You know, for all that man's vast fortune, you think he could afford a decent hairpiece.

oh yeah, work....still basking in the glory of my 15 minutes of fame....

Nearly anything would be better than those overly-intellectualized p.o.s. designs that were submitted.

But I agree with Trump. This is what we do, this is how we say it. We're back, and we're the biggest baddest dog on the block.

Only the Donald can cut through the bullshit and get it done on reasonable time scale.

And he'll sell the shit out of it.

LET TRUMP BE TRUMP!
He'd have those suckers up and humming in no time flat. Pataki and his monkeys aren't going to get anything done the way they are going.

Go, Trump!

No real opinion on the guy, though he kind of comes across like a bit of a jerk, but I'm with him 100% on this. I'm glad he's drawing attention to this issue in a way that few other people could. Pretty much every design I've seen for a replacement has made me feel queasy. Do we really want some smaller, weaker, less functional structure?

When Trump starts talking about making it mostly the same but bigger, stronger, and a bit cooler-looking, to me that's very inspiring.

MEMO

Re: WTC
From: The Donald
To: Daniel Libeskind
CC: Governor George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg

You're FIRED, motherfuckers.

***

Go Trump!

He'd damned well better sell the shit out of it. Since the U.N. is crying about needing more space, I'd let him take a crack at that. It would be good for the area too, with all kinds of goofy looking diplomats walking around and maybe some sloe-eyed babes with weird accents, too.

YES!

Put the towers back and show those fuckers they didn't win.

And fire the Eurotrash asshole that designed that freaking piece of shit they almost built.

If he pulls this off, I'll never say another bad thing about him. Umm... except his hair. That's fair game.

I like the idea, but who would work there? Even among those who think 9-11 won't happen again there will be a good percentage who will have family go nuclear at the thought of mommy/daddy or a spouse working in the towers. And can you imagine what it would cost to insure them again? We can't make them assholes-flying-planes-into-them-proof, so we have to consider something like 9-11 might be tried again. Would there be better stairways? Do we put parachutes in the upper floors so we don't have to watch people falling hundreds of feet to their deaths? What would the message be if we spent the billions of dollars to build the things, but couldn't get anyone to move in?
Now, don't get me wrong...I'd love to see the towers go back up, but it's pretty damn unlikely I'll ever work in or under the things. Not due to physical concerns, but because my ass is planted firmly in Ohio. I also don't want to dampen anyones spirits. It be great see the Manhattan skyline restored. But though I've seen numerous posts on the emotional reasons to rebuild the towers, I've seen precious few on the rational reasons to rebuild the towers. I hope the rational reasons are plentiful and solid, but I've yet to see them.

Personally, I've always been partial to this proposal:

http://www.acagle.net/images/newwtc.jpg

>though he kind of comes across like a bit of a jerk,

So does NYC. Perfect fit.

POP QUIZ:

NYC is to America:
a) as Trump is to television
b) as Trump is to gold leaf
c) as Trump is to real estate
d) as Trump is to NYC

O/T

Hey Ace, Warren Bell finally gave you a link in the corner for Shadow Media.

Its about time somebody recognized you're not just warming your ass with that brain of yours.

Hah! Yes, it's good to get linked by NRO. It's better than the cocoa-butter h@ndjob Norman Mailer gave me last night.

At least I think it was Norman Mailer.

I can't prove it was Norman Mailer as opposed to a three-toothed Laotian whore I paid in kimchee nuts, but we have to ask "Who benefited from this?"

As we both did -- I got off; Norman Mailer got to touch the schlong of a writer who is currently relevant -- I'd say that's proof he gave me some handlove.

Hell yeah. That's what I've thought since 9/12/01.

ace, that comment needed to be a post.

Grade-A classic ace, that comment. Grade-A Jumbo

Grade A homogenized?

You forgot brawnier and more versatilier

I like the idea, but who would work there?

I would. And New Yorkers are super-tough and fearless, right?

