The Freedom Tower is no more.
Apparently, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey feels the name is not marketable. Personally, I find that hard to understand. I mean, if they called it Satan’s Tower, well, then maybe I could see the problem. But a building in the heart of New York called the Freedom Tower is difficult to market?
What will the new name be? One World Trade Center. It’s not just the address, but the name. Because that’s so much easier to market? One and Two World Trade Center were destroyed on September 11th, and repeatedly on news channels throughout the following months. They retire numbers from baseball players who have made an impact and passed on yet they don’t see a need to retire these numbers but rather reuse them?
I know. It’s just a name. And yet it’s not. It’s a symbol. It’s our landscape. It’s our first responders and other innocents. It’s our community and we fought to survive its destruction. We pay tribute there annually as a way to insure we never forget the lives lost and destruction. The “Freedom Tower” was supposed to stand above the rest as a beacon of freedom over terror.
But the name is not marketable.
Interestingly, there’s only one tenant signed on at the moment. A Chinese firm. I wonder if the Freedom moniker would have been dropped if the first lease holder were not a company from a communist country. Can’t help it. I have to wonder because the name means everything to the average New Yorker.
Who, by the way, will continue to call this building The Freedom Tower the same as we call Avenue of the Americas, Sixth Avenue.
It’s not defiance, really. It’s not a New York flip-off. It’s just New York pride and sentiment. Freedom was threatened that beautiful September day. Freedom has struggled to survive around the world since. And for New York, at least, Freedom will soar high above the city once again in the Freedom Tower which stands, as a tribute, on the ground of One World Trade Center.
Gosh, Debbie, I’m wondering why the Port Authority has authority to put their input into a marketable name.
Oh, that Port Authority. Yes, we lived on the right coast for many years. I had the displeasure of going through the Port Authority by bus when commuting from New Jersey to NYC. Every two months on the average, my purse was snatched within the confines. Practicality prevailed after having this experience twice, and I started carrying a near empty, cheap plastic decoy-bag. My perpetrators had the same routine– one person tripped me, and the other grabbed my purse.
I’m not American and yet Freedom Tower resonates with me. I’m sorry the powers that be have decided to not use it. Maybe we should all send in letters of protest. But of course, it’s money that matters not opinions. Sigh.
Linda
Wow, what’s more American than marketablity? I have to say that ‘Freedom Tower’ never resonated with me. Maybe it was the whole Freedom Fries debacle. What about something simple that would mean something to the world like the 9-11 Tower? Or 9-11 World Trade Center? What about The Peace Tower? I wonder how marketable any of these names would be. Whats the number for Port Authority…?
Debbie, while I understand where New Yorkers are coming from on this, at least I think I do, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Freedom Tower sounds great, but let’s face it, this building is, and always has been, about capitalism, not freedom. The new name is more honest, but I agree that the numbers one and two should have been retired after what happened on 9-11. I’m still not sure rebuilding is a good idea. I’d have rather seen the sight turned into a memorial, maybe called Freedom Plaza or something like that. But I’m not a New Yorker, so I don’t get a vote. So sorry this is upsetting to you.
Linda
The new tower at One World Trade has had an agonizing start and isn’t expected to be finished until 2013. The tower needs a distinguished name. The Freedom Tower does sound encompassing.
Here’s another blog about the name change:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-wellington-ennis/freedom-tower-screw-the-n_b_180393.html
You’ll have to cut and past the URL since I don’t think this will be a live link.
Linda