993. All of the original buildings in the complex were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001: 1 WTC, 2 WTC (North and South Towers) and 7 WTC collapsed; 3 WTC (Marriott Hotel) was crushed by the collapses of 1 WTC and 2 WTC; and 4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC were damaged beyond repair and later demolished. In addition, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (not part of the complex) was destroyed by the collapse of 2 WTC.
Life of the World Trade Center: On any given day, some 50,000 people worked in the towers with another 200,000 passing through as visitors. The complex was so large that it had its own ZIP Code: 10048. The towers offered spectacular views from the observation deck (located on top of the South Tower) and the Windows on the World restaurant (located on top of the North Tower). The trade center had its many admirers, particularly visitors. For those who deemed it cold and sterile, there were just as many who appreciated its sheer grandeur; some even took advantage of it. French high wire acrobatic performer Philippe Petit walked between the towers on a tightrope in 1974, and Brooklyn toymaker George Willig scaled the south tower in 1977. Memorable moments such as these lent the World Trade Center a sense of humanity in ways that would forever be immortalized in New York City legend. The Twin Towers became known Worldwide, appearing in Movies, TV Shows, Postcards, Merchandise, Magazines and much more. The twin towers became a New York icon, such as the Empire State Building, or Statue of Liberty.
