A Greek tourist on vacation in New York City beat out nearly 1,000 applicants by taking the best photograph of One World Trade Center in a contest sponsored by the Port Authority.
Vlasios Rafailidis, of Greece, received 13,785 votes in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s One World Trade Center Facebook page contest that was held from July 29 through August 25 and featured entries through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Close behind him were William Duffy, of Queens, with 12,221 votes and Flip Michalowski, of Stamford, CT, with 11,203 votes.
The winners, along with two friends each, will be given a private tour of One World Trade Center, although they have to pay for their own travel arrangements, the PA said.
“As a kid growing up in Queens, I watched the Twin Towers rise into the skyline and on September 11, 2001 when the towers came down, I cried like every New Yorker on the tragic day,” Duffy told the PA.
The one-month contest attracted nearly 1,000 photos and received approximately 75,000 votes by viewers assessing the new building from a variety of vantage points, including the ground, air, boats and from across the river in New Jersey, the PA said.
One WTC stands a symbolic 1,776 feet high and is the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere.