Freedom is so passe at Ground Zero.Since a Chinese firm is the first tenant, maybe they should call it "Yuan World Trade Center". Would that be more marketable?
Once hailed as a beacon of rebirth in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the Freedom Tower's patriotic name has been swapped out for the more marketable One World Trade Center, officials at the Port Authority conceded today.
But more than seven years after the terror attacks and amid an effort to market the iconic tower to international tenants, sentiment gave way to practicality.
"As we market the building, we will ensure that the building is presented in the best possible way," said Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia.
"One World Trade center is its address. It's the address that we're using. Its on the one that's easiest for people to identify with and frankly we've gotten a very interested and warm reception to it."
Port Authority officials addressed the name change after signing a lease with the Chinese firm, Vantone Industrial, which is the first private tenant to take space in the 2.6 million square foot tower. Vantone will lease 190,000 square feet over six floors.
And of course, you can understand why something with "Freedom" in the name would be a problem for the Chinese.
The redesign and rebuilding of this site has been poorly handled from the start. When I visited Ground Zero (can we still call it that?) in 2007 it was still just a big hole in the ground nearly six years after the attack (can we still say 'attack'?). There's been too much griping and arguing and not enough building. I would have sent a much stronger message to the terrorists of the world if we'd gotten right to it and had that site rebuilt within 3 or 4 years.
Of course, I always liked Jerry Seinfeld's design idea. He envisioned four buildings, roughly designed like a closed fist, with the middle building substantially taller than the rest. That would have sent a real message to the bad guys.
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