Marriott World Trade Center | |
---|---|
Alternative names |
|
General information | |
Status | Destroyed |
Type | Hotel |
Location | World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York City |
Coordinates | 40°42′41″N74°00′50.5″W / 40.71139°N 74.014028°W |
Construction started | March 1979 |
Completed | July 1, 1981 |
Opening | April 1, 1981 |
Destroyed | September 11, 2001 |
Management | Host Marriott Corporation |
Height | |
Roof | 73.7 m (242 ft) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 22 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill [1] |
Developer | Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |
Structural engineer | Leslie E. Robertson Associates |
Main contractor | Tishman Construction |
The New York Marriott World Trade Center was a 22-story 825-room hotel within the original World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. Situated on the original Three World Trade Center (3 WTC), it opened in April 1981 as the Vista International Hotel and was the first major hotel to open in Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street since 1836. In November 1995, it was bought by Marriott Corporation and renamed the Marriott World Trade Center.
The hotel was damaged in the World Trade Center bombing by al-Qaeda terrorists on February 26, 1993. The city's Port Authority considered demolishing the building, but instead decided to repair it, reinforcing its structure. It re-opened in November 1994. In 2001, it was mostly destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers during the September 11 attacks by al-Qaeda. 43 people inside the building died: 41 firefighters and two guests. Only the southern end of the hotel was spared, and it was eventually demolished to make way for reconstruction. The hotel was not replaced as part of the new World Trade Center complex, although its address was reused for the tower at 175 Greenwich Street.
It was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in 1978–79. [2] The building was a 22-story steel-framed structure [3] with 825 rooms and six basement levels (labeled B1 through B6). [4] The hotel was connected to the North Tower via an underground entrance at concourse level, and a small pedestrian walkway that extended from the west promenade of the Marriott to the North Tower on plaza level.[ citation needed ]
The hotel also had 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) of meeting space on the entire third floor. It was considered a four-diamond hotel by the American Automobile Association (AAA). [5] It was meant for business travelers, who were offered translators and a reference library of 28 foreign-language dictionaries. The staff was also multilingual. [6] [7] The lobby was split between two levels, and was themed around the sea, featuring a golden sculpture of sails. [6] On the 22nd floor, there was a gym that was the largest of any hotel in New York City at the time, with a swimming pool and a running track with views of the Hudson River and the Austin J. Tobin Plaza. [8]
The pool was put near the top so the hotel could be flooded if a fire occurred. [9] The hotel featured two restaurants: The Tall Ships Bar and Grill, located at street-level, and the Greenhouse Café, a restaurant on the plaza level that featured a large skylight looking up at the North and South Tower. [10] Previously, another restaurant had operated called The American Harvest; however, it was removed following the bombing in 1993 and was renovated and remained as a rentable space called the Harvest Room. [11]
The hotel was first known as the Vista International Hotel, but also became known as World Trade Center 3 (WTC 3 or 3 WTC), the World Trade Center Hotel, the Vista Hotel, and the Marriott Hotel. [12] The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with construction beginning in March 1979. [13] It opened on April 1, 1981, with 100 of 825 rooms available, [14] and it was completed in July 1981. [15] The construction cost $70 million. It was planned and managed by Hilton International, but they could not use the Hilton name for the hotel because of an agreement with Hilton Hotels to not use the name in the U.S. [6] The Vista was the first major hotel to open in Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street since 1836. [14] [16] Shortly before the opening day of the hotel, a fire broke out on the 7th floor. [1]
The Vista was first under lease to WTC Hotel Associates of Chicago. [6] Kuo Hotel Corporation, based in Hong Kong, bought the hotel's leasehold in 1982. [17] The hotel was successful, creating a nightlife culture in the area and spurring development of more hotels in Lower Manhattan. [7] In 1989, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey bought the leasehold from Kuo for $78 million, but the operating rights remained in the hands of Hilton International as management agent. [18] [19]
