Westfield World Trade Center

Coordinates: 40°42′40.58″N 74°0′42.84″W / 40.7112722°N 74.0119000°W / 40.7112722; -74.0119000

Westfield World Trade Center
Location Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Address World Trade Center, Manhattan, NY 10007, United States
Opening date c. 1970 (original mall)
August 16, 2016 (second mall)
Developer Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Westfield Corporation
Management Westfield Corporation
Owner Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
No. of stores and services 150+
No. of floors 2 below site + 4 above-grade at 4 World Trade Center. 3 World Trade Center and 2 World Trade Center will each have 3 above-grade when completed.
Parking Vehicular Security Center
Website wtc.westfield.com
Map of the original mall prior to its destruction on September 11, 2001.
The mall damaged by the collapse of the towers.

Westfield World Trade Center is a shopping center at the World Trade Center complex which is operated and managed by Westfield Corporation. The mall opened on August 16, 2016. It replaces an earlier shopping center called The Mall at the World Trade Center, which was located in the concourse area of the original World Trade Center until it was destroyed on September 11, 2001.

Original mall (1970–2001)

Prior to 9/11, the mall had been leased to the Westfield Group by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the owner of the complex. Westfield intended to rename the mall Westfield Shoppingtown World Trade Center, and embark on a major expansion and renovation program. Plans called for the addition of 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) of new mall space and a few well-known sit-down restaurants. This renovation never happened due to its destruction.

September 11 attacks

A commonly reported story of eyewitnesses inside the mall at the moment in which the American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower is of fireballs fed by flaming jet fuel shooting down the elevator shafts and bursting out at the lobby. Many fireballs reached as far as the mall itself.

As stated in the 9/11 Commission Report:

"The Port Authority's on-site commanding police officer was standing in the concourse when a fireball exploded out of the North Tower lobby, causing him to dive for cover."[1]

Survivor Allison Summers described the conditions in the mall right after the terrorist attack:

"I had almost reached the [Cortlandt Street] Uptown 1 and 9 station when there was an enormous explosion. The building shook. I heard people say, 'Oh, no.' Some, not many, were screaming. ... I looked ahead past Banana Republic, past Citibank to the plaza outside. At that moment, there was a terrifying tidal wave of smoke filling the doorway. It began to shoot forward. The smoke had this enormous momentum that started to come towards us, as if it had a will of its own. We ran. We ran together past the Coach store. We ran to get out of the path of this enormous wave of smoke. It was like we were being chased. All the people on the concourse ran. We turned right, heading toward the PATH trains. As we ran, shop assistants were calling in doorways, 'What happened? What happened?' But we were running so fast we couldn't answer them and they ran with us. Some people were crying; some people were screaming. We moved as one body. No one pushed and no one shoved. We all had the same intention: to get out of the building."[2]

Shortly after the first impact, water began spraying into the mall from the broken or activated sprinklers. As Erik Ronningen describes,

"I drag my body down through the decimated main lobby [of the North Tower], through a waterfall from the Mall ceiling, and wade the darkened Mall corridor through 75 yards [69 m] of ankle-deep water to Tower Two."[3]

New mall

The second Mall at the World Trade Center has roughly 365,000 square feet (33,900 m2) of retail space, which will once again make it the largest shopping mall in Manhattan. Although the new mall is only spread over roughly one half of the original mall's footprint (due to the new space required for the below-grade National September 11 Memorial & Museum), the mall is double-level, whereas the original mall was a single level. Three additional levels are above-grade on the lower floors of 2 World Trade Center and 3 World Trade Center, while 4 World Trade Center houses four above-grade levels. The World Trade Center PATH station's headhouse, the "Oculus," also hosts some retail space.[4]

According to developer Larry Silverstein (whose firm Silverstein Properties was replaced by Westfield Corporation as the developer):

"The design we have developed with the Port Authority calls for not only rebuilding the retail space that was lost on 9/11, but going above and beyond what was there before. We want to create a real destination for visitors and shoppers, a center that will share many of the attributes of the city’s great retail hubs."[4]

Construction on the One World Trade Center portion of the mall began in mid-2007. By February 2012, Westfield entered into an agreement with the Port Authority, which owns the rest of the World Trade Center site, to jointly own and manage the mall, which will be named Westfield World Trade Center. At the same time, Westfield began marketing space in the mall and opened a leasing office in the new 7 World Trade Center.[5] In December 2013, the Port Authority sold its remaining stake in the retail development to Westfield.[6] This also brings retail at the World Trade Center to Westfield's complete control. The mall was 80% leased as of June 2014.[7]

The mall opened on August 16, 2016, with a concert headlined by John Legend and Leslie Odom Jr.,[8][9] and the opening of a food court[10] and stores such as Pandora[11] and Apple.[9] In total, there were sixty stores in the mall when it opened.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Emergency Preparedness and Response
  2. ↑ "New York Metro - World Trade Center Attack". Nymag.com. 2002-09-11. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  3. ↑ "Be well. Practice big medicine". Bigmedicine.ca. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  4. 1 2 "Retail || About the WTC || World Trade Center ||". Wtc.com. Retrieved 2012-12-16.
  5. ↑ Coleman, Steve. "WORLD-CLASS RETAIL COMING TO WORLD TRADE CENTER UNDER JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN PORT AUTHORITY & WESTFIELD GROUP". Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "PORT AUTHORITY SELLS REMAINING INTEREST IN THE WORLD TRADE CENTER RETAIL PROJECT TO THE WESTFIELD GROUP". Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  7. ↑ Keiko Morris (8 June 2014). "Westfield's Underground Mall at World Trade Center Draws Marquee Retailers". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Rogers, Katie (2016-08-17). "John Legend Performs at Westfield World Trade Center Opening". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  9. 1 2 3 Kirby, Jen (2016-08-16). "Here's a Look at the World Trade Center Mall That's Reopening Today". Daily Intelligencer. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  10. ↑ Diez, Patty (2016-08-17). "Westfield World Trade Center Mall Now Open With New Dining Options". Eater NY. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  11. ↑ "PANDORA Jewelry Opens New Store at Westfield World Trade Center". Yahoo Finance. 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
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