AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
It's been all over the news today that the building opens today, and that Conde Nast has started moving in.
jahvon09
Active Member
jahvon09
Active Member
One World Observatory
October 28, 2014
ONE WORLD OBSERVATORY READIES FOR EXPECTED SPRING 2015 OPENING
Observatory at Top of One World Trade Center Unveils Official Logo and Ticket Prices as Initial Introduction to the Highly Anticipated Space Begins
Tickets to be Available for Public Purchase in Early 2015
One World Observatory, the highly anticipated destination that will operate as the crown jewel atop One World Trade Center and is poised for a public opening in the Spring of 2015, today revealed insights on the inspired space, previewing details of the guest experience and unveiling an official logo and ticket pricing plan.
Positioned on top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, on levels 100, 101, and 102 of the One World Trade Center building, One World Observatory will provide unique, panoramic views of New York City, its most iconic sites, and surrounding waters. A customized guest experience will complement the seemingly endless views – which evoke feelings of the city’s signature pride, hope and determination – and include exhibits and dining options, including a sit-down restaurant.
As home to the Observatory, the towering silhouette of One World Trade Center rightly serves as the central image of the official logo. On the logo, the top portion of the building is outlined in multiple hues of the color blue, representative of the vast skyline that surrounds the space on all sides. Angles, reflections, strength and sky all combine in the mark to incite emotions of stability, balance and optimism.
“If any one image can symbolize New York’s eternal spirit and resiliency, it’s the sharp profile of One World Trade Center standing tall amid the city skyline, a beacon of enduring strength and optimism,†said David Checketts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Legends, operator of the Observatory. “This image, distinguishable around the world, is illustrative of the very nature of the experience we will be offering at One World Observatory, one that will invite guests to look far into New York and forward to the future.â€
Expected to open in the spring of 2015, One World Observatory will span 120,000 square feet, providing guests with spectacular views of New York City and the surrounding region from above 1,250 feet.
The experience will invite guests to explore all three levels, each equipped with the latest in innovative technology. Upon entry, guests will be greeted in the Welcome Center, where a large cutting-edge video board will display a personalized greeting in their native language. Guests will then proceed to a pre-show program, titled Voices of the Building that will incorporate first-person accounts describing the rise of One World Trade Center, and Foundations, which depicts and symbolizes the very bedrock upon which it stands. Visitors will board one of five dedicated elevators, termed Sky Pods, to ascend to the very top of the building in under 60 seconds. The elevators will feature three walls with floor-to-ceiling LED TVs, which will use immersive technology to display the rise and growth of New York City, simulating the skyline’s development through the present day.
The Sky Pod elevators, among the fastest in the world, will bring passengers directly to the See Forever™ Theater on the 102nd floor. The See Forever™ Theater will present a two-minute video presentation unlike any other, combining bird’s-eye imagery, time-lapse shots, and abstract textures and patterns to bring the unique rhythm and pulse of New York City to dramatic life in three dimensions.
The main observatory space on the 100th floor will include an interactive skyline “concierge†– City Pulse – that will connect guests closer to the landmarks and neighborhoods they observe across the city. Global ambassadors will be stationed at City Pulse to engage with guests, facilitate requests for more information and share stories of the city. Using gesture recognition technology, the ambassador—with the simple wave of a hand—will draw up relevant facts and real-time information on a circular band of display screens in front of the windows.
The 100th level also features the Sky Portal, where guests will be invited to step onto a 14-foot-wide circular disc in the floor for an unforgettable view (in live HD) of the city streets below.
One World Observatory will also offer three distinct dining options on the 101st floor available to guests with Observatory tickets, including seated fine dining to casual, on-the-go café fare, and a bar. Catering will be available on the 102nd floor, which will operate as a 9,300 square foot special event space with a maximum capacity of 330. The premier space will include floor-to-ceiling, uninterrupted views, high-end décor and an exclusive, customizable experience with a state-of-the-art sound system and HD projection capabilities.
A start-to-finish visual representation of the guest experience is depicted in the latest fly-through video, available for viewing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHdrnjx8O3s.
Admission tickets to One World Observatory will go on-sale in early 2015, at a future date to be determined. Price of admission will vary. Guest admission for adults ages 13-64 will be $32. Guest admission for children ages 6-12 will be $26, and guest admissions for seniors ages 65+ will be $30. Guests 5 and under will be admitted at no charge but must have a ticket to enter.
The Observatory will offer complimentary admission tickets to 9/11 family members and 9/11 rescue and recovery workers. Special discounts will be offered to active and retired members of the U.S. military. Complete details of these and other admission programs will be released at a later date.
