The Billiken's Bluff

Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg unveiled a radical redesign of the Freedom Tower planned in Lower Manhattan yesterday: a 77-story glass-clad skyscraper that would sit atop an almost impermeable 200-foot concrete and steel pedestal, sheathed in ornamental metalwork, overlooking the memorial intended to honor those who died at the World Trade Center.

The redesign was worked up in a matter of weeks after an embarrassing setback for the trade center redevelopment, when the New York Police Department deemed the first version of the Freedom Tower too vulnerable to attack by car or truck bomb.



That doesn't sound right at all. At the risk of sounding didactic and telling NYC planners how the World Trade Center should be resurrected - this is how it should be resurrected, as an:

An office building.
A memorial.
A Park.

Any of things, or better yet as all of these things.

This is what it should not be:

Fort Knox.
A Pyramid.
A Mausoleum.
An impregnable fortress impervious to any terrestrial, aerial, or extraterrestrial attack.


The newly configured building would have no occupied space other than the lobby for its first 200 feet. It would be set at least 40 feet farther away from West Street-Route 9A, a heavily trafficked state highway. Many of its windows would be tempered, laminated and multilayered for extra protection against explosions.

The first 30 feet of the 200-foot-tall pedestal would be completely solid. The next 50 feet would have some openings, allowing light to be brought into the lobby from above. The rest of the base would be occupied by four floors of mechanical equipment. Stainless steel, titanium or aluminum panels would mask the concrete wall.

The only externally visible separation between the windows would be vertical stainless-steel elements known as mullions, creating a pinstripe effect.

It's one thing to design a safe building. It's another thing to let some would-be terrorist dictate the design of this building. 20 stories of solid concrete and steel base hardly sound inviting.