It’s a Friday afternoon, we’re all about ready to wind down for the weekend, so let’s kick back, relax and look at some pretty pictures of New York City.
Today, the observation deck which tops off New York’s One world Trade Center opens to the public. The building occupies the site where the Twin Towers stood until 9/11, and like the taller of its predecessors, stands 1,368 feet tall. Throw in a broadcast mast/faintly gratuitous spire*, though, and that figure rises to 1776 feet, to represent the date of the Declaration of Independence, and the building has become known, inevitably, as the Freedom Tower.
The observation deck, which occupies the 100th, 101st and 102nd floors and highest floor, is not quite the highest such tourist attraction in the world: that honour goes to the one in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which is on the 148th floor. But it’s pretty high nonetheless, and New York is prettier than Dubai anyway, so here are some pictures.
This one shows the sun rising over Manhattan and Brooklyn this morning:
Here are some of the buildings to the north in the dusk:
Here’s the reflection of the early morning light on the Hudson River:
This is the view to the south east. That’s Brooklyn, with the Atlantic Ocean beyond it:
The Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges across the East River:
Someone mopping the floor, as the sun rises over Long Island.
As a bonus, and because we love you, here’s time lapse video showing the tower’s construction between 2004 and 2013. It’s the work EarthCam, who describe themselves as “Webcam Technology Experts”. So there you go.
Images: Spencer Platt/Getty.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally placed the observation deck, incorrectly, on the 104th floor. It also failed to identify the purpose of the mast. We thank anonymous hero “Z100Brody” for the corrections, and for the tone in which he communicated them.