Group rates, for 20 or more, will also be available to travel professionals, corporate groups, organizations, schools and camps. For more information on Group Sales, please visit www.oneworldobservatory.com/groups.
When released, tickets will be available for purchase online at www.oneworldobservatory.com. Once the venue is officially open, tickets will also be available for purchase at the box office. All tickets will be valid for a specific time and date.
Additionally, One World Observatory released today “The Rise†(available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbDBqIjIYko) a crowd-sourced video of one of the most highly anticipated, widely photographed construction sites of all time. This user-generated video documents the early stages of the building construction through its recent completion, composed entirely of preexisting Instagram photographs from users all over the world.
In total, 152 photos are featured, taken from 90 users around the world, including from the United States, Canada, France, Japan, Sweden, Ukraine, Jamaica, Spain, Brazil, and Russia. This truly organic technique shows how the world watched together as the building took shape, and will soon collectively See Foreverâ„¢.
Guests are invited to connect with One World Observatory on social media to access the latest news and information. One World Observatory is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube at @OneWorldNYC. Join the conversation by using #SeeForever.
Additional details on the One World Observatory experience will be released at a future date.
SEE FOREVERâ„¢
LINKS
“The Rise†video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbDBqIjIYko
“The Rise†video on website: http://www.oneworldobservatory.com/the-rise
Fly-through video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHdrnjx8O3s
Fly-through video on website: http://www.oneworldobservatory.com/experience
The official logo, renderings, RISE video, and fly-through are available for media download via FTP. Please contact us to request credentials.
© 2014 ONE WORLD OBSERVATORY
October 28, 2014
ONE WORLD OBSERVATORY READIES FOR EXPECTED SPRING 2015 OPENING
Observatory at Top of One World Trade Center Unveils Official Logo and Ticket Prices as Initial Introduction to the Highly Anticipated Space Begins
Tickets to be Available for Public Purchase in Early 2015
One World Observatory, the highly anticipated destination that will operate as the crown jewel atop One World Trade Center and is poised for a public opening in the Spring of 2015, today revealed insights on the inspired space, previewing details of the guest experience and unveiling an official logo and ticket pricing plan.
Positioned on top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, on levels 100, 101, and 102 of the One World Trade Center building, One World Observatory will provide unique, panoramic views of New York City, its most iconic sites, and surrounding waters. A customized guest experience will complement the seemingly endless views – which evoke feelings of the city’s signature pride, hope and determination – and include exhibits and dining options, including a sit-down restaurant.
As home to the Observatory, the towering silhouette of One World Trade Center rightly serves as the central image of the official logo. On the logo, the top portion of the building is outlined in multiple hues of the color blue, representative of the vast skyline that surrounds the space on all sides. Angles, reflections, strength and sky all combine in the mark to incite emotions of stability, balance and optimism.
“If any one image can symbolize New York’s eternal spirit and resiliency, it’s the sharp profile of One World Trade Center standing tall amid the city skyline, a beacon of enduring strength and optimism,†said David Checketts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Legends, operator of the Observatory. “This image, distinguishable around the world, is illustrative of the very nature of the experience we will be offering at One World Observatory, one that will invite guests to look far into New York and forward to the future.â€
Expected to open in the spring of 2015, One World Observatory will span 120,000 square feet, providing guests with spectacular views of New York City and the surrounding region from above 1,250 feet.
The experience will invite guests to explore all three levels, each equipped with the latest in innovative technology. Upon entry, guests will be greeted in the Welcome Center, where a large cutting-edge video board will display a personalized greeting in their native language. Guests will then proceed to a pre-show program, titled Voices of the Building that will incorporate first-person accounts describing the rise of One World Trade Center, and Foundations, which depicts and symbolizes the very bedrock upon which it stands. Visitors will board one of five dedicated elevators, termed Sky Pods, to ascend to the very top of the building in under 60 seconds. The elevators will feature three walls with floor-to-ceiling LED TVs, which will use immersive technology to display the rise and growth of New York City, simulating the skyline’s development through the present day.
The Sky Pod elevators, among the fastest in the world, will bring passengers directly to the See Forever™ Theater on the 102nd floor. The See Forever™ Theater will present a two-minute video presentation unlike any other, combining bird’s-eye imagery, time-lapse shots, and abstract textures and patterns to bring the unique rhythm and pulse of New York City to dramatic life in three dimensions.
The main observatory space on the 100th floor will include an interactive skyline “concierge†– City Pulse – that will connect guests closer to the landmarks and neighborhoods they observe across the city. Global ambassadors will be stationed at City Pulse to engage with guests, facilitate requests for more information and share stories of the city. Using gesture recognition technology, the ambassador—with the simple wave of a hand—will draw up relevant facts and real-time information on a circular band of display screens in front of the windows.
