Officials gathered on Nov. 13 to celebrate the opening of 4 World Trade Center, the first office tower to be completed on the original W.TC. site.
The 977-foot, 72-story building at 150 Greenwich St. contains about 2.3 million square feet of office space, about a quarter of which will become the new headquarters of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
“With the 12 years of controversy and construction behind us, this opening shows how we’re knitting the new World Trade Center into this incredible part of the city,” said W.T.C. Developer Larry Silverstein at a ribbon cutting event that day. “And as more and more of these buildings come on line, we move closer to our collective vision of a new World Trade Center as the heart of a unique live-work community.”
The newly completed tower will also include retail shops, both at street level and in underground pedestrian concourses that lead to the nearby subway lines and PATH trains. The retail will open in late 2014 or early 2015, according to Silverstein Properties.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also attended the Nov. 13 opening, called 4 W.T.C. a “testament to the strength and resiliency of New Yorkers.”
And Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said that the opening was “the next chapter in the greatest comeback story ever told.”
Other attendees at the ribbon cutting included Howard Glaser, a top aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Comptroller John Liu, Manhattan Borough President (and Comptroller-elect) Scott Stringer, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Councilmember Margaret Chin and 4 W.T.C. architect Fumihiko Maki.
In addition to the new Port Authority headquarters, about 600,000 square feet at 4 W.T.C. will be occupied by the City — leaving about half of the building still to be leased to commercial tenants.
—Sam Spokony