On February 26, 1993, the hotel was seriously damaged as a result of the World Trade Center bombing. [20] Terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda took a Ryder truck loaded with 1,500 pounds (682 kilograms) of explosives and parked it in the North Tower parking garage below the hotel's ballroom. [20] They likely viewed this as the area where an explosion would cause the most structural damage. [21] At 12:18 p.m. (EDT), the explosion destroyed or seriously damaged the lower- and sub-levels of the World Trade Center complex. [20] The Marriot Financial Center, a hotel located two blocks west, [22] served as press conference area and a command post for the law enforcement response. [23]
The city's Port Authority considered demolishing the building for some time. The building was instead closed for 18 months while they worked on extensive repairs. Reinforcements to the hotel's structure, including the installation of "the largest steel beam ever put in a building to that point". [20] [21] [24] The hotel reopened on November 1, 1994. [20] On November 9, 1995, the hotel was sold to Host Marriott Corporation for $141.5 million. [19] It was renamed to the New York Marriott World Trade Center. [23] The new company managing the hotel started operations in January 1996. [25] [26] Security was increased at the hotel, but they were ineffective in the face of the attacks in September 2001. [23] In January 2001, 77 New York Police Department (NYPD) police cadets graduated in a ceremony held at the hotel. [27]
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes to crash into various targets in the U.S. [28] Two crashed into both of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, [28] which were located right next to the hotel. [29] 43 people in the hotel died from the attacks, [30] out of the roughly 2,753 people who died in New York City from the attacks. [31] 41 firefighters died, along with two hotel employees who assisted them with evacuating guests. [21] [24] [30] 11 guests were never identified, and it is not known if they died in the building or elsewhere in the World Trade Center complex. [23] [32] LDS Living claimed "most likely they were in the main towers attending business meetings or shopping." [33] 14 people survived both collapses from inside the building. [21]
On the 11th, the hotel had 940 registered guests. [32] The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) was holding its yearly conference at the hotel from September 8 to 11, 2001. [34] In addition, the hotel was planned to host the Law School Admission Council's New York City Law School Forum – a law school recruiting event – on September 14 and 15. The council was expecting 4,000 students to attend, from 160 schools. About 11 people who were planning to go to the forum were scheduled to check in to the hotel on September 11, but did not make it there before the attacks started. [29]
When American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower (1 WTC) at 8:46 a.m. EDT, its landing gear fell and crashed through the roof into an office next to the 22nd-floor pool, [21] [23] [32] breaking the glass above the restaurant and forcing people to duck under furniture. [35] The whole building shook, and parts of it caught on fire. Alarms went off throughout the building, and its phones and elevators shut down. [21] [23] [36] [37] The freight elevator still worked, however. [37] Security guards escorted out the group attending the NABE conference. [38] The hotel's intercom told guests to be calm and stay in their rooms. [39]
Firefighters reported human remains and corpses on the roof, from people who fell or jumped from the south face of the North Tower. [32] At least ten firefighter companies used the lobby as a staging area; [21] it is possible that many or all of the companies were not sent there, but instead got lost amidst the evacuation of the towers. [32]
United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower (2 WTC) at 9:03 a.m. [28] [32] Some fire companies evacuated guests that were on the upper floors, being followed by elevator mechanic Robert Graff and two employees with master keys: [32] Joseph Keller, the hotel's executive housekeeper, and Abdul Malahi, an audiovisual technician assisting with the law school forum who was the only civilian Arab that died on 9/11. [29] [40] The evacuation effort was led by Keller, Richard Fetter (the hotel's resident manager), and Nancy Castillo (human resources head at Marriot World Trade Center and Marriott Financial Center). [23] Fetter attempted to get a new version of the hotel registry, but their computer system had shut down, so he found the most recently-printed copy and a set of emergency phone numbers. [23] [32]
People who were escaping the tower crashes, especially the North Tower, also stopped at the hotel; these people numbered at a thousand or more. This is in part due to a door at the north face of the building, facing the North Tower. The people in the lobby moved away from the North Tower, walking south through the hotel, until they reached the Tall Ships Bar and Grill, which opened onto Liberty Street. A police officer stood at the exit, stopping civilians from crossing the street whenever debris was falling. [23] [24]