The 100th level also features the Sky Portal, where guests will be invited to step onto a 14-foot-wide circular disc in the floor for an unforgettable view (in live HD) of the city streets below.
One World Observatory will also offer three distinct dining options on the 101st floor available to guests with Observatory tickets, including seated fine dining to casual, on-the-go café fare, and a bar. Catering will be available on the 102nd floor, which will operate as a 9,300 square foot special event space with a maximum capacity of 330. The premier space will include floor-to-ceiling, uninterrupted views, high-end décor and an exclusive, customizable experience with a state-of-the-art sound system and HD projection capabilities.
A start-to-finish visual representation of the guest experience is depicted in the latest fly-through video, available for viewing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHdrnjx8O3s.
Admission tickets to One World Observatory will go on-sale in early 2015, at a future date to be determined. Price of admission will vary. Guest admission for adults ages 13-64 will be $32. Guest admission for children ages 6-12 will be $26, and guest admissions for seniors ages 65+ will be $30. Guests 5 and under will be admitted at no charge but must have a ticket to enter.
The Observatory will offer complimentary admission tickets to 9/11 family members and 9/11 rescue and recovery workers. Special discounts will be offered to active and retired members of the U.S. military. Complete details of these and other admission programs will be released at a later date.
Group rates, for 20 or more, will also be available to travel professionals, corporate groups, organizations, schools and camps. For more information on Group Sales, please visit www.oneworldobservatory.com/groups.
When released, tickets will be available for purchase online at www.oneworldobservatory.com. Once the venue is officially open, tickets will also be available for purchase at the box office. All tickets will be valid for a specific time and date.
Additionally, One World Observatory released today “The Rise†(available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbDBqIjIYko) a crowd-sourced video of one of the most highly anticipated, widely photographed construction sites of all time. This user-generated video documents the early stages of the building construction through its recent completion, composed entirely of preexisting Instagram photographs from users all over the world.
In total, 152 photos are featured, taken from 90 users around the world, including from the United States, Canada, France, Japan, Sweden, Ukraine, Jamaica, Spain, Brazil, and Russia. This truly organic technique shows how the world watched together as the building took shape, and will soon collectively See Foreverâ„¢.
Guests are invited to connect with One World Observatory on social media to access the latest news and information. One World Observatory is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube at @OneWorldNYC. Join the conversation by using #SeeForever.
Additional details on the One World Observatory experience will be released at a future date.
SEE FOREVERâ„¢
LINKS
“The Rise†video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbDBqIjIYko
“The Rise†video on website: http://www.oneworldobservatory.com/the-rise
Fly-through video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHdrnjx8O3s
Fly-through video on website: http://www.oneworldobservatory.com/experience
The official logo, renderings, RISE video, and fly-through are available for media download via FTP. Please contact us to request credentials.
© 2014 ONE WORLD OBSERVATORY
Attachments
Last edited:
jahvon09
Active Member
New York Times
November 3, 2014
1 World Trade Center, a Pillar of Resilience, Is Open for Business
By JAMES BARRON
More than 13 years after a terrorist attack destroyed the twin towers — soaring symbols of New York City’s might, financially and structurally — the first employees of the first tenant in the building erected to take their place arrived on Monday for their first workday.
“The building is open for business,†said Jordan Barowitz, an official of the Durst Organization, which developed the building, 1 World Trade Center, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “It’s a beautiful building, it’s a historic building, but it’s an office building and it’s open for business.â€
At 1,776 feet in height, the building is steps from where the north tower stood until Sept. 11, 2001. But where that sunny morning held a still-summery promise until the first jetliner lacerated 1 World Trade Center and smoke filled the jewel-blue sky, Monday was chilly and windy as employees of the magazine publisher Condé Nast arrived.
They walked under the lobby’s high ceilings, adorned in white marble from the same quarry as the old towers — one of the many details that will remind them that their new workplace has an unavoidable connection to that day, and to the pledges of renewal made by elected officials and ordinary citizens alike.
In the lobby of the new building. The lobby is adorned with white marble from the same quarry that produced the marble in the old twin towers.
There was an awareness, too, of apprehension, reinforced by the comedian Chris Rock on “Saturday Night Live†less than 36 hours earlier. Referring to 1 World Trade Center as the Freedom Tower, he said: “They should change the name from the Freedom Tower to the ‘Never Going in There Tower,’ because I’m never going in there. There is no circumstance that will ever get me in that building.â€
“I can understand the fear behind it,†said a Condé Nast employee, Vijay Ramcharitar, 25, whose new office is on the 21st floor.
