On June 11, 2018, New York City saw yet another symbol of resilience open. The 80-story 3 World Trade Center celebrated its official ribbon cutting, making it the latest skyscraper to rise around the former site of the Twin Towers and the city’s fifth-tallest building.
I was only four when the September 11th attacks happened and can remember small parts of that day. I have grown up in this era of rebuilding, so seeing the second-to-last tower be completed was inspirational. This building and its neighbors that surround the 9/11 National Memorial are a source of hope, a show of the power of unity.
The ribbon cutting was a celebration and a reminder of how far Manhattan has come since the September 11th, 2001 attacks. Each of the speakers, from the developer of this and several other World Trade buildings, Larry Silverstein, to Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney to Kelly Clark, the CEO of GroupM Global discussed the importance of rebuilding and the spirit of resilience the city has felt since the attacks. I listened as each one remarked that after the tragedy it initially seemed unlikely or impossible to rebuild. To me, it was yet another example of how a dark day in history gave way to so many people working together.
The building itself seems futuristic with a huge, sunlight lobby surrounded by glass panels and features a bright art mural on one of its sides. I could really feel it was an adequate symbol for what the dignitaries were trying to convey. Where there once was ash, darkness and crumpled steel here, now there is shimmering glass acting as a towering testament to the determination of a city and nation. The lobby looks out on the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum, allowing the past and present to seamlessly blend together.
The renaissance of Lower Manhattan continues and the opening of 3 World Trade offers an important lesson found in the Silverstein Properties’ motto for the event: “Passion led us here.” And today this event showed that New York certainly has that passion. Walking past these buildings in the future, people will look up and admire these real-life examples of how a city rebounds after a devastating shock.
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Raymond Arke InternRaymond Arke, currently a summer intern at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, is a Political Science Major with a minor in Journalism at Duquesne University. He is passionate about history and politics, and will be the editor-in-chief of The Duquesne Duke, his student newspaper.