The collapse of the South Tower at 9:59 a.m. crushed the middle of the building, creating a large gap that nearly split the hotel in half. [9] [32] [41] The lobby was filled with debris, [32] but nonetheless acted as a shield for firemen, police, and hotel staff, due to its reinforcements after the bombing. [24] Abdul Malahi was killed. [29] Before the collapse, there were seven firemen from Engine Company No. 74 in the middle of the hotel on the 21st floor, four of whom died. [32] [42] Around 17 people in the evacuation effort were still alive on the 3rd and 4th floors; three firefighters on these floors went upstairs to find a fireman who was radioing a mayday signal, Michael Brennan. [32] On the half of the building that was nearer the South Tower, three civilians and two firemen trapped on the 3rd floor escaped to a reception room on the 2nd floor by crawling through an opening in a wall on an I-beam, which probably fell from the tower. [21] [29] [42] In the lobby, firefighters began exiting the building to get reinforcements. Joseph Keller and Fire Lieutenant Bob Nagel were trapped by debris, and the other firefighters began trying to cut away the debris around them using saws. While this happened, the North Tower collapsed. [32]
The collapse of the North Tower at 10:28 destroyed the rest of the hotel, aside from a small section surrounding the southern stairwell. [23] [29] [32] This section would have collapsed if not for the reinforcements made after the 1993 bombing. [21] There were 14 survivors trapped in this section, on the 2nd floor; this included 13 firemen from Company 74 and hotel guest Frank Razzano, who had evacuated from his 19th-floor room. The group found a hole in the building, and threaded either a rug or drape through it, then climbed down onto a pile of debris. [21] [23] [29] Keller and the three firefighters who went to rescue Michael Brennan died from the second collapse. [32] Six men from the Brooklyn Heights Ladder 118 fire company (including Scott Davidson, father of celebrity Pete Davidson) died from the collapse, after saving around 900 people. [43] [44] [45] All the firemen still in the lobby escaped, and Richard Fetter survived. [32]
Bill Marriott, the businessman who owned the hotel, delivered a speech to his employees on the 20th, where he thanked them for their work on the 11th, and announced they would be employed until at least October 5, and covered by the hotel's health insurance for a year. [23] The guests staying at the Marriott World Trade Center and the Marriott Financial Center, which was also damaged during the attacks, were sent to seven other Marriott hotels in the city. At those locations, security was increased and cancellation fees were waived. [22]
In January 2002, the remnants of the hotel were dismantled to make way for reconstruction.[ citation needed ] The Marriott Corporation was then offered an opportunity to rebuild the hotel in the same location within the World Trade Center site, as its lease which was signed until 2094 had not expired. Marriott declined the offer, and in October 2003, the Port Authority voted on an agreement under which the Host Marriott Corporation would "surrender the premises", resulting in termination of the lease and thus giving the land to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. [1] Marriott thus did not have to fulfill its obligation to rebuild the hotel. [30]
In August 2002, the FBI found what is possibly the only uninterrupted audio recording of both plane crashes into the World Trade Center, recorded by a conversation two men were having at the outdoor cafe of the hotel. One man was a city tax assessor who had allegedly been taking bribes, and the other was tax consultant Stephen McArdle, who was cooperating with an FBI investigation on the assessor by wearing a hidden wiretap which recorded their conversation to an audio tape. Both men survived, as well as the two FBI agents monitoring the wiretap. [46] [47]
On the afternoon of the attacks, photographer Thomas E. Franklin captured the now-iconic image Raising the Flag at Ground Zero , depicting the U.S. flag being raised by firefighters upon a flagpole believed to have been Marriott property located on what remained of the hotel grounds. [48] A Marriott flag that was found in the rubble in December was displayed in a glass case for the next few months, honoring the hotel's employees with the plaque: "Our Spirit to Serve From sacrifice . . . honor From adversity . . . resolve From grief . . . remembrance". [23] The flag was eventually received by the 9/11 museum. [23]