But he was resolute about going to work. “If you live in fear,†he said, “you can’t get anything done in your life.†He called the building “an inspiration†and said it was “cool†to have a place there.
Margo Coble, 42, who works in marketing for Condé Nast, said her mother had mentioned that she was “a little bit nervous†about where Ms. Coble was going.
“I told her, ‘This is probably the safest building in New York,’ †Ms. Coble said.
Condé Nast’s chief executive, Charles H. Townsend, pulled up to the south entrance in a Mercedes-Benz limousine as his subordinates walked in. If they had arrived in cars with drivers, they could not have turned onto Vesey Street — retractable metal bollards have been installed in the pavement to block access.
They were up on Monday morning, and police officers had been posted around the building. And the employees who entered the Vesey Street door flashed an identification pass; they flashed it again when they reached the turnstiles that control access to the elevators.
Austin D. Parker, who works for an audiovisual installation company hired by Condé Nast, said employees had been steeped in security protocols and procedures. He said he had been given instruction in escape routes.
“At the beginning you start going, ‘What are you doing here?’ †he said. “Then you get to understand the building, and pay homage to its history.â€
The company’s arrival was an extraordinary moment that passed in the most ordinary of ways, as employees simply walked in and took elevators to their floors. There were no ribbons being cut, no marching bands playing and no elected officials giving speeches, in part because Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had campaign appearances elsewhere.
The view of Manhattan from the 102nd floor of 1 World Trade Center.
The workers are what the company calls corporate employees, meaning that they do not work for any one of its magazines in particular. Some work in human relations, some in accounting.
Glamour? It will come later, as will Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Condé Nast’s other magazines.
It was the culmination of 13 years of unusually public squabbles over architects and designs; of political jockeying and bureaucratic bickering; and of complicated construction work.
By Monday, 4,802 days had passed since the Sept. 11 attacks. At 8:46 a.m. — when the first plane slammed into the north face of the north tower in 2001 — 115,224 hours had gone by.
For many people in Lower Manhattan, Monday was the day to acknowledge the reknitting of the trade center site into the fabric of the city. At the sidewalk level, the area immediately around it had been off limits for so long that 1 World Trade remained somewhat remote, even as thousands of workers rushed by on their way to offices in the complex across nearby West Street that was known on Sept. 11 as the World Financial Center. (It is now called Brookfield Place.)
Construction on 1 World Trade Center began in 2006, and the statistics were monumental. The building’s exterior cladding contains enough glass to cover 20 pro football fields. The building has as much steel as in 20,000 cars and enough concrete for a four-inch-thick sidewalk from New York to Chicago.
The new building is steps from a memorial honoring those who died in the attacks. There is a museum with a large image of the twin towers in a window that tourists press their faces up against. Closer still is the north pool, which is ringed, above its 30-foot-deep water wall, with names of the victims.
But there are signs of the resurgence in Lower Manhattan: A banner on a building promotes condominiums on the top floors of a luxury hotel.
Condé Nast, which said in a statement that it was “proud to be a part of this important moment of renewal for the city,†is leasing 24 floors at 1 World Trade Center. The 175 employees who moved in on Monday were the first wave of the company’s work force.
If the first day in new quarters is about everyday questions — Is the commute longer or shorter? Is the coffee wagon on the corner any good? — the Condé Nast employees saw something familiar as they went to work. Near one of the entrances is a shop that sells magazines, with the Condé Nast titles on display.
The shop also sells sodas and snacks — and, for $24.99, something they could put on their desks as a reminder of where they are: a little model of their new building.
© 2014 The New York Times Company
November 3, 2014
1 World Trade Center, a Pillar of Resilience, Is Open for Business
By JAMES BARRON
More than 13 years after a terrorist attack destroyed the twin towers — soaring symbols of New York City’s might, financially and structurally — the first employees of the first tenant in the building erected to take their place arrived on Monday for their first workday.
“The building is open for business,†said Jordan Barowitz, an official of the Durst Organization, which developed the building, 1 World Trade Center, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “It’s a beautiful building, it’s a historic building, but it’s an office building and it’s open for business.â€
At 1,776 feet in height, the building is steps from where the north tower stood until Sept. 11, 2001. But where that sunny morning held a still-summery promise until the first jetliner lacerated 1 World Trade Center and smoke filled the jewel-blue sky, Monday was chilly and windy as employees of the magazine publisher Condé Nast arrived.
They walked under the lobby’s high ceilings, adorned in white marble from the same quarry as the old towers — one of the many details that will remind them that their new workplace has an unavoidable connection to that day, and to the pledges of renewal made by elected officials and ordinary citizens alike.
