TOP 10 What I Did In New York This Summer #3

3. One World Observatory (opened 29th of May 2015)

While I was planning my trip, I hadn’t been even opened yet.

One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the USA, and for that matter, the entire western hemisphere. The skyscraper ranks third tallest in the world, behind Mecca’s Makkah Royal Clock Tower, which measures some 1,972 ft (601 m) tall, and Dubai’s mammoth 2,717 ft (828 m) Burj Khalifa.

Building Facts

  • Opened October 2014
  • Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (David M. Childs)
  • Tallest of new WTC Complex
  • 104 Stories / 1776 feet high
  • 3 million rentable square feet of space
  • 55 foot high office lobby
  • 54 High-speed destination dispatch passenger elevators
  • Life-safety systems far exceed NYC building code
  • Bound by West, Fulton, Washington and Vesey Streets
  • 55% leased to tenants including Condé Nast


One World Trade Center is the new icon of New York’s skyline and the most recognized and desirable office address in the world.

There are places available

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Watch this amazing video. According to EarthCam’s YouTube page, the team cut together hundreds of thousands of high-definition images captured between October 2004 and Memorial Day 2015 to produce the stunning two-minute video of the building rising into the sky.

One World Observatory on the upper floors of New York City’s new One World Trade Center building opened to visitors May 29. There are absolutely new views to Manhattan from the top floors. Visitors can walk around the floors to see different views – from the southern Battery to uptown and beyond.

I was afraid of huge lines as to Empire State building but there was almost no line at all.

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The Main Observatory on the building’s 100th floor offers an “interactive skyline concierge” that helps to explain what landmarks and neighborhoods you’re seeing from on high. Here you can step onto a 14-foot-wide disc called the Sky Portal to look directly down and see what’s 1,250 feet below.

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Even the elevators (called Sky Pods) that whisk you up to the top are decked out with high-tech walls that re-create the city’s skyline from the 1600s to today. So interesting but very very fast just 60 seconds. I felt ear pressure when we were lifting up and down.

I found elevator video on YouTube and was happy to watch it again without a mess.

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The See Forever Theater on the 102nd floor shows a two-minute video of aerial views of the city.

What was really new – The Statue of Liberty and all those small and big ships.

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A view of New York City from over 381 m (1,250 ft) high

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#2 TOP 10 What I Did In New York This SummerExploring The High Line  – most original urban park in America
#1 of TOP 10 What I Did in New York This Summer – sunrise on Manhattan’s fire escapes stairs

I would recommend this book about how it was built.

One World Trade Center (How Did They Build That?)