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When Richie Schuler goes to work at One World Trade Center each day, he measures progress by the view.
"The higher you get, the more you can see," said Schuler, 45, a welding supervisor from Lindenhurst who, along with his team of 45, is beginning work on the 65th floor of the 104-floor structure above a memorial plaza set to open in four months. "You're able to see far into western Jersey now because we're over all the [other] buildings. Now you're starting to get a real nice view."
President Barack Obama's visit to lower Manhattan last week highlighted how a vision of rebirth has finally started to take shape in steel, glass and concrete on what is some of the most valuable real estate in the world.
For years the pit where the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001, was a scar on the cityscape, mired in delays caused by legal, financial and political wrangling.
Still facing challenges
Significant challenges remain, including how quickly the new office space can be filled, and by whom. Debate still swirls around the museum and memorial over the placement of victims' remains and the presentation of their names. And some financing difficulties loom.
"I don't think people realized how complex it was," said Alan Reiss, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey deputy director for World Trade Center construction.
Coordinating work among interlocking office towers, active railway systems, roadwork, gas and water lines on the 16-acre site has been daunting, said Reiss, an Oceanside resident who ran the World Trade Center before the Port Authority leased it to Silverstein Properties in 2001.
Getting the memorial plaza prepared for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks meant putting a roof on top of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson commuter hub before finishing the underground work.
To the southeast of One WTC, the first of three planned towers by Silverstein - Four World Trade Center - now rises 23 floors (out of a planned 64) above the street. Both buildings are going up at the rate of one floor per week.
"The events of the last few days and the president's visit to Ground Zero have prompted people to look again at what's going on at the World Trade...