white concrete pillar under blue sky

white concrete pillar under blue sky



More than 13 years after a terrorist attack destroyed the twin towers — soaring symbols of New York City’s might, financially and structurally — the first employees of the first tenant in the building erected to take their place arrived on Monday for their first workday.

“The building is open for business,” said Jordan Barowitz, an official of the Durst Organization, which developed the building, 1 World Trade Center, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “It’s a beautiful building, it’s a historic building, but it’s an office building and it’s open for business.”

At 1,776 feet in height, the building is steps from where the north tower stood until Sept. 11, 2001. But where that sunny morning held a still-summery promise until the first jetliner lacerated 1 World Trade Center and smoke filled the jewel-blue sky, Monday was chilly and windy as employees of the magazine publisher Condé Nast arrived.

They walked under the lobby’s high ceilings, adorned in white marble from the same quarry as the old towers — one of the many details that will remind them that their new workplace has an unavoidable connection to that day, and to the pledges of renewal made by elected officials and ordinary citizens alike.

There was an awareness, too, of apprehension, reinforced by the comedian Chris Rock on “Saturday Night Live” less than 36 hours earlier. Referring to 1 World Trade Center as the Freedom Tower, he said: “They should change the name from the Freedom Tower to the ‘Never Going in There Tower,’ because I’m never going in there. There is no circumstance that will ever get me in that building.”

“I can understand the fear behind it,” said a Condé Nast employee, Vijay Ramcharitar, 25, whose new office is on the 21st floor.But he was resolute about going to work. “If you live in fear,” he said, “you can’t get anything done in your life.” He called the building “an inspiration” and said it was “cool” to have a place there.Margo Coble, 42, who works in marketing for Condé Nast, said her mother had mentioned that she was “a little bit nervous” about where Ms. Coble was going.

“I told her, ‘This is probably the safest building in New York,’ ” Ms. Coble said.

Condé Nast’s chief executive, Charles H. Townsend, pulled up to the south entrance in a Mercedes-Benz limousine as his subordinates walked in. If they had arrived in cars with drivers, they could not have turned onto Vesey Street — retractable metal bollards have been installed in the pavement to block access.They were up on Monday morning, and police officers had been posted around the building. And the employees who entered the Vesey Street door flashed an identification pass; they flashed it again when they reached the turnstiles that control access to the elevators.

Austin D. Parker, who works for an audiovisual installation company hired by Condé Nast, said employees had been steeped in security protocols and procedures. He said he had been given instruction in escape routes.

“At the beginning you start going, ‘What are you doing here?’ ” he said. “Then you get to understand the building, and pay homage to its history.”#fastitlinks.com
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