In the lobby of the new building. The lobby is adorned with white marble from the same quarry that produced the marble in the old twin towers.
There was an awareness, too, of apprehension, reinforced by the comedian Chris Rock on “Saturday Night Live†less than 36 hours earlier. Referring to 1 World Trade Center as the Freedom Tower, he said: “They should change the name from the Freedom Tower to the ‘Never Going in There Tower,’ because I’m never going in there. There is no circumstance that will ever get me in that building.â€
“I can understand the fear behind it,†said a Condé Nast employee, Vijay Ramcharitar, 25, whose new office is on the 21st floor.
But he was resolute about going to work. “If you live in fear,†he said, “you can’t get anything done in your life.†He called the building “an inspiration†and said it was “cool†to have a place there.
Margo Coble, 42, who works in marketing for Condé Nast, said her mother had mentioned that she was “a little bit nervous†about where Ms. Coble was going.
“I told her, ‘This is probably the safest building in New York,’ †Ms. Coble said.
Condé Nast’s chief executive, Charles H. Townsend, pulled up to the south entrance in a Mercedes-Benz limousine as his subordinates walked in. If they had arrived in cars with drivers, they could not have turned onto Vesey Street — retractable metal bollards have been installed in the pavement to block access.
They were up on Monday morning, and police officers had been posted around the building. And the employees who entered the Vesey Street door flashed an identification pass; they flashed it again when they reached the turnstiles that control access to the elevators.
Austin D. Parker, who works for an audiovisual installation company hired by Condé Nast, said employees had been steeped in security protocols and procedures. He said he had been given instruction in escape routes.
“At the beginning you start going, ‘What are you doing here?’ †he said. “Then you get to understand the building, and pay homage to its history.â€
The company’s arrival was an extraordinary moment that passed in the most ordinary of ways, as employees simply walked in and took elevators to their floors. There were no ribbons being cut, no marching bands playing and no elected officials giving speeches, in part because Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had campaign appearances elsewhere.
The view of Manhattan from the 102nd floor of 1 World Trade Center.
The workers are what the company calls corporate employees, meaning that they do not work for any one of its magazines in particular. Some work in human relations, some in accounting.
Glamour? It will come later, as will Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Condé Nast’s other magazines.
It was the culmination of 13 years of unusually public squabbles over architects and designs; of political jockeying and bureaucratic bickering; and of complicated construction work.
By Monday, 4,802 days had passed since the Sept. 11 attacks. At 8:46 a.m. — when the first plane slammed into the north face of the north tower in 2001 — 115,224 hours had gone by.
For many people in Lower Manhattan, Monday was the day to acknowledge the reknitting of the trade center site into the fabric of the city. At the sidewalk level, the area immediately around it had been off limits for so long that 1 World Trade remained somewhat remote, even as thousands of workers rushed by on their way to offices in the complex across nearby West Street that was known on Sept. 11 as the World Financial Center. (It is now called Brookfield Place.)
Construction on 1 World Trade Center began in 2006, and the statistics were monumental. The building’s exterior cladding contains enough glass to cover 20 pro football fields. The building has as much steel as in 20,000 cars and enough concrete for a four-inch-thick sidewalk from New York to Chicago.
The new building is steps from a memorial honoring those who died in the attacks. There is a museum with a large image of the twin towers in a window that tourists press their faces up against. Closer still is the north pool, which is ringed, above its 30-foot-deep water wall, with names of the victims.
But there are signs of the resurgence in Lower Manhattan: A banner on a building promotes condominiums on the top floors of a luxury hotel.
Condé Nast, which said in a statement that it was “proud to be a part of this important moment of renewal for the city,†is leasing 24 floors at 1 World Trade Center. The 175 employees who moved in on Monday were the first wave of the company’s work force.
If the first day in new quarters is about everyday questions — Is the commute longer or shorter? Is the coffee wagon on the corner any good? — the Condé Nast employees saw something familiar as they went to work. Near one of the entrances is a shop that sells magazines, with the Condé Nast titles on display.
The shop also sells sodas and snacks — and, for $24.99, something they could put on their desks as a reminder of where they are: a little model of their new building.
© 2014 The New York Times Company
Attachments
Last edited:
jahvon09
Active Member
That awful scribbled painting - what IS THAT!!!
I think they were better off putting a pic of the former Twin Towers there, instead!!!
I think they were better off putting a pic of the former Twin Towers there, instead!!!
