What will ground zero be

The Sphere is formally unveiled at the park in a November 29, ceremony. The 4-meter-tall bronze work depicts a U. Special Operations Forces soldier on horseback, in tribute to the U. Blumberg draws inspiration for the sculpture from U. The sculpture makes a final move to Liberty Park and is dedicated for a third time in a ceremony on September 13, No entry is permitted for public parking.

A floor office building and elevated plaza owned by U. Known as Bankers Trust Plaza, the steel tower has a facade of black aluminum and darkened glass. A security guard who helped in the evacuation, Francisco Bourdier, is killed. The tower is contaminated with toxic dust from the WTC site and mold caused by rain that blows in through its broken windows.

It is shrouded in black netting to prevent falling debris. The deal, mediated by former U. Another part of the agreement provides for the footprint of the building, once it is demolished, to be used partly for the construction of a Vehicle Security Center to service the World Trade Center complex.

The remainder of the footprint is reserved for the proposed construction of a Five World Trade Center tower that would expand the original perimeter of the WTC complex southward to Albany Street. But obstacles to a speedy demolition emerge in the following years.

Authorities find more harmful substances in the building than anticipated, leading to environmental and financial disputes involving nearby residents, regulators and contractors about the hazardous processes of decontamination and deconstruction. More than bone fragments are found. Thirteen more floors are dismantled in the next four months as part of a process in which each floor must be completely decontaminated before it can be demolished.

A large fire breaks out on August 18, , damaging floors 13 through 18 in the tower that had been deconstructed to the 26th floor. Firefighters struggle to douse the flames due to a lack of water from a standpipe broken at the basement and find their exit paths obstructed by temporary walls and sheeting installed by contractors.

Two firemen die of smoke inhalation and all deconstruction work in the building is suspended. Decontamination resumes in May after the building is deemed structurally sound and fire safety improvements are made and the process is completed in September LMDC resumes deconstruction in November The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation retains ownership of the land parcel known as site 5, which is bounded by Washington, Albany and Greenwich streets.

After the National September 11 Memorial plaza opens to the public in September , LMDC allows the southern portion of site 5 to be used as a waiting area for ticketed visitors to the plaza, which is surrounded by a fence. LMDC decides to develop the vacated southern portion of site 5 into a temporary park as part of a project with Downtown Alliance, a nonprofit group that advocates for Lower Manhattan businesses.

The park opens to the public on September 2, Named Albany Street Plaza, it features benches, trees and a colorful mural on a wall separating it from a police command post. In a major step toward realizing the vision of a 5 WTC tower, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, LMDC and the Port Authority issue a request for proposals on June 26, , seeking plans from developers to either lease or purchase the site for the construction of a commercial or mixed-use building. LMDC and the Port Authority decide on February 11, , to enter into exclusive negotiations with a consortium of developers that proposes to lease the site and build a largely residential tower.

The year lease would require the developers to pay rent directly to the Port Authority. The consortium is led by U. The Port Authority tells VOA that negotiations with the consortium on finalizing the lease for a future 5 WTC continue through August, with no word on when they are likely to conclude. It is designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, whom the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America first commissioned to draw up plans for the new building in The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which agreed to let the archdiocese rebuild the church at Liberty Street as part of a land swap agreement, signs another deal on August 21, , to lease the site to the archdiocese for years.

The archdiocese agrees to let the Port Authority maintain ownership of the site so that the governmental agency retains responsibility for securing permits and regulatory approvals during the construction process.

But building work stops in December when Swedish construction company Skanska says the archdiocese is not paying it. The investigators conclude in October that there is no evidence of fraud or improper usage of funds by archdiocese members. The Friends of Saint Nicholas group raises millions of additional dollars from private donations, enabling construction to resume on August 3, The archdiocese says that while interior work continues into , an opening of the doors ceremony called a thyranoixia will be held on November 2, , to coincide with a New York visit of Turkey-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.

The Silverstein Properties and Brookfield Properties-led proposal for a future Five World Trade Center envisions a meter-tall building of about 80 floors.