We can't make them assholes-flying-planes-into-them-proof, so we have to consider something like 9-11 might be tried again.

We can't? Why not? I think we can definitely make them sturdy enough to withstand a plane hit. Yes, obviously people would die near the point of impact, but the towers would not collapse. There are a lot of people that think the towers should not have collapsed and that many other buildings would not have collapsed.

Would there be better stairways? Do we put parachutes in the upper floors so we don't have to watch people falling hundreds of feet to their deaths?

Sure, better stairways would be great. Parachutes in the upper floors? Hey, why not, probably wouldn't cost that much.

What would the message be if we spent the billions of dollars to build the things, but couldn't get anyone to move in?

The message would be that at least we tried instead of cowering in the skeletal shadow of a tinkly-glassed capitulation to terrorist threats.

But though I've seen numerous posts on the emotional reasons to rebuild the towers, I've seen precious few on the rational reasons to rebuild the towers. I hope the rational reasons are plentiful and solid, but I've yet to see them.

Rational and emotional reasons aren't always in conflict. Inspiring people can be a rational goal.

I'd work there, I'd live there, I'd eat at the goddamned restaurant, I'd play the fucking slots three times a month if he puts casinos in them.

Brainy, what do you do when you fall off the horse?

This would beat all the other proposals I've seen all to hell. As had been said before, Trump may be a jerk, but he gets shit done and he is right about this.

Ace,

Nat Hentoff is on fucking fire.

I canna believe my eyes.

I like the idea, but who would work there?

I used to work in a law firm at One Chase Manhattan, a couple of blocks from the towers. My work took me on a fairly regular basis to Sage, Gray, a firm up on the 97th floor of WTC One.

If Trump rebuilds the towers, every time I'm in New York I'll ride the elevators back up to the 97th floor, even if there's nothing up there but some unspeakably vulgar lavatories with gold-leaf fixtures and flocked wallpaper. Knowing Trump, that might be part of the package, but as long as he puts the towers back up I'll go along with it.

Oh hell yeah.

Trump is exactly right: THIS is how you rebuild the twin towers - not some halfassed, weepy, why-do-they-hate-us Eurocommittee abortion. I christen them the "FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCKS" Towers.

If The Donald succeeds in this, I won't just stop making fun of him... I will put on an evening dress, change my name to Tatiana, hitchhike to Mara Lago, and let him take me up the tailpipe. But I'll still expect a nice diamond.

Iowahawk:

I assume you meant "abortion" in the negative sense . . .

There was a lot of talk right after 9/11 about rebuilding and putting a mosque on top of it to prevent a subsequent attack. I guess that idea has probably fallen along the wayside, given how much reluctance we've seen the IslamoNutters express in Iraq over blowing up religious buildings. Still, it was a cool idea.

At night, the new buildings should have their lights turned on in a pattern that says: "Get your dick out of that sheep, Osama!" from top to bottom. Now, THAT would be cool, and in your face.

"Fuck you" is not enough to justify this plan. Its a mistake. Forget artsy memorials or defiant structures and just let silverstein build whatever there is a real demand for downtown. I don't know how many of the "fuck you" people worked or lived downtown. Not many I wager.

I asked my daughter if she would work there and she said (and I quote) "If Bush were President, yeah."

You guys are shilling for donald effing trump. quite possibly the dirtiest man in america. wow.

*shakes head*

Hate to sprinkle just a leetle cold water, but:
There's a lot of talk about how we should do this "just to show them." Well, by the time the new one is finished, "them" should all be f'n DEAD.

slickdpdx

Whether of not you see the significance to rebuilding the WTC bigger the terrorists do. To build the memorial would send a signal all over the globe that America can be beaten by a few dedicated fanatics. There'll be plenty of tenants at the right price, and if it doesn't make a profit right away who cares? And what do you give a shit about the "vacancy" anyway? FUCK YOU send just the right message! SO FUCK YOU!

You go, Donald. You pull this off and you are king fucking stud of the universe.