The Ladder 118 firetruck was recovered from Ground Zero within days of the attack, and their tools were recovered two months later. A photo of the firetruck, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to get to the World Trade Center after the second plane crash, became an iconic image of 9/11. It was taken by Aaron McLamb from his 10th-floor workplace in Brooklyn, who brought the photo to the firehouse a week later. It was then published on the front page of the New York Daily News for October 15, 2001. [44] [49] Pete Davidson loosely based the 2020 film The King of Staten Island on his father's service on 9/11. [50]
The building and its survivors were featured in the television special documentary film Hotel Ground Zero , which premiered on September 11, 2009, on the History Channel. [51] Some survivors only found out after watching the documentary that others they had met during the attacks were still alive. [52] The survivors have reunited near or at the hotel site multiple times. [21] [41] [52] As of 2011, there was a "Marriott Hotel 9/11 memorial group" that helps survivors get in contact with each other. [35] In 2013, there was charity run in the area to honor Ruben Correa, a firefighter who died as a part of the group on the 21st floor. [32] [41]
The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center elicited a large response of local emergency and rescue personnel to assist in the evacuation of the two towers, resulting in a large loss of the same personnel when the towers collapsed. After the attacks, the media termed the World Trade Center site "Ground Zero", while rescue personnel referred to it as "the Pile".
The original One World Trade Center was one of the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center complex in New York City. It was completed in 1972, stood at a height of 1,368 feet (417 m), and was the tallest building in the world until 1973, when surpassed by the Willis Tower in Chicago.
The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north, the West Side Highway to the west, Liberty Street to the south, and Church Street to the east. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) owns the site's land. The original World Trade Center complex stood on the site until it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
7 World Trade Center is an office building constructed as part of the new World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on a city block bounded by Greenwich, Vesey, Washington, and Barclay Streets on the east, south, west, and north, respectively. 7 World Trade Center was developed by Larry Silverstein, who holds a ground lease for the site from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City, was destroyed on September 11, 2001, as a result of al-Qaeda's terror attacks. Two commercial airliners hijacked by terrorists were deliberately flown into the Twin Towers of the complex, resulting in a total progressive collapse that killed almost 3,000 people. It was the deadliest and costliest building collapse in history.
6 World Trade Center was a seven-story building in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It opened in 1974 and was the building in the World Trade Center complex that had the fewest stories. The building served as the U.S. Customs House for New York. It was demolished in late 2001 due to the damage sustained by the collapse of the North Tower during the September 11 attacks. Its site is now the location of the new One World Trade Center and the Perelman Performing Arts Center.
The Deutsche Bank Building was a 39-story office building located at 130 Liberty Street in Manhattan, New York City, adjacent to the World Trade Center site. The building opened in 1974 and closed following the September 11 attacks in 2001, due to contamination that spread from the collapse of the South Tower. The structure was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, which also designed the Empire State Building.
One World Trade Center, also known as One WTC and Freedom Tower, is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the seventh-tallest in the world. The supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site, on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center. It is bounded by West Street to the west, Vesey Street to the north, Fulton Street to the south, and Washington Street to the east.
5 World Trade Center is a planned skyscraper at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The site is across Liberty Street, to the south of the main 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site. In February 2021, it was announced the new 5 World Trade Center will be developed in a joint venture between Silverstein Properties and Brookfield Properties. The proposed building shares its name with the original 5 World Trade Center, which was heavily damaged as a result of the collapse of the North Tower during the September 11 attacks and was later demolished.
4 World Trade Center is a skyscraper constructed as part of the new World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on Greenwich Street at the southeastern corner of the World Trade Center site. Fumihiko Maki designed the 978 ft-tall (298 m) building. It houses the headquarters of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).
