The World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center opened in New York City in 1973. The most famous part of the complex of buildings was the Twin Towers. They were named because there were almost exactly the same. The only difference is that one had a tall antenna on the top.
When they were built, the 1,368-foot tall buildings were the tallest in the world. Such tall buildings needed a way for people to travel in them. The towers had 95 elevators in total. Visitors used to travel to the 107th and 110th floors, where there were observation decks from which one could see the entire city and New Jersey. Inside there were offices, shops, a hotel, and on the top floor of one of the towers there was a restaurant called “Windows on the World”. The restaurant even hosted a salsa night on Thursdays. A number of subway lines ran underneath the towers. The World Trade Center Complex, with a total of seven buildings, was so large that it had its own zip code. In 1974 a French man walked a tightrope between the twin towers.
The World Trade Center survived a bombing in 1993. The skyline and spirit of New York City were changed after September 11, 2001. That morning, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. At first the top floors of the buildings were in flames. Soon they came tumbling down, covering lower Manhattan in hot metal and ash. A total of 2,753 people died. For weeks the air smelled of burnt metal and plastic. It took eight months for the site to be cleaned. Years later, The World Trade Center is rebuilding. There is a new tower, called the Freedom Tower. There is also a memorial and museum to honor those who died in the 2001 attack.