As for making the towers "plane proof": put a CIWS on top of each one.

Completely agree with the fuck you sentiment, and that's what we'd have if we built them back, but still... those two things are the most boring possible objects in mathematics. Bland, drab slabs.

C'mon. Can't architecture get it's head out of it's ass? Isn't there one single guy who's got balls enough not to cater to the grad school/fetish-of-ugly 'high art' opinion set? Where's our damn Howard Roark? It ain't Trump. He's right bout the 'build it bigger,' but can't we built a new wonder of the world? Can't we built something that'll inspire, make us suck in our breath and say 'man can achieve greatness.'

quiggs

Doesn't mean a thing, they'll be others and you know it, sounds like you're grasping at straws here. Why? I'd really like to know.

I agree with Ray Midge. I can see the appeal of rebuilding them and the "F--- you" factor, but couldn't you get something more awe-inspiring and unique? Something ahead of the curve in skyscraper-construction? Of course, as a non-NYC resident, it's up to y'all.

And yes, put a missle battery on top of them.

He's right bout the 'build it bigger,' but can't we built a new wonder of the world? Can't we built something that'll inspire, make us suck in our breath and say 'man can achieve greatness.'

Agreed, but perhaps it's more important to get on with it instead of debating endlessly about what should be done. I don't think Trump is the man for the job either, but whatever it'll take to get it done or at least started (lest Liberals find a way to hold it up or stop it).

"Well, by the time the new one is finished, "them" should all be f'n DEAD."

Yeah, but it'll be a reminder to the next twisted fuck-off to think twice about it.

It's good to see there are people willing to put their asses on the line for their principles. I'd like to think I'd go to work on the roof every day just to flip OBL and his merry bunch of a-holes the finger, but it would be easy for me to say, because I know I'd probably never have to back it up. That was my point, I guess. I know there will be a lot of people who will willingly, even proudly, work in the towers just to thumb their noses at terrorists. But I know just as certainly that there will be cowards who won't go near the place, as well as some who won't be able to because of the emotional responses they will invoke. And no matter how much support and bravado people expouse in the blogosphere, that won't necessarilly translate into people actually backing it up by moving into the towers. I hope they get built. I'd take my family to the observation deck if I got the chance. But I also want to make sure they are planned correctly, the consequences are thought out and the economic model is sound.
As an aside, I hadn't read the whole article Ace linked to. The Donald has said the stairways would be addressed. He also said the towers would be able to withstand the 9-11 attacks. The structures might stand if it happened, but there would still be a lot of carnage due to the inevitable fireball. Knowing the towers would stand wouldn't be much comfort to me as I was standing in a flaming ball of jet fuel. The point being that we can't eliminate the risks, so there will always be some people who will stay away. Hopefully the number of those people is small enough that the towers will still be viable.

Look, you take a risk getting out of bed in the morning (for those who get out that is) and getting through rush hour is a lot more dangerous than a possible attack on a skyscraper.
Besides there has been tremendous advancement in fire suppression technologies since the 70's.

With the Towers destroyed, the Empire State Building became the next major NYC landmark tempting terrorists.

Which is another good reason to rebuild the WTC: to keep the ESB (the real gem) from being the primary target...

Which is another good reason to rebuild the WTC: to keep the ESB (the real gem) from being the primary target...

Ooooooh...tricky!

Well, credit Trump with one thing. He is a master of blowing smoke to get free publicity for himself on a par with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton...

For those that feel it imperative to pay taxpayer-milked billions to build replicates (Only Bigger!!!) of buildings that never worked out economically in the 1st place. To those that say we must because unless we say "Fuck You", JDAM bombs dropped on their heads nonwithstanding....or The Terrorists Win! The Terrorists Win!!

Let me ask you this.

Is the next step on your grand "Fuck You" strategy to get the taxpayers to build new toy and textile factories? Because even if they lose money, the rationale can be applied....We MUST. Or China wins! China wins!! New toy and textile factories could be a symbol of our defiance!

