#wtc progress

Today we're hanging out with some of the bravest construction guys ever assembled in the city: those who helped build the original World Trade Center and those who've been finishing up on the Freedom Tower.

In 1979, photographer Peter B. Kaplan spent 12 days shooting the crew as they installed a new piece of the communications antenna to the top of the World Trade Center's North Tower. The antenna was added to the North Tower in 1978 and extended some 360 feet into the sky. So when he captured these guys hoisting the antenna into place, they were all about 1,728 feet off the ground:

Contrast that with today's crew. Back on May 24th, the Port Authority snapped this shot of ironworkers bolting the new communications spire into place on top of the Freedom Tower. The spire is 408 feet high so that means these guys were about 1,776 feet off the ground:

But it's not always hard work at the top. Back in 1979, the guys took a break to have some fun with Kaplan's camera. Fittingly, he called this shot "Moon Over Manhattan":

But when it came time for today's spire gang to pose for their own shot on May 10th, they took a more conventional approach. Perhaps there's a "moon shot" out there we'll get to see someday:

As its unofficial height climbed to a towering 1,626 feet today, I thought it would be fun to get a sense of how high that really is. WTC Progress has been tracking One World Trade Center's ascent on Facebook and tweeting out some stunning shots via Twitter, so I have to borrow a few. Let's jump back to October and take up the journey....

October 1st, 2012. Gazing northeast from atop the construction crane:

November 16th, 2012. Looking down from the 90th floor:

December 4th, 2012. Checking out the scene from the north crane:

February 25th, 2013. Installing a window on the 100th floor:

March 6th, 2013. Yes, there's a lot of windows left to place:

March 26th, 2013. There's only 10 more floors left to encase:

April 8th, 2013. At 1,350 feet, workers affix the second of three giant communication rings:

April 14th, 2013. The first sign of a regal 42.2 ton spire that will sprout from the tower:

April 17th, 2013. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Brooklyn and Queens:

The World I Know [Collective Soul, 1995]

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Has our conscience shown?

Has the sweet breeze blown?

Has all kindness gone?

Hope still lingers on.

I drink myself of new found pity

Sittin' alone in New York City

And I don't know why.

I don't know why. 

-----

Are we listening?

Hymns of offering.

Have we eyes to see?

Love is gathering.

All the words that I've been reading

Have now started the act of bleeding

Into one.

Into one.

-----

So I walk up on high

And I step to the edge

To see my world below.

And I laugh at myself

While the tears roll down.

'Cause it's the world I know.