Article Highlights Dedication, Significance of Original WTC

This black-and-white photo from 1973 shows a view from above looking down at the newly finished Twin Towers.
(Photo: Courtesy of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey)

The New York Daily News has republished on its website the original April 5, 1973 article that covered the formal dedication of the World Trade Center the previous day.

The article details the WTC complex's history and significance, as well as the controversies it faced upon its construction. The article also makes clear that the building of the WTC was an immense undertaking that would have major effects on New York City life.

“For those who thrive on such statistics, the World Trade Center is a larger-than-life present,” the article reads. “It has 9 million feet of space, almost twice as much as the nearest entry – the Pentagon – and nearly five times that of the Empire State Building. It has 50,000 workers and 80,000 visitors a day – a total that is equivalent of the entire city of Albany.”

In addition, according to the article, President Richard Nixon praised the WTC as “a major factor for the expansion of the nation’s international trade.”

Read the full article.

By Jordan Friedman, 9/11 Memorial Research and Digital Projects Associate

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