Warning: Undefined array key "sharing_networks_networks_sorting" in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/monarch/monarch.php on line 3904
Warning: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /var/www/wp-content/plugins/monarch/monarch.php on line 3904
The World Trade Center in a pivotal era of rebuilding
A wealth of information exists out there on what happened during the 9/11 attacks. Documentaries, films, podcasts, books, you name it: most are a few clicks away. Yet considerably less so exists for what happened in the wake of those attacks, how the World Trade Center was rebuilt and Lower Manhattan was transformed into the thriving commercial and residential neighborhood it is today.
Top of the World, a podcast produced by Muddhouse Media in collaboration with Silverstein Properties, explores what it took to rebuild the World Trade Center campus and many of the other centers across downtown from the eyes of the rebuilders themselves.
Larry Silverstein, Daniel Libeskind, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Mary Ann Tighe are among those who led the development, design, and policy-making which indelibly changed the downtown landscape as the neighborhood sought to recover.
Top of the World also comes in the wake of another crisis: as Kris Meyer, the CEO of Muddhouse Media describes the podcast as it focuses on “the rebuilding and recovery of New Yorkers, again at lower Manhattan, but bookended with the rebuild and the recovery coming out of COVID for New Yorkers.” Yet as the city’s resilience carries on following this very different type of public health crisis, we can see that the spirit of New York remains strong as ever. “As Larry Silverstein says, ‘Never count New York out,’ New Yorkers are resilient, strong, and they’re rebuilders. Just as every city in the country, in the world, has to rebuild and recover, I think we as a people have that in our DNA: to rebuild and recover and come out stronger and better than we were before,” Meyer continues.
Stories from the Rebuild
As the podcast goes through the initial design competition for architectural proposals of One World Trade Center into the many negotiations that took place between developers and the Port Authority, guest features speak through their experiences while on the front lines of it all, including the anecdotes, pitfalls, and personal successes that accompany any project of a scale like this. Meyer recalls that of the most interesting points, listening to Larry Silverstein talk about the research put into making those buildings the safest in the world: what it took to build those and the research on how to build a better building, a safer building, a greener building, a cleaner building,” stood out as a particularly distinct nod towards the future of resiliency in Lower Manhattan.
Other highlights including hearing from the artists-in-residence at the World Trade Center on their unique role in capturing life downtown during its rebuilding phase, as well as the perspectives of leading designers Michael Arad and Daniel Libeskind, architects of the 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center, respectively, and those of policy leaders such as Jessica Lappin of Downtown Alliance, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Rick Cotton of the Port Authority. With New Yorkers checking out podcasts on the streets, in the subways, and while in offices, the beauty of Top of the World is its accessibility: “If you want to continue to learn and get educated on what it took to rebuild the World Trade Center, you can do it anywhere you listen to podcasts,” Meyer emphasizes.
Top of the World was produced by Muddhouse Media with Creative Director Mark Carey, Production Director Mike Gioscia, Head of Business Development Annie Powell, and producer Stefen Laukien at the helm. Top of the World is available on podcast streaming channels including Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart, Google, and Pandora.