They show the building with a meter-high rectangular base supporting several tall and intersecting rectangular-shaped blocks. The base includes a street-level retail podium supporting 10 floors mostly for offices with some amenity, community and mechanical space. Above the base are 69 residential floors with 1, rental apartments, totaling , square meters of residential space.

Authorities say the process of securing governmental approvals for the Silverstein-Brookfield-led proposal will continue into They say that if the 5 WTC plan secures final approval on schedule, they expect construction to start in and conclude in Community members also will be asked for their input on changing the GPP.

A group of Lower Manhattan residents and housing advocates criticize the 5 WTC plan, saying it provides far too little affordable housing in what is essentially a luxury residential tower. The nave of the new building will be used for Greek Orthodox prayer services, while a 2nd floor bereavement space and 3rd floor social hall will be used for nondenominational and interfaith remembrance, educational and cultural programs. It says the church-shrine will open for public worship on Easter Sunday and for visits by non-worshippers after Holy Week.

The archdiocese says that once the building opens for worship, it plans to exercise its right to buy the property from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for a nominal fee. A floor office building at 30 West Broadway opens in It is purchased in by businessman Miles Fiterman.

CUNY, a New York State-controlled public university, renames the building Fiterman Hall in honor of the couple's donation and repurposes it to house 40 classrooms and computer labs.

The new facilities help BMCC to ease a shortage of classroom space at its main hub several blocks away. Seeing the impact of the blast a block away, Fiterman Hall's faculty and staff dismiss their classes and evacuate the building.

Toxic dust and mold infest the building, making it uninhabitable. Workers seal holes in the structure and cover it with black netting in the weeks after the attacks. Construction of a new Fiterman Hall is nearing completion in following years of delays in demolishing its damaged predecessor. The firm also is tasked with designing and eventually constructing a new Fiterman Hall on the same site.

But more delays ensue as the plans are subject to protracted regulatory reviews and as CUNY seeks sufficient city and state funding to move forward with the project. The fire raises new safety concerns about the pending deconstruction of Fiterman Hall and regulators require CUNY to submit revised proposals that are subject to further review.

But for now, just a low stump of a building exists as a placeholder, covered with colorful graffiti-style murals at the northeast corner of the Trade Center site. Developer Larry Silverstein has said he wants to sign an anchor tenant for the tower before starting construction.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic emptying out office buildings, the nowyear-old says he is confident a tenant will be found so the Norman Foster -designed tower can be built in his lifetime. After years of delays, the Ronald O. Free performances will take place on a small stage on the lobby level.

The long-delayed construction of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, replacing the only house of worship destroyed in the attacks, is now proceeding briskly after years of delays. Slated for completion next year, the church is surrounded by a small public park and features a Byzantine-style dome and marble cladding that can be lit from within. The project was first delayed by a dispute over location between the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center.

Then, project costs soared and construction halted in late after the archdiocese fell behind on payments. A new entity, Friends of St. Nicholas, led by a core of wealthy Greek Americans, assumed management on behalf of the archdiocese and raised the remaining funds. Construction has yet to begin on the tower that will replace an office building, occupied by Deutsche Bank, that was was damaged and contaminated by debris from the collapsing twin towers.

The original building was demolished between and — a job that came with its own tragedy. Walk with us as we explore Ground Zero. On September 11, I awoke to a delightful break from the sweltering heat and humidity we had endured all summer long. This was no accident. The Activities Director said I could go home if I wanted to and that the residents on the Dementia Unit would not really know the difference. Those words struck a nerve in me. I wanted to stay. I wanted to have a few more hours in a room full of people who did not know the world just changed.

I was sleeping in on September 11, , and was awakened at around am by the sound of fire engine sirens- lots of them. I looked out of the apartment window, out into the gorgeous Indian summer day, and saw a stream of firetrucks racing downtown. A big plume of thick smoke was visible in the sky as I looked south from 24th street. Judging by its size, I figured it must have been in a nearby neighborhood. The World Trade Center had been attacked and was now gone. Great experience