One World Trade Center Final Spire Installed
Photo Courtesy Marty Feletto (Circa 1992)
With the Twin Towers in the background, fellow Woody Boater Marty Feletto (driving – with then wife Donna) and friend Ron Schultz on board the very original 1931 30′ Hackercraft triple. Marty noted – “We were messing around in New York City, cruising down the Hudson River and up the East River, back out through Hells Gate on our way around Manhattan Island on the first Hudson River ACBS trip.” – Circa 1992.
Friday was a historically significant day for America and the New York City skyline with the installation of the final section of the silver spire atop New York’s new One World Trade Center skyscraper, a symbolic event for America’s biggest city after terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center at the same site in 2001.
With the last work on the spire completed on Friday, the new building reaches a height of 1,776 feet or 541 meters, a figure meant to recall the year the United States declared its independence from England in 1776.
The 124-meter spire weighs 758 tons and was installed over several months. It houses an antenna for a broadcast facility planned for the building.
Photo courtesy WTC Progress Facebook page.
The new trade center is scheduled to open for business next year. The new One World Trade Center could be the tallest building in the United States and the third tallest in the world.
The distinction depends on whether one considers the spire part of the building’s architectural design and counted as part of its height, or whether the spire’s primary purpose is to house the antenna, with the actual official height substantially lower at the rooftop level.
Check out the WTC Progress Facebook page to see some amazing images of the spire sections being installed on One World Trade Center.
Texx
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Wonderful video of a truely historical event, but you would never get me up there. I like my feet firmly planted on terra firma or the deck of a boat!
Thanks for the story.
Love the way you can connect wood boats to everything.
Well done!
I saw the towers fall from a hilltop in NJ. Happy to get a different view from the same place.
I was once on the top -outside no less- of the Twin Towers. It’s a long way up there but well worth the effort. The view is magnificent. God Bless America.
Let’s do a boat around Manhattan!
Glad to see the tower finally topped out. Getting that spire up there was not only a major feat of engineering it’s also a testament to the determination and bravery of the folks who dreamed it, designed it and built it.
And a big middle finger aimed at Al-Qaeda.
Saw the tower today while stuck in stop and go traffic on the Veranzano Bridge, quite impressive.
I didn’t meet Marty on that ’92 Hudson River trip but we were on it and my film of lower Manhattan was lost. But I did get some on the way down. Remember stopping at the cruise ship piers to take a tour of a 100′ yacht with something like 3″ teak planking with a beautiful old school fantail. Wish I had that roll back to include those iconic towers. Interesting video to be sure. I was kind of hoping for twin replacement towers but guess there was some reason to just do the one. Was Marty’s ride “Mahogany Magic”?
I really can’t remember the name of the boat – it was not mine – we were riding along. That Hacker only participated in the first day run around Manhattan. Going north up the Hudson the three of us were with Steen Melby in his 29′ Hacker Typhoon, which I later bought from him and restored.