Freedom Tower...of Concrete Bunkers and Street Grids.... - Reader comments at The New York Sun

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A Bigger, Better Ground Zero

Submitted by Ron Devito, Jun 19, 2007 22:16

Some respondents brought up the Freedom Tower's concrete bunker and the 1993 bombing. Some interesting points here. First, the 1993 attack was carried out by truck bomb parked in the garage underneath the buildings. Of course, after that parking security was implemented that minimzed (I would not purport that this risk is eliminated entirely) that risk.

The reason for the concrete bunker points straight back to the supposed "imperative to restore the street grid" at the WTC site -- to vehicular traffic. With cars, trucks, and busses passing right by the buildings, all of them are ripe targets for truck bombs that could be detonated just outside the buildings, hence the "need" for this concrete bunker. Had the planners restored the street grid for pedestrians only, there would be no need whatsoever for a concrete bunker, but since the WTC site has become their pork barrel playpen, they could not get this simple aspect right.

The Twin Towers on the superblock were actually more secure in this regard than the Freedom Tower is, for they were set back from the street far enough that truck bombs from the street would not have affected them one way or the other; but if the idea was to more connect the site to the cityscape rather than a "towers in a park" design, a pedestrian-only grid would have done the job just fine.

While there is a glaring need to improve pedestrian access to the WTC site that does not translate to a need for vehicular traffic within the site, a most hypocritical position considering that most NYC politicians are otherwise anti-motorist (witness the proposed congestion charge).