I can see the appeal of rebuilding them and the "F--- you" factor, but couldn't you get something more awe-inspiring and unique?

I said in another comment thread they could modernize within the former monolithic shapes. IOW, do the Eddie Van Halen guitar stripes on these towers. That way, you give a nod to the art critics.

Hey Cedaford, why else do you think we're trying to fuck up the Chinese economy by de-pegging the yuan?

You guys are shilling for donald effing trump. quite possibly the dirtiest man in america. wow.

FatKid, I think Patton once said something like, "When you're at war, you call on the bastards."

Here goes:

I had a buddy who asked me to contact another buddy of mine to see if the first buddy could get a job at Cantor Fitzgerald, so I did and he got the job. I used to ask him how he could work in those buildings, way at the top too. I'd go over there for demonstrations or for drinks at Windows and I couldn't bear it. It's just unnaturally high.

Did you know it swayed in strong winds? That on cloudy days--and there are many up there--you can't see a damn thing? I mean, it's easy to say you'd work there if you never would have the chance, but the place was spooky before this thing happened.

Anyway, the last time I was up there was about May '01, and Cantor was buying the drinks and passing around tasty little shrimps and stuff but I left, and I told my buddy I was leaving in case he wanted to come along for drinks elsewhere. But he stayed. He was a smoker and he used to go nuts up there, too.

Sept. 11 he called me at about 8:40 AM to try to write some tickets. I tried calling him as soon as I felt the impact and looked out the window but there was no answer, obviously. I think he probably died at impact--I hope he did. I can't bear to think he was up there frightened and scorched.

My primary concern is that there would not be demand for this much space no matter where or what it was. But I'm not going to tell you I'd work there since I am tough and angry at Islamo-kooks or some shit. I wouldn't then and I won't now, and if my friends who died that day are looking down at me shaking their heads at what a pussy I am, I'll bet you anything one of them's saying Yeah, but he's a smart pussy.

And instead of a capping ceremony, save the last unkilled fuck -- preferably bin Laden -- for celebratory roof-chuck.

"Bland?" Bahh. Read "The Fountainhead" again. Roark is a classic Modernist -- a less-is-more rational voice against grandiosity and sentimentality in architecture. He was supposedly based on FL Wright, but a closer analog is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (the closest Wright ever got to a "skyscraper" is the Guggenheim or the 7-story Johnson Wax building in Racine, WI).

The new towers in the picture are perfect: unapologetic, muscular, Modernist. Not to mention inescapably American. They don't need any gewgaws or dressing up to make the point. I only hope Trump doesn't slather the insides with his typical vulgar chintz.

Sponge, it flat out won't happen again.

"Read "The Fountainhead" again"

I love you, 'hawk, but frankly I'd rather put out my eyes with broken glass.

Pssh, you're just pissed off we might buy some of the construction materials from the Jews.

That was to Cedarford, damn my slow commenting.

Now, I think the towers are beautiful, although I never really did before Sept 11. I can only imagine seeing them on the skyline again, and how fucking spectacular that would be.

As for UBL, he should go into the foundation Jimmy Hoffa style, but (?) still alive. In a box so the concrete doesn't smother him. And an air tube so he doesn't suffocate.

Spongeworthy - I think you and I went drinking about a month later when you told me about that. Still gives me willies.

I was in NY with my wife on 8/25/01 (her birthday) and we took some pics on the WTC roof. Don't like looking at them because they piss me off.

Megan - reading Ayn Rand is like being trapped in an elevator car with a Jehovah's Witness.

Nah, Iowahawk's got the right idea - chuck UBL off the top, like Elliot Ness does to Frank Nitti at the end of "The Untouchables." Only he should land head-first in a dump truck full of chitlins, instead of a 1929 Model A.

This article was featured on CNN's blog bit. Judy Woodruff rolled it into a discussion of how many bloggers are anonymous and if there are any "rules" against it. The girls seemed to give the right answers and quoted you. Woodruff seemed undeterred.

