Square One at Ground Zero
Remember how much everyone loved Daniel Libeskind's World Trade Center master plan back when he first unveiled it? Yeah, well, fuck of a lot of good it's doing Dan now, as he lies curled up in a ball at developer Larry Silverstein's feet. Today's Post:
It's back to the drawing board for the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero.
Gov. Pataki yesterday ordered up a complete redesign of the planned signature skyscraper in the wake of Police Department warnings about security risks.
The move is a major reversal of Pataki's promise to move rapidly to restore lower Manhattan's skyline with an "iconic" post-9/11 tower that would be the world's tallest building and a symbol of liberty.
Officials familiar with the decision say a new design by architect David Childs is expected within several weeks and will include a building that will rise 1,776 feet, like the original proposal from April 2003, but otherwise will "look a lot different."
Pataki's announcement followed a meeting yesterday with Mayor Bloomberg, the Police Department, developer Larry Silverstein and officials from the Port Authority and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.
After the meeting, Childs knocked Libeskind's hip, blocky glasses to the floor and slowly crushed them under his sensible Brooks Brothers lace-up. JO