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
She's right. The twin towers were more than just buildings. We can't let them disappear forever. Just think of the... [MORE]	Travis dixon	Jul 30, 2008 16:43
Dress and grace the NYC skyline again with a rebuild of the finest buildings that ever stood. New York City... [MORE]	Andrew Bailey	Jul 24, 2007 03:36
I'm wondering if it's possible for a scenario to exist in which the builders of the Freedom Tower in New... [MORE]	Totojuice	Jul 18, 2007 16:14
PUT the TWIN TOWERS BACK!!! NOW!!! Are we a nation of red-blooded human beings? Or a nation of spineless bloodless sissies?? I'm very... [MORE]	Julian Saavedra	Jul 10, 2007 22:31
You are exactly right. I agree with you to the fullest, I cannot believe they are even concidering any plan... [MORE]	robert boone	Sep 19, 2007 00:32
From the beginning, the whole process of rebuilding has been nothing but designing a bunch of random twisted buildings that... [MORE]	Evan Richter	Jun 30, 2007 22:33
I posted a commend with that just that line in The Twin Towers Alliance website, and have supported their initiative... [MORE]	Andrew Di Schino	Jun 23, 2007 23:43
God sake just rebuild the original WTC COMPLEX as it stood on 9/10/01, The new WTC is nothing but a... [MORE]	samuel	Jun 23, 2007 10:34
This whole freedom tower thing is absolutely rediculous! The name itself is enough to make me through up. After the... [MORE]	hey	Jun 21, 2007 17:18
If the Lower Manhattan Development corporation let the public know about the "Restoration alternative" that was buried hundreds of pages... [MORE]	Peter Walukiewicz	Jun 21, 2007 17:08
My husband died in the 9/11 attacks at the WTC and honestly, I am sick and tired of seeing this... [MORE]	Michelle	Jun 20, 2007 22:33
As Michelle's comments show, 9/11 families come in many stripes with many different opinions. Very frankly, the first memorail/redevelopment process... [MORE]	Michael Burke	Jun 22, 2007 13:50
Dear Michelle, Thank you for your wonderful comments on this article. I am responding to you now in the hopes that... [MORE]	Rachel Snyder	Jul 25, 2007 19:05
Some respondents brought up the Freedom Tower's concrete bunker and the 1993 bombing. Some interesting points here. First, the 1993...	Ron Devito	Jun 19, 2007 22:16
We all are aware that the WTC was an icon of epic proportions. The proposed Freedom tower is a poor... [MORE]	claude trecate	Jun 19, 2007 21:03
I'm from Australia and I can't believe the ridiculous rigmarole of a rebuilding process that has gone on at Ground... [MORE]	Adam Perston	Jun 19, 2007 01:03
How can five smaller buildings with one huge antenna count as "rebuilding" the WTC? The Twin Towers were the WTC.... [MORE]	Alex Butziger	Jun 18, 2007 18:41
I am from Charlotte, N.C. but I loved to gaze at the twin towers any time I saw a picture... [MORE]	Robert M. Boone Jr.	Sep 19, 2007 00:17
Why do our leaders not tell us the REAL reasons and the REAL issues behind the fact that we do... [MORE]	Murat Yilmaz	Jun 18, 2007 11:52
I have been saying this since the day the Towers fell. As a native New Yorker, who has memories of... [MORE]	A.L. Hirsh	Jul 1, 2007 21:58
Thank you, Ms. Colon, for hearing us! Ninety percent of NYC alone wants their Twin Gentle Giants back.. We have... [MORE]	Regan Amanda MacBannon	Jun 18, 2007 06:34
We should rebuild the Twin Towers bigger and better but with the same exact look as the original towers. We... [MORE]	Jim LeDuc	Jun 17, 2007 17:42
Alicia Colon is one of the few journalists in this country who is actually doing her job, and I commend... [MORE]	Michael Koy	Jun 17, 2007 12:26
The LMDC's plans are pathetic symbols of surrender. America does not want to be "cut down to size" by psychotic... [MORE]	C.L.Fernandez*	Jun 17, 2007 05:34
I wish we had more brave ppeople like Alicia Colon. Ms. Colon appears to be one of the very few... [MORE]	Randy Warner	Jun 17, 2007 00:14
What would our response be if the Empire State Building were destroyed in an attack? Statue of Liberty? The Capitol?... [MORE]	Ron Devito	Jun 16, 2007 14:44
I live in AZ but just visited NYC with my 12-yr-old son. Only two things were missing from an otherwise... [MORE]	Steve Morgan	Jun 16, 2007 10:35
Everyone I talk to in Indiana love the Twin Towers and wish very badly for them to be rebuilt. What's... [MORE]	David Bergner	Jun 16, 2007 00:30
Dear David, Thank you for your post. I work two blocks from the WTC and continue to be impacted by the... [MORE]	Rachel Snyder	Jul 25, 2007 19:09
Thank you, Ms. Colon, for standing up for the greatest city of all time, for America and for the whole... [MORE]	Joy E. Goldberg	Jun 16, 2007 00:07
Eliot Spitzer himself called the rebuilding process an "Enron-style debacle." It's pathetic to see him now wanting the very thing he... [MORE]	Joshua	Jun 15, 2007 23:42
Ever since teh steel has risen from the freedom tower i've been quite concerned with the design. The thing that... [MORE]	Jules	Jan 11, 2008 14:11
Just imagine the time and money that we would have saved if we ( I mean New Yorkers) had gone... [MORE]	Ravi Chawla	Jun 15, 2007 23:25
Let us not forget the weaselly behavior of the insurance companies, the time it cost, and the interest they collected... [MORE]	Robert Greer	Jun 16, 2007 15:59
