[7] The idea was suggested by David Rockefeller to help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, and his brