紐約世貿中心13年後重新開業
After years of costly delays and political infighting, the crown jewel of the new World Trade Center complex will finally be open for business Monday, welcoming its first wave of workers.
About 175 employees from anchor tenant and publishing giant Condé Nast — whose employees include Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter, Vogue’s Anna Wintour and the New Yorker’s David Remnick — will move into offices on floors 20 through 44 of the 104-floor “Freedom Tower,” officially 1 World Trade Center.
Although they won’t have access to the 1,776-foot skyscraper’s breathtaking 102nd-floor observation deck before it opens in the spring, the new tenants are happy to be part of lower Manhattan’s latest chapter.
“Condé Nast is proud to be a part of this important moment of renewal for the city of New York,” said Condé Nast spokeswoman Patti Rockenwagner.
“We are excited about contributing to the vitality of this community for years to come.”
Rockenwagner said the 3,400 staffers who are slated to move will not relocate all at once. The company is planning to move in stages from its Times Square offices with plans to fill its new home by the end of February.
New Yorkers and tourists celebrated another milestone in the area’s remarkable comeback.
“It’s a beautiful thing,’’ said a construction worker Sunday at the WTC site, where he has toiled or 12 years. “People were depressed from before. Now, they are more happy that they see a positive change.’’
Krisy Steelman, 35, who was visiting from Georgia, said the tower’s opening is important for the entire country.
“I think everyone will be excited about that,” Steelman said. “It symbolizes growth, renewal, a fresh start, the unity of our country and what we’re able to do. I’m glad we live in a county where if something bad happens, we are able to make it better.”
Also new to the neighborhood is a battalion of added police officers. Nearly 50 Port Authority cops patrolled the area in the days before 9/11. That number has since doubled, with plans for up to 200 by the time all the signed tenants move in.
The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, which cost $3.9 billion to build, was originally scheduled to open in 2006, but cost overruns and political infighting caused several delays.
Condé Nast was one of the first major tenants to sign a lease. Other tenants include the General Services Administration and the advertising firm Kids Creative.
Although the Port Authority, which owns the tower, has hailed the opening, only 60 percent of the building has been leased, which has observers worried.
But some New Yorkers said you can’t put a price on freedom.
“It’s incredible that it’s back in business,” said Ilene Danuff, 55, of Chelsea, who works in advertising. “We brush ourselves off and move on. It shows that it’s a resilient city with resilient people, and I’m happy to be in New York.”在歷經多年代價高昂的延期和政治博弈之後，美國紐約“王冠明珠”建築新世貿中心終於於本週一正式投入運營，迎來了首批進駐員工。
首批進駐的主要租戶中包括出版行業的巨頭康泰納仕集團（Condé Nast），該集團約有175名職員在此辦公，其中就有康泰納仕集團旗下著名雜誌《名利場》主編格萊登·卡特（Graydon Carter），流行雜誌《時尚》主編安娜·溫圖爾（ Anna Wintour）和《紐約客》著名編輯大衛·瑞姆尼克（David Remnick），他們承租下了有“自由大廈”之稱的世貿中心一號樓的20層到44層。
新世貿中心高1776英尺（約541米），儘管位於102層的觀光區預計明年春天開放。儘管尚不足踏足觀光區，入駐的租戶們對於能夠成爲曼哈頓下城新歷史的書寫者仍相當激動。
“能夠見證並參與紐約再度崛起的重要時刻，《名利場》爲此而自豪。”該雜誌發言人帕蒂·羅肯瓦格納（Patti Rockenwagner）如是說。
“在未來的歲月裏，我們樂於爲這裏注入源源不斷的生機與活力。”
帕蒂同時提到還有3400名員工也會遷至此處，不過會分批從時代廣場移至此地辦公，預計在二月份末尾結束遷移。
《紐約客》雜誌同觀光者們一同慶祝了這座舉世矚目的建築的迴歸。 “它真的很美，”一名辛勤奮鬥了十二年的建築工人在世貿中心的網站上如此留言，“人們爲從前感到難過，現在看到這樣一個積極的改變，他們會相當開心。”
35歲的克里斯蒂·斯蒂爾曼（Krisy Steelman）特意從佐治亞州奔赴此地參觀，她說，新世貿的再度起航，對全美都具有無比重要的意義。
“所有人都爲此激動，這意味着成長和復甦，這是新起點，是萬衆一心衆志成城。縱使災難曾臨，我們卻能把它變得更好，這就是我們的國家，我爲此自豪。”
這個街區另一改變是警察配備的增加。在9·11事件發生之前，約有50名港務局警官在此地巡邏，之後巡警數目就翻倍了。等到全部人員進駐之後，警察數量將會達到200人。
這座西半球最高建築總共耗資39億美元，本預計於2006年正式對外開放，但由於超過預期投資及一些政治原因，一直拖到了今天。
康泰納仕集團是新世貿中心的首批租戶之一，其他租戶包括美國聯邦行政管理總署和廣告公司Kids Creative。
不過令觀察家憂心的是，雖然業主港務局對這次開放十分歡迎，但新樓入駐率僅達到百分之六十也是不爭的事實。
但一些紐約人表示自由是無價的。
來自切爾西的廣告從業者伊嵐·達訥夫（Ilene Danuff）說，“它的迴歸本身就是壯舉，我們的撤離和迴歸是這座城市堅強的明證，這座城市中的人擁有着強大的自我恢復力，我如此有幸可以身在紐約。”
