Seven World Trade Center Collapses

NEW YORK CITY-At roughly 5:20 p.m. yesterday, Seven World Trade Center fell to the ground. The two-million-sf office building housed Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s remote command center, which has now been moved to makeshift meeting rooms at an undisclosed location.

The structure was owned by developer Larry Silverstein’s private company and built on land owned by the Port Authority. Seven World Trade Center was Silverstein’s first deal with the PA, a relationship which peaked when Silverstein Properties Inc. net leased four additional World Trade Center buildings including the now-decimated towers in a historic $3.2-billion transaction four months ago.

Seven World Trade Center was compromised earlier in the day when One World Trade Center, the second tower to collapse, leaned against the building prior to imploding. The smaller building’s structural integrity was severely compromised and fires that sprang up as a result of the impact burned throughout the day. Firefighters were unable to get near the structure, which tilted slowly to the south for the next eight hours before collapsing into rubble yesterday afternoon. Another smaller building, located on West Street, was similarly damaged and is expected to topple as well.

A makeshift triage center for victims of the terrorist attacks has been set up at Chelsea Piers and the facility’s ice rink has been converted into a morgue where bodies removed from the Trade Center site can be identified. The Red Cross is operating 12 shelters throughout the city that are serving as temporary housing.

Roughly 1,100 people have been treated at area hospitals, some with critical injuries but most for smoke and dust inhalation. Area airports and many bridges and tunnels remain shut, national air travel remains grounded and the national borders are closed.

Most schools and universities in the city are closed today, though teachers and school officials are expected to spend the day planning strategies to help students cope with the tragedy.

The 10.6-million-sf World Trade Center was net leased from the Port Authority by Silverstein for 99 years in April. The transaction includes the two towers, Number One and Two World Trade Center, now destroyed, as well as Four and Five World Trade Center, two nine-story office buildings. The World Trade Center Hotel and the US Customs House, also WTC properties, were already leased at the time of the Silverstein deal.