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jahvon09
Active Member
New York Daily News
November 4, 2014
EXCLUSIVE: World Trade Center contractors repeatedly covered up dangerous conditions — sometimes cleaning up possible evidence
As the Daily News reported Sunday, dozens of serious accidents at the WTC site weren’t reported at all. But even when the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was told, investigators ran into roadblocks as they tried to figure out what led to the life-altering injuries.
BY GREG B. SMITH
The morning of Nov. 7, 2011, Brooklyn laborer Nick Giovinco fell 18 feet off a scaffold inside 3 World Trade Center, plummeting to the concrete.
His employer, Sorbara Construction Corp., blamed him, writing in an accident report, “Nick was climbing up the inside of shoring when he lost his grip and fell.â€
But records tell a different tale: Multiple witnesses said the tower was shaky, it wasn’t braced, and there was no ladder as required. Workers said it tipped just as the worker got to the top.
Giovinco — who suffered two fractured ribs and four lower lumbar fractures, and required six staples in his back and head — sued the Port Authority and general contractor Tishman Construction. The suit is pending.
Federal regulators ultimately cited Sorbara, of Lynbrook, L.I., for a lack of a ladder and issued a $7,000 fine. Sorbara settled for $5,000.
Giovinco’s ordeal was one of several cases during the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in which contractors tried to minimize or just plain cover up dangerous job conditions that led to serious injuries.
Since 2003, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued $431,795 in fines at the World Trade Center site.
That includes 47 inspections resulting in 121 citations against two dozen contractors for a variety of safety infractions, records show. Contractors paid just under $300,000 in settlements.
But as the Daily News reported Sunday, 34 of at least 81 serious incidents at the site weren’t reported to OSHA at all.
And even when OSHA was told, its investigators sometimes ran into roadblocks as they tried to figure out what led to injuries.
On June 1, 2010, carpenter Paul Giordano, 46, fell 35 feet while working on scaffolding at 1 WTC. He suffered two fractured ribs and a smashed left ankle and needed multiple surgeries that required rods and screws in his spine.
Nobody called OSHA. Instead, the feds learned of the incident the next day by reading the Daily News.
As OSHA started investigating, an inspector tried to set up a closing conference with Giordano’s employer, Collavino Construction. One phone number “just kept ringing,†and a second number “was no longer in service.†He finally got through and left messages.
“Nobody has responded to my calls,†he wrote, shortly before concluding that “fall protection was feasible but not provided by the employer.â€
OSHA hit Collavino with one citation and $4,000 in fines. Collavino paid the full amount.
Giordano sued general contractor Tishman, alleging the scaffolding wasn’t secure because crossbeams weren’t properly in place. The suit is pending.
Records also show contractors cleaning up accident scenes before inspectors arrive onsite.
In Giovinco’s case, Sorbara workers dismantled the scaffolding immediately after the accident. They said this was done to allow the FDNY access to the site, but the OSHA inspector’s report noted it only complicated his probe.
In January 2011, OSHA inspectors checking whether workers doing drilling were protected from excess noise and inhaling silica “were told that the employer changed the conditions of the site when it was announced that OSHA had arrived,†records show.
Later, one test found the noise level was 400% above the acceptable rate, and multiple workers were exposed to silica well above the acceptable limit.
One worker said respirator masks “were not providing him enough protection. After drilling, the employee would blow out the content dust left in the holes†of his mask.
Nicholson Construction was hit with five citations and $7,200 in fines. It reached a $6,600 settlement.
Tutor Perini Corp. was hit with 15 citations and $30,600 in fines. It paid $18,000.
In May 2012, OSHA investigated a worker who fell 10 feet at the WTC’s vehicle security center when plywood decking gave way. The OSHA report stated the inspector “tried to look at the plywood that fell with the employee, but the whole area was cleaned up and nobody knew anything.â€
OSHA ultimately hit Navillus construction with one citation and $6,930 in fines. Navillus agreed to pay $3,465. OSHA deemed the accident investigation the firm performed “inadequate.â€
Some contractors simply brushed off OSHA.
In May 2007 hardhat Steven Miller was working in the so-called “bathtub†with a crew spraying clay-like substance called bentonite when a hose separated from a coupler on the pump.
Multiple workers were sprayed with bentonite, but the metal hose end whip-tailed and smacked Miller in the head.
For months he lay in a coma with traumatic brain injuries. His doctors predicted he’d need medical care indefinitely. His mother, Joanne Miller, had to sign the petition supporting a lawsuit because her son was unable to do so.
Obstacles confronted Miller’s lawyers and OSHA.
The lawyers had to demand access to pump parts that were "removed, repaired or modified after the accident." The OSHA inspector reported a Kiewit site safety manager did not return his calls.
In the end, the suit was settled for an undisclosed sum and OSHA hit Kiewit with one violation and a $2,500 fine.
