UP, UP & AWAY: A spire adorned with the American flag is hoisted to the top of 1 World Trade Center yesterday as ironworkers watch from below. (Getty Images)
TIP OF THE CAP: A crane eases the spire- standing 408 feet tall and weighing 758 tons – onto a perch atop 1 World Trade Center after a long ascent yesterday. Once installed, it will bring the tower’s total height to a symbolic 1,776 feet. (
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Old Glory flew proudly above lower Manhattan yesterday as the flag-draped final piece of 1 World Trade Center soared to the top of the building and signaled the massive tower’s rise from the ashes of 9/11 is nearly complete.
The spire, which will make the skyscraper exactly 1,776 feet tall, was delicately hoisted by construction workers into a sky as clear and blue as it had been the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Yesterday’s milestone also came on the second anniversary of the SEAL team raid that took out Osama bin Laden.
The work crews beamed with pride and cheered as they watched the dramatic climax to a decade of work at the WTC site.
“Everybody put a lot of proud work into this building,” said ironworker Michael O’Reilly, 38. “This is our city. This is our building. We put it back up.”
Port Authority officials said the spire’s final piece will sit atop a platform until weather conditions allow workers to perform the final installation in the next few weeks
The tower’s symbolic height of 1,776 feet — a nod to the nation’s birth year — will make it a candidate to be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third tallest in the world.
“It will give a tremendous indication to people around the entire region, and the world, that we’re back and better than ever,” said Steven Plate, who is overseeing construction at the site.
“It’s not just a construction site,” he added. “It’s truly a mission for all of us.”
The 408-foot spire is composed of 18 parts and weighs 758 tons.
It will be equipped with a high-powered LED light that will be seen for miles and will be used as an aircraft-warning beacon. It will also serve as a transmitter for broadcasting television and radio waves.
“It feels great to be a part of history,” said ironworker Tom Hickey, 31, whose father worked on the original World Trade Center’s north tower. “It feels amazing.”
The spire was originally intended to be installed on Monday but the date was pushed back because of weather.
That delay proved to be serendipitous, as the rescheduled date fell on the anniversary of the day bin Laden was killed by Navy SEAL Team 6 during a daring raid on his compound in Pakistan in 2011.
“I’m just filled with pride. It’s a great day to be an American,” said ironworker John Dardia, 47.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s great to see this piece of the puzzle going up,” he added.
“It’s a very happy day. It’s a great building, and I hope it stands forever. I don’t want to see anything happen to this one.”
For elevator constructor James Barrows, 48, yesterday’s celebration was both joyous and sad.
“Being on this site, putting your heart and blood and sweat into [the project], it’s sad to see it come to an end,” he added.
Building experts still dispute whether 1 World Trade Center — fondly called the Freedom Tower — will dethrone Chicago’s Willis Tower as the tallest building.
It all comes down to whether the spire will be considered an antenna because of its broadcasting capabilities — an important distinction for measuring a building’s height.
The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which referees claims over building heights, usually considers antennae as removable — while spires are parts of a building’s structure.
The group is yet to review 1 World Trade Center and its claim.
The tower, which is slated to open in 2014, is one of four skyscrapers being built on the site of the destroyed Twin Towers.
It currently ranks seventh in a list of the world’s tallest buildings under construction.
The tallest building in the world will soon be Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower, a 3,280-foot behemoth — twice the height of 1 World Trade Center.