3 World Trade Center is a skyscraper constructed as part of the new World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on Greenwich Street along the eastern side of the World Trade Center site. The building was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and is managed by Silverstein Properties through a ground lease with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the landowner. It is 1,079 ft (329 m) high, with 80 stories. As of 2023, it is the ninth-tallest building in the city.
The original Two World Trade Center was one of the Twin Towers in the original World Trade Center Complex in New York City. The Tower was completed and opened in 1973 at a height of 1,362 feet (415 m) to the roof, distinguishable from its twin, the North Tower, by the absence of a television antenna. On the 107th floor of this building was a popular tourist attraction called "Top of the World Trade Center Observatories," and on the roof was an outdoor observation deck accessible to the public and a disused helipad at the center. The address of this building was 2 World Trade Center, with the WTC complex having its own ZIP code of 10048.
The September 11 attacks were the deadliest terrorist attacks in human history, causing the deaths of 2,996 people, including 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers who committed murder–suicide. Thousands more were injured, and long-term health effects have arisen as a consequence of the attacks. New York City took the brunt of the death toll when the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan were attacked, with an estimated 1,600 victims from the North Tower and around a thousand from the South Tower. Two hundred miles southwest in Arlington County, Virginia, another 125 were killed in the Pentagon. The remaining 265 fatalities included the ninety-two passengers and crew of American Airlines Flight 11, the sixty-five aboard United Airlines Flight 175, the sixty-four on American Airlines Flight 77 and the forty-four who boarded United Airlines Flight 93. The attack on the World Trade Center's North Tower alone made the September 11 attacks the deadliest act of terrorism in human history.
Hotel Ground Zero is an American television documentary special that premiered on September 11, 2009 on the History Channel, marking the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The program features the overshadowed story of the Marriott World Trade Center on the day of the attacks, resulting in its destruction caused by the collapse of the adjacent South Tower followed by the North Tower, as told by people who had escaped from the hotel.
2 World Trade Center is a skyscraper being developed as part of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. It will replace the original 2 World Trade Center, which was completed as part of the first World Trade Center in 1973 and subsequently destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001, and it will occupy the position of the original 5 World Trade Center. The foundation work was completed in 2013, though no construction has taken place since.
The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Built primarily between 1966 and 1975, it was dedicated on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001. At the time of their completion, the 110-story-tall Twin Towers, including the original 1 World Trade Center at 1,368 feet (417 m), and 2 World Trade Center at 1,362 feet (415.1 m), were the tallest buildings in the world; they were also the tallest twin skyscrapers in the world until 1996, when the Petronas Towers opened. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center, 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space and, prior to its completion, was projected to accommodate an estimated 130,000 people.
The World Trade Center (WTC) is a complex of buildings in Lower Manhattan, New York City, replacing the original seven buildings on the same site that were destroyed during the September 11 attacks of 2001. The site is being redeveloped with up to six skyscrapers, four of which have been finished as of 2024; A memorial and museum is at the new plaza; which is the elevated Liberty Park adjacent to the site, containing the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and the Vehicular Security Center; the Perelman Performing Arts Center; and a transportation hub. The 104-story One World Trade Center, being the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, is the lead building for the new complex.
The original 4 World Trade Center, also known as the Southeast Plaza Building, was a nine-story, 118 ft -tall building at the southeast corner of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Completed in 1975, the building was designed by Minoru Yamasaki and Emery Roth & Sons. On September 11, 2001, the building was heavily damaged as a result of attacks carried out by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda, and was later demolished. Its site is now the location of 3 World Trade Center and the new 4 World Trade Center.
7 World Trade Center, colloquially known as Building 7 or the Salomon Brothers Building, was an office building constructed as part of the original World Trade Center Complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower was located on a city block bounded by West Broadway, Vesey Street, Washington Street, and Barclay Street on the east, south, west, and north, respectively. It was developed by Larry Silverstein, who held a ground lease for the site from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and designed by Emery Roth & Sons. It was destroyed during the September 11 attacks.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Marriott operated the hotel from 1996 until the attacks on September 11, 2001.