I get excited about news like this!

[billhu]

Construction Workers

 

Hey, I would not mind "overpaying" some construction workers to make up for their explotation! I can think of all sorts of ways for them to thank me. By the way Romann, according to yesterday's NY Times they have already closed the tower because of threats. This is why I do not understand NY's insistance on constructing the Liberty Tower - it will be everyone's target. EGO!

[AdamSmith]

The most amazing thing about the Empire State Bldg is it was built in just a very little over 1 year, a pace virtually unheard of today.

 

Documented in a fascinating book, Building the Empire State. From the Amazon blurb:

 

"A rediscovered 1930s notebook charts the construction of the Empire State Building. Constructed in eleven months, the 1250-foot Empire State Building, the world's tallest skyscraper from 1931 to 1971, was a marvel of modern engineering. The frame rose more than a story a day; no comparable building since has matched that rate of ascent. The construction of the Empire State Building was orchestrated by general contractors Starrett Brothers and Eken, premier "skyline builders" of the 1920s. They scheduled the delivery of materials and the construction and recorded daily the number of workers by trade. Compiled from these records, an in-house notebook documented the construction process. Meticulously typed on graph paper and illustrated with construction photographs, this unique document combines a professional specificity of detail with a charming rhapsody to the firm's crowning achievement."

 

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Empire-Norton-Architects-Designers/dp/0393730301/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

[+ deej]

This is why I do not understand NY's insistance on constructing the Liberty Tower - it will be everyone's target. EGO!

 

Follow the money. The original WTC was not built to be a marvel of engineering or a stylish addition to the skyline. (It was, in fact, highly controversial and regarded as ugly as hell when new.)

 

It was built to cram as many square feet of rentable office space onto a relatively small piece of real estate. That rentable office space is missing from the NYC economy right now and they need it back.