Miller made a miraculous comeback. Last week10/28 he received thunderous applause after recounting his journey at a Brain Injury Association of New York fundraising gala in Manhattan.
In March 2011, an inspector witnessed a Laquilla worker removing tarps on top of uncapped rebar spikes at 3 WTC, exposing himself to what OSHA termed “impalement hazards.â€
When the inspector began poking around, he was told he couldn’t talk to Laquilla’s site safety manager because he’d “scheduled a vacation.â€
Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New Yor, said his unions have “worked to ensure the safety of the 26,000 working men and women at the WTC site. Safety is always our number one priority at worksites across the city, and the WTC is no different. We are proud of our record at minimizing accidents on such a complex and large site and proud of the extraordinary accomplishment of our members in this historic rebuilding effort."
© Copyright 2014 NYDailyNews.com. All rights reserved.
November 4, 2014
EXCLUSIVE: World Trade Center contractors repeatedly covered up dangerous conditions — sometimes cleaning up possible evidence
As the Daily News reported Sunday, dozens of serious accidents at the WTC site weren’t reported at all. But even when the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was told, investigators ran into roadblocks as they tried to figure out what led to the life-altering injuries.
BY GREG B. SMITH
The morning of Nov. 7, 2011, Brooklyn laborer Nick Giovinco fell 18 feet off a scaffold inside 3 World Trade Center, plummeting to the concrete.
His employer, Sorbara Construction Corp., blamed him, writing in an accident report, “Nick was climbing up the inside of shoring when he lost his grip and fell.â€
But records tell a different tale: Multiple witnesses said the tower was shaky, it wasn’t braced, and there was no ladder as required. Workers said it tipped just as the worker got to the top.
Giovinco — who suffered two fractured ribs and four lower lumbar fractures, and required six staples in his back and head — sued the Port Authority and general contractor Tishman Construction. The suit is pending.
Federal regulators ultimately cited Sorbara, of Lynbrook, L.I., for a lack of a ladder and issued a $7,000 fine. Sorbara settled for $5,000.
Giovinco’s ordeal was one of several cases during the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in which contractors tried to minimize or just plain cover up dangerous job conditions that led to serious injuries.
Since 2003, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued $431,795 in fines at the World Trade Center site.
That includes 47 inspections resulting in 121 citations against two dozen contractors for a variety of safety infractions, records show. Contractors paid just under $300,000 in settlements.
But as the Daily News reported Sunday, 34 of at least 81 serious incidents at the site weren’t reported to OSHA at all.
And even when OSHA was told, its investigators sometimes ran into roadblocks as they tried to figure out what led to injuries.
On June 1, 2010, carpenter Paul Giordano, 46, fell 35 feet while working on scaffolding at 1 WTC. He suffered two fractured ribs and a smashed left ankle and needed multiple surgeries that required rods and screws in his spine.
Nobody called OSHA. Instead, the feds learned of the incident the next day by reading the Daily News.
As OSHA started investigating, an inspector tried to set up a closing conference with Giordano’s employer, Collavino Construction. One phone number “just kept ringing,†and a second number “was no longer in service.†He finally got through and left messages.
“Nobody has responded to my calls,†he wrote, shortly before concluding that “fall protection was feasible but not provided by the employer.â€
OSHA hit Collavino with one citation and $4,000 in fines. Collavino paid the full amount.
Giordano sued general contractor Tishman, alleging the scaffolding wasn’t secure because crossbeams weren’t properly in place. The suit is pending.
Records also show contractors cleaning up accident scenes before inspectors arrive onsite.
In Giovinco’s case, Sorbara workers dismantled the scaffolding immediately after the accident. They said this was done to allow the FDNY access to the site, but the OSHA inspector’s report noted it only complicated his probe.
In January 2011, OSHA inspectors checking whether workers doing drilling were protected from excess noise and inhaling silica “were told that the employer changed the conditions of the site when it was announced that OSHA had arrived,†records show.
Later, one test found the noise level was 400% above the acceptable rate, and multiple workers were exposed to silica well above the acceptable limit.
One worker said respirator masks “were not providing him enough protection. After drilling, the employee would blow out the content dust left in the holes†of his mask.
Nicholson Construction was hit with five citations and $7,200 in fines. It reached a $6,600 settlement.
Tutor Perini Corp. was hit with 15 citations and $30,600 in fines. It paid $18,000.
