Manhattan Skyline

The changing face of the Manhattan skyline. In 1996, the North and South towers of the World Trade Center dominated the skyline. The twin towers could be seen from miles away and they were a symbol of financial strength. They were an iconic structure and had been featured in numerous films as well as appearing in many television shows, cartoons, comic books, video games and music videos. Portions of Godspell were filmed at the top of the World Trade Center as the building was nearing completion. A sequence in the Robert Redford movie The Hot Rock filmed in Summer 1971 featured shots of a helicopter flying around the partially uncompleted towers (where you can actually see inside the construction at one point), The final scene of the 1976 film King Kong took place at the World Trade Center instead of the Empire State Building where the scene had taken place in the original film. The 1983 film Trading Places was filmed outside the WTC, as well as on the New York Board of Trade floor at 4 WTC. Using a glider, Snake Plissken lands on the top of WTC 1 in the 1981 film Escape from New York.

The events surrounding the September 11 attacks were portrayed in several documentaries and movies, including two major motion pictures made in 2006: Oliver Stone's World Trade Center and Paul Greengrass' United 93. Several movies released shortly after 9/11 digitally erased the Twin Towers from skyline shots; one such was Spider-Man. As of 2008, most networks airing reruns of popular television shows have chosen to leave the Twin Towers alone such as in establishing shots in Friends and in episodes of The Simpsons. Shots of the World Trade Center were removed from both of the opening sequences of HBO's Sex and The City and The Sopranos in episodes produced after the destruction of the buildings as a mark of respect for the victims of 9/11.

In November 2001, the LMDC held a competition to solicit possible designs for the World Trade Center site. The Memory Foundations design by Daniel Libeskind was chosen as the master plan for the World Trade Center site. The plan included the 1,776-foot (541 m) Freedom Tower (now known as One World Trade Center) as well as a memorial and a number of other office towers. Out of the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition, a design by Michael Arad and Peter Walker entitled Reflecting Absence was selected in January 2004. On March 13, 2006, workers arrived at the World Trade Center site to remove remaining debris and start surveying work. This marked the official start of construction of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, though not without controversy and concerns from some family members. In April 2006, the Port Authority and Larry Silverstein reached an agreement in which Silverstein ceded rights to develop the Freedom Tower and Tower Five in exchange for financing with Liberty Bonds for Towers Two, Three, and Four. On April 27, 2006, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the Freedom Tower.

In May 2006, architects Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki were announced as the architects for Towers Three and Four, respectively. The final designs for Towers Two, Three and Four were unveiled on September 7, 2006. Tower Two, or 200 Greenwich Street, will have a roof height of 1,254 feet (382 m) and a 96-foot (29 m) tripod spire for a total of 1,350 feet (411 m). Tower Three, or 175 Greenwich Street will have a roof height of 1,155 feet (352 m) and an antennae height reaching 1,255 feet (383 m). Tower Four, or 150 Greenwich Street, will have an overall height of 946 feet (288 m). On June 22, 2007 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced that JP Morgan Chase will build Tower 5, a 42-story building on Site 5 currently occupied by the Deutsche Bank Building, and Kohn Pedersen Fox was selected as the architect for the building.