If the Freedom Tower is really so supported as ex-governor George Pataki claimed it to be, then why did it... [MORE]	Tal Barzilai	Jun 15, 2007 22:32
I'm glad someone finally said what is obvious about Pataki's awful plan to "rebuild" the world trade center site. We... [MORE]	Hugh Jardonn	Jun 15, 2007 21:55
Rebuild ground zero just like it was before 9/11 nothing defrent at all. they should also knock down the ugly... [MORE]	Dylan H	Jun 15, 2007 21:52
I've been saying the same thing for years. After 9/11 I attended the sham public meetings where they asked for... [MORE]	Bill Hough	Jun 15, 2007 19:40
Very good article. As someone who has followed the World Trade Center rebuilding process for years, I have to say... [MORE]	Mary Hart	Jun 15, 2007 19:06
The Twin Towers simply cannot be rebuilt as before, for one simple reason: The footprints where the original Towers stood... [MORE]	SteveL	Jun 15, 2007 18:54
As a comment to Steve L, All people who want the Twin Towers back like myself accept that the Towers... [MORE]	Oliver	Jun 16, 2007 10:07
Has everyone forgotten that almost 3000 people died there? What happened to the memorial in their honor? That was decided... [MORE]	Barbara & Paul KIrwin	Jun 16, 2007 12:44
Dear Steve, No disrespect to you or anyone who lost on 9/11, but please understand that Alicia's article was not... [MORE]	Randy Warner	Jun 18, 2007 00:47
While New Yorkers aren't happy with the reinforced concrete base of the Freedom Tower (it's not evocative of "freedom"), let's... [MORE]	SteveL	Jun 18, 2007 15:02
I agree that a memorial must be built, but I completely disagree with the assertion that we should "let the... [MORE]	Rachel Snyder	Jun 18, 2007 16:13
Dear Steve, It's never too late to start paying attention. Based on what you wrote you would have all of... [MORE]	Randy Warner	Jun 19, 2007 00:54
While they were there it would have been hard to find much support for the design of the towers. The... [MORE]	Randy Jacobson	Jun 19, 2007 16:54
The powers that be have bent over backwards to ensure a fitting memorial at the WTC site, and then some.... [MORE]	Andrew O.	Jun 21, 2007 14:23
Steve, I give my condolences to those who have died on 9/11, but those who have lost someone shouldn't have... [MORE]	Tal Barzilai	Jun 23, 2007 15:07
Tal, the decision as to whether to leave the destroyed footprints of the Twin Towers as a memorial, or to just... [MORE]	SteveL	Jun 24, 2007 02:45
Andrew, Didn't they leave the partially sunken battleship U.S.S. Arizona alone in Pearl Harbor as a memorial to that sneak... [MORE]	SteveL	Jun 24, 2007 03:06
You're contradicting yourself. No skyscraper over 1,000 feet tall that gets erected on that site can possibly be considered "hiding... [MORE]	SteveL	Jun 24, 2007 03:22
SteveL: There are terrorist targets everywhere, not just at the WTC. The Pentagon is only five stories tall and was... [MORE]	Michael Koy	Jun 24, 2007 11:48
I doubt very much that the "Freedom Tower" is on the whole safer than the old Twin Towers,and there is... [MORE]	Louis Epstein	Jun 24, 2007 14:18
Steve, the Freedom Tower was never picked by the public. Many of them had mentioned that it was too small,... [MORE]	Tal Barzilai	Jun 25, 2007 12:50
REBUILD THE TOWERS! To do otherwise would be a sign of weakness and submission . Americans will never be able... [MORE]	Charles	Jun 15, 2007 18:24
I am a NYC native, I grew up at the same time as the towers, and they always symbolized NYC... [MORE]	Stuart Taranto	Jun 15, 2007 15:11
Rebuilding the Twin Towers is the only way to restore our great city. They were more than buildings -- they... [MORE]	Jennifer Thorpe	Jun 15, 2007 14:59
The JP Morgan Chase proposal requires public hearings since it would impinge on the park and church. People should show up... [MORE]	Louis Epstein	Jun 15, 2007 14:54
It's a no brainer. Re-build the towers and watch the tremendous pride and enthusiasm that will immediately be felt in... [MORE]	Rick Banks	Jun 15, 2007 14:38
Building anything but Twin Towers at Ground Zero would be a monument to the public's irrelevance and the elitists' lock... [MORE]	Richard Hughes	Jun 15, 2007 13:49
I remember viewing the results of the "design contest" at the Wintergarden back in 2002. I saw all sorts... [MORE]	Zev Stern	Jun 15, 2007 12:59
I couldn't agree more. The Pataki/LMDC plan is pathetic and insulting. Nothing less than two new WTC twin towers rebuilt... [MORE]	Joe Wright	Jun 15, 2007 12:38
The Towers are the primary visual symbol representing New York. Just look anywhere in the city to see trucks, buses,... [MORE]	Eric	Jun 15, 2007 11:40
I can't beleive the way that the powers involved have behaved over this sorry debacle. The twin towers should be... [MORE]	Mike Wilson	Jun 15, 2007 10:33
Rebuilding the Towers will display our resolve as a nation and put back a great symbol of American commerce and... [MORE]	Lisa Schneck	Jun 15, 2007 10:06
"Rebuilding the Towers will display our resolve as a nation and put back a great symbol of American commerce and... [MORE]	Victor N	Jun 16, 2007 21:52
Ms. Colon put her her finger on the two things that are lacking in the redevelopment of the World Trade... [MORE]	ML Donovan	Jun 15, 2007 02:54

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