NEW YORK - A day after a developer and landowners resolved their disputes, bulldozers rumbled into a giant pit on Thursday to begin construction of the glittering Freedom Tower skyscraper meant to symbolize New YorkÂ’s resilience to the Sept. 11 attacks.Rebuilding at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan began 4 1/2 years after the Twin Towers were destroyed by suicide hijackers who flew passenger planes into them. The 1,776-foot (540-metre) tower will be among the tallest in the world.
“We are not going to just build low in the face of a war against terror,” New York Gov. George Pataki said. “We are going to soar to new heights and reclaim New York’s skyline.”
The site will include three other high rises plus a residential tower that will surround a memorial, museum and cultural center dedicated to what relatives of the Sept. 11 victims consider a sacred site. Construction is scheduled to be finished by 2011 or 2012.