In May 2012, OSHA investigated a worker who fell 10 feet at the WTC’s vehicle security center when plywood decking gave way. The OSHA report stated the inspector “tried to look at the plywood that fell with the employee, but the whole area was cleaned up and nobody knew anything.â€
OSHA ultimately hit Navillus construction with one citation and $6,930 in fines. Navillus agreed to pay $3,465. OSHA deemed the accident investigation the firm performed “inadequate.â€
Some contractors simply brushed off OSHA.
In May 2007 hardhat Steven Miller was working in the so-called “bathtub†with a crew spraying clay-like substance called bentonite when a hose separated from a coupler on the pump.
Multiple workers were sprayed with bentonite, but the metal hose end whip-tailed and smacked Miller in the head.
For months he lay in a coma with traumatic brain injuries. His doctors predicted he’d need medical care indefinitely. His mother, Joanne Miller, had to sign the petition supporting a lawsuit because her son was unable to do so.
Obstacles confronted Miller’s lawyers and OSHA.
The lawyers had to demand access to pump parts that were "removed, repaired or modified after the accident." The OSHA inspector reported a Kiewit site safety manager did not return his calls.
In the end, the suit was settled for an undisclosed sum and OSHA hit Kiewit with one violation and a $2,500 fine.
Miller made a miraculous comeback. Last week10/28 he received thunderous applause after recounting his journey at a Brain Injury Association of New York fundraising gala in Manhattan.
In March 2011, an inspector witnessed a Laquilla worker removing tarps on top of uncapped rebar spikes at 3 WTC, exposing himself to what OSHA termed “impalement hazards.â€
When the inspector began poking around, he was told he couldn’t talk to Laquilla’s site safety manager because he’d “scheduled a vacation.â€
Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New Yor, said his unions have “worked to ensure the safety of the 26,000 working men and women at the WTC site. Safety is always our number one priority at worksites across the city, and the WTC is no different. We are proud of our record at minimizing accidents on such a complex and large site and proud of the extraordinary accomplishment of our members in this historic rebuilding effort."
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MetroMan
Senior Member
It's a beautiful building and good for New York for getting it completed despite all the obstacles over the years but I look at this picture and it still feels like this tower is missing its twin.
jahvon09
Active Member
jahvon09
Active Member
Scaffold mishap occurs at Freedom Tower!
A scaffold accident at One WTC nearly sent two window washers plummeting to their deaths!
Rescuers had worked frantically to save their lives, as they hung in the balance, clinging for dear life! Finally, fire workers had to cut through one of the 3-inch thick window pains to get at them and pull them in before the rig would have possibly let go and would have fallen to the street below.
Spectators on the street had watched in horror as the rescue attempt went on. A backup planned was also initiated, but was not needed.
This incident is the latest in what appears to be a seemingly rash of dangerous incidents that have occured at the site since construction on Towers 1 & 4 began back in '06 & '07!! Link below.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/12/worker-scaffold-one-world-trade/18915451/
A scaffold accident at One WTC nearly sent two window washers plummeting to their deaths!
Rescuers had worked frantically to save their lives, as they hung in the balance, clinging for dear life! Finally, fire workers had to cut through one of the 3-inch thick window pains to get at them and pull them in before the rig would have possibly let go and would have fallen to the street below.
Spectators on the street had watched in horror as the rescue attempt went on. A backup planned was also initiated, but was not needed.
This incident is the latest in what appears to be a seemingly rash of dangerous incidents that have occured at the site since construction on Towers 1 & 4 began back in '06 & '07!! Link below.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/12/worker-scaffold-one-world-trade/18915451/
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jahvon09
Active Member
One World Observatory will also offer three distinct dining options on the 101st floor available to guests with Observatory tickets, including seated fine dining to casual, on-the-go café fare, and a bar. Catering will be available on the 102nd floor, which will operate as a 9,300 square foot special event space with a maximum capacity of 330. The premier space will include floor-to-ceiling, uninterrupted views, high-end décor and an exclusive, customizable experience with a state-of-the-art sound system and HD projection capabilities.
The restaurant probably won't be as glitzy & elegant as the one for the former WOTW, but still, it should be nice!
The restaurant probably won't be as glitzy & elegant as the one for the former WOTW, but still, it should be nice!
jahvon09
Active Member
World Trade Center window washer gives his & his coworker's harrowing story;
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/11...se-of-one-world-trade-center-scaffold-mishap/
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/11...se-of-one-world-trade-center-scaffold-mishap/
FNTS
Active Member
Thank you jahvon09 for the updates!
jahvon09
Active Member
You welcome, buddy!!
jahvon09
Active Member
I wonder if the obs deck will feature telescopes that would allow visitors to clearly see parts of the city further.
Or at least, let them bring their own binoculars to do so!
Or at least, let them bring their own binoculars to do so!
New York | One World Trade Center