Your credibility questioned by a CNN anchor, heh...

Don't ask me why I was watching CNN.

That was me. First post after months of lurking and I blew it and left my name off. Of course, that isn't my real name so I'm not to be trusted anyhow.

Let Trump rebuild the Twin Towers, but with the United Nations as the anchor tenant. The UN should occupy Floors 80-115 in each tower, which provides them space equal to that at their current site. This addresses one of the biggest issues with rebuilding the Twin Towers to restore the NY skyline – namely, the perceived difficulty of renting out the upper floors of the towers. The General Assembly Hall and other large meeting spaces would be placed on the same site, in different buildings.

From their lofty perch, they can ponder the very real (and now personal) consequences of not dealing with militant Islam. In addition, it can only be a good thing if all UN diplomats and employees head to work every day at the same site where the world’s greatest terrorist attack occurred. It should help focus their minds a bit on their organization’s reason for existence. Having the UN as the lead tenant should also help protect the rebuilt Towers: attacking the Towers in the future would unarguably be an attack on the entire world, not just the US. Maybe add a mosque or two on the top of the towers, for an additional prophylactic effect.

Stop the current wasteful UN renovation process ($1.2B) at Turtle Bay immediately. After the UN vacates, sell the complex to a private developer like Trump who can renovate and rent the buildings.

Hawk, et al: My earlier mention of Roark wasn't a longing for his style. Frankly, I wouldn't know what it was. Never read the book. Saw the Cooper movie, though. Wacky. (Patricia Neal was pretty hot in her day.) And FWIW, Wright did actually build a hi-rise, though not a skyscaper. It's in Tulsa or some such. Still standing.

My Roark comment was more a desire for a singular vision to come in and take it over. (Group consensus is anti-great anyway, just gonna get a 'least offenseive to the most' design out of that.) Someone, a man of his own, strong enough they aren't tied down to the 'beauty is meaningless/facile' mindset that thoroughly infects high culture's arbiters, sneeringly derides what the masses find inspirational as 'tacky/pretty.' No, it has to be jarring or 'challenging' (code words for unpleasant to look at) to earn praise.

Screw that. Just saying man has a common, perhaps wired in sense of beauty/awe. Like to see something that sings to that. Those two towers? Cold, boring geometry. To me, anyway.

This is what I have wanted all along, and who better than Trump to champion the idea. He is a jerk. An asshole. A New Yorker -- and exactly what we need.

Way back when everybody under the sun was submitting "ideas" for the site, I kept thinking to myself, why not rebuild it? Just make it bigger and better...and don't call it the Freedom Tower.

It is the WORLD TRADE CENTER. Don't ever forget it.

Terrorists have been lusting to knock it down for decades not because it symboloizes our freedom, but because it symbolizes our strength and success. If they hated our freedom, they would have flown a jet into the Statue of Libery.

So let's build it back up right in their faces, and maybe they will learn something about our spirit as New Yorkers and Americans.

Yes. Build it back.
Even the foul 70's vibe it gave off. I want it to be ugly and American enough to make Europeans grimace and sneer and deride the ugliness that fucking dwarfs them like the tiny irrelevant ants they are.

Let it be bigger and better. I don't even mind Trump's tacky-ass decor. Let him have it, and let it be red white and freakin' blue throughout, baby.

Cedarford, you're completely insane, you know that? And not in a good way.

Spankings have proven to do no good.
The time has come to STARVE it.

Ace,

Do you think it would be going overboard if you had a toilet on the top of one tower, and a Koran at the top of the other? ;)

I'd like to see the towers form a giant middle finger, pointing toward the ME.

You betcha. Build em back. that is the only answer to the world.

Hey Megan that made my day!!!

I worked in the towers one summer, my husband was downtown when it happened (going to his job a few blocks away), his godfather worked for Cantor but was late the only time in his entire life that morning (voting in a primary, apparently).

