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View Full Version : Freedom Tower is out, World Trade Center is in



-Cp
03-27-2009, 04:47 PM
NEW YORK - The Freedom Tower is out. One World Trade Center is in.

The agency that owns the site says that the signature 1,776-foot skyscraper replacing the towers destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, will be known as One World Trade Center.

The building under construction at the site was named the Freedom Tower in the first master plan. Officials at the time said the tallest, most symbolic of five planned towers at the site would demonstrate the country's triumph over terrorism.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Chairman Anthony Coscia says the agency refers to the building as One World Trade Center. He says it's the building's legal name and "the one that's easiest for people to identify with."

"As we market the building, we will ensure that it is presented in the best possible way — and 1 World Trade Center is the address that we're using," said Coscia.

"It's the one that is easiest for people to identify with — and frankly, we've gotten a very interested and warm reception to it."

Sharp rebuke
According to the New York Daily News, the name change for the 102-story, $3.1 billion skyscraper, unveiled after a PA board meeting, drew a sharp rebuke from former Gov. George Pataki, whose April 24, 2003, speech gave the building its brand.

"The Freedom Tower is not simply another piece of real estate and not just a name for marketing purposes," Pataki said.

Full story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29913195/

-Cp
03-27-2009, 04:52 PM
From the files of WTF?!??!

The newspapers said the change came after board members voted to sign a 21-year lease deal with Vantone, a Chinese real estate giant, which will become the first commercial tenant at Ground Zero.

The negotiations with Vantone, which is closely affiliated with the Chinese Communist government, had nothing to do with the name change, Port Authority officials told the News, but was based primarily on bottom-line marketing considerations.

So .. the FIRST tenant in OUR "Freedom Tower" will be a freakin' 21YR LEASE TO A CHINESE company with "Close affiliations" w/ the Communist Government???

WOW....

-Cp
03-27-2009, 04:56 PM
Video from this story:

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-Cp
03-28-2009, 12:13 PM
Nobody else thinks this is jacked-up?

Yurt
03-28-2009, 12:35 PM
capitalism and free market CP.

DannyR
03-28-2009, 03:44 PM
Gotta make nice with the Chinese. They are paying for our government currently. #1 foreign holder of US debt outside the USA.

But no, I don't think its wrong. Its an international office complex. Many of the majority leases in the old towers were foreign companies too. If the Chinese are first, perhaps its because they have money now others do not? Not a conspiracy, just business. You really want to dictate what companies can or can't buy office space? Yup, thats really American. :laugh2:

And personally I like the World Trade Center names. I thought it was a bad idea to change them in the first place. When the British burned the White House, we didn't rebuild it as the Freedom House. ;)

Mr. P
03-28-2009, 04:03 PM
Gotta make nice with the Chinese. They are paying for our government currently. #1 foreign holder of US debt outside the USA.

But no, I don't think its wrong. Its an international office complex. Many of the majority leases in the old towers were foreign companies too. If the Chinese are first, perhaps its because they have money now others do not? Not a conspiracy, just business. You really want to dictate what companies can or can't buy office space? Yup, thats really American. :laugh2:

And personally I like the World Trade Center names. I thought it was a bad idea to change them in the first place. When the British burned the White House, we didn't rebuild it as the Freedom House. ;)

Boy you got THAT right! On the other hand from a Chinese perspective, think about us as an AIG, they can't let us fail or they and everyone else fail. I don't like this car we're in but we're still in the drivers seat.