The World Trade Center Is Still Not Finished 13 Years Later

Every day I wake up and look out of my boat to the New York City skyline. It's truly a glorious view to behold, and I'm incredibly lucky to be where I am. But every time I look I'm always very bothered.

13 years ago today al-Qaeda launched an attack on America that killed almost 3000 people and profoundly altered the course of history. The twin towers were also destroyed in the process. Al-Qaeda choose to destroy the World Trade Center because it represented America's economic might. Now, 13 years later the unfinished and overpriced building stands as a symbol for all that is wrong with this country.

1. We Have The Wrong Priorities

The MTA has spent $5.1 Billion on the two subway stations that the new World Trade Center buildings rely on[1]. I'm all for interesting design, good architecture, and building nice places but this is absurd. As demonstrated by the 81st Street Station, you don't need to spend a lot of money to make a unique and interesting subway station. The MTA should stick to the basics, and keep subway stations as simple concrete boxes in the ground. Instead of wasting money on stations, we instead should use our resources to build more miles of actual subway lines.

2. We've Become Too Slow

The Empire State Building took only 410 days to build back in 1931[2]. Over 80 years later, we have access to amazing new machinery and technology that in theory should make construction faster and cheaper. Instead we find ourselves taking longer and longer to build large infrastructure projects like skyscrapers. It took 4 and a half years to even begin reconstruction of the World Trade Center due to political dysfunction. It's now been about 8 and half years of active construction, and it is still not finished.

3. Our Infrastructure Costs Are Out Of Control

The new World Trade Center will cost at least $3.8 Billion, a staggeringly large figure. This is over double what it cost to build the Burj Khalifa, and other large skyscrapers around the world[3]. Similarly we spend more money on subway per mile than any other country. Singapore built a new subway underground and fully automated subway line for $218 million/mi. Contrast that to the 2nd Avenue Subway line, which is estimated to cost $2Billion/mi - and will likely to much more[4].

4. America Is Falling Behind

Cities are extremely important. They are where people from all walks of life gather to share ideas, create new things, and build the future. New York is America's biggest city, and the World Trade Center is our tallest building. It's unfinished status 13 years after 9/11 says all that you need to know about the state of this country. Yes, we have a desire to do big things, and eventually we sometimes get around to them, but not without serious performance issues. Contrast the skyscraper activity and subway building activity of New York with it's peers, and the contrast becomes even more stark. Since 9/11 Beijing has added 256 miles of subway[5].

In this same period of time New York has added no new subway lines. America has done some pretty great things in the past, and we are still capable of doing great things in the future. But we need to address some of these problem areas if we are to remain a superpower. We can start by finishing the World Trade Center, and closing the wound that was opened 13 years ago today.

1. http://secondavenuesagas.com/2012/10/02/daily-news-on-the-transit-center-to-nowhere/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmpireStateBuilding
3. WTC One and Burj Kalifa cost obtained by WSJ article
4. Singapore line cost $4.8 Billion for 22 miles while 2nd Ave NYC line cost $17 billion for 8.5 miles according to CityLab
5. 465km total length minus 53.5 km in 2 subway lines finished before 2002 converted to miles according to wikipedia