I do want to send a message to the terrorists but... everyone seemed to hate the towers before 9/11. The majority opinion, including intellectuals and those who lived and worked there, always seemd to be that the towers and the space around them did not represent the best in urban design and planning.

The height of the towers didn't scare me but I found them to be ugly and draining.

Also, fear factor aside, even before 9/11 there were difficulties filling the tower... downtown was losing some of its allure as a place to house your business.

Since that time, a lot of business pulled out of downtown and out of Manhattan. I don't think patriotism is going to be enough to uproot them again.

I'm not a big fan of the current "intellectual" design but I'm not sure rebuilding the towers is right for downtown, Manhattan, or the US, either.

Also, as far as sending the message, I'm not sure the terrorists ever get the same message we think we are sending.

We should worry less about what the terrorists think and more about what our economic needs are at the moment.

To Build Future, Rebuild the Past.
Go Trump, go America.

from an italian blogger

TO HELL WITH THAT STUPID, INSIPID , SCRAWNEY, NEEDLEDICK DESIGN!! ... PLEASE LISTEN TO 'TRUMP'!
NEW YORK CITY IS THE 'TWIN TOWERS' AND THE 'TWIN TOWERS' ARE NEW YORK CITY, AN AMERICAN LANDMARK FOR ALL "AMERICANS"!

WHAT WOULD BE WRONG, IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE TOWERS FROM FUTURE AIRPLANE ATTACKS, TO INSTALL ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILE DEFENSE SISTEM RIGHT ON TOP OF THE TOWERS AND ANY THREATENING PLANE COULD BE SHOT DOWN BEFORE IT REACHED THE TOWERS?
I AM SURPRISED NO ONE HAD THIS THOUGHT. THINK ABOUT IT. ANY LOSS RESULTING FROM FALLING PLANE DEBRIS AND THE LOSS OF LIFE OF THE PLANE PASSENGERS (WHICH WOULD BE LOST ANYWAY) WOULD BE HECK OF A LOT LESS THAN LOSS WE AS A NATION SUFFERED AFTER 9/11. I'D SAY BUILD THEM AGAIN AND PROTECT THEM LIKE A MILITARY TARGET AND MOST OF THE WORRIES PEOPLE HAVE NOW WOULD EVAPORATE.

We should rebuild the towers and add one. To show the world we are back and more powerful.

I cant think of a better way to show our strength than to rebuild the twin towers.. show them that if they destroy something, we are going to rebuild it bigger and better.

p. s. the freedom tower is ass.

Branko--

Maybe we should build two smaller ones and the middle one larger. Interpret as you will. I can think of at least three ways.

Most people in this forum are thinking too much about the terrorists and war instead of thinking of all the people who lost their loved ones. I believe that seeing the same towers again would bring at least one person in your country to tears, and that is too much. There has been enough tears shed. The current design for the Freedom tower is a piece of shit but only because two architects with very different ideas had to try and work together. Let one or the other design it and tell the other to fuck off. Also leave trump to do his TV show, which is the only good thing he is doing these days.

rebuild the towers, it shoud already been started...and while were at it, i want a set in every state! ( for more "fuck you" value) GO WITH TRUMP FOR THE REBUILD BUT MORE OF THE MARTHA STEWART LOOK FOR THE INSIDE!!!

Rebuild rebuild rebuild-its brilliant-show them-

If we don't rebuild the towers we let the monsters who brought them down win.

Let Trump Rebuild them!

Was this the right choice of word?

I suspect that there are a lot of people who will jump at the chance to relocate in the rebuilt Towers. Almost certainly more than enough to make the project economically viable.

Live here, work here, born here. I'd live on the top floor, flocked wallpaper and all. Build it!

Id live there in a heartbeat if I could afford it. Id even take of time from work to help build it. And I love that idea with the sea-whiz on top!

Sign the petition at MakeNYNYagain.com
I think the whole country has a say on this!
But, byw, is a sea-whiz? Or maybe I should'nt ask.