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| WTC Lobby |
More than 13 years after the original towers were
destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, New York's World Trade Center has re-opened for
business.
Employees at publishing giant Conde Nast are
starting to move into the 104-storey One World Trade Center.
The $3.8bn (£2.4bn) skyscraper took eight years to
build and is now the tallest building in the US.
It is 60% leased and the government's General
Services Administration has signed up for 275,000 square feet.
"The New York City skyline is whole
again," Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority, which owns
the restored site, said in a statement.
The 1,776ft (541m) tall skyscraper is at the center
of the site, which includes a memorial in the footprints of the old towers and
a museum, opened this year.
An observation deck at the top of the building will
eventually be open to the public.
Mr Foye added the building was "the most secure
office building in America".
TJ Gottesdiener of the Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill firm that produced the final design said the high-rise went beyond the
city's existing building code, and was built with steel-reinforced concrete.
About 170 of Conde Nast's employees will be moving
into the building this week, filling five floors. About 3,000 more employees
will join them in early 2015.
Space has also been leased to the advertising firm
Kids Creative, the GSA, and 191,000 sq ft for the China Center, a trade and
cultural space.
The new World Trade Center is the centerpiece of the
16-acre site where the twin towers once stood, before they came crashing down,
killing more than 2,700 people.
The new World Trade Center is a spectacular $1.4 billion
transport complex.
Nine subway lines converge at the site creating a vital link
between the newly-opened building and the rest of the city.
It is in a glass and steel shell with a soaring, light-filled
atrium, and has 66,000 square feet of retail and office space.
Port Authority director said New York City skyline is 'whole
again', as One World Trade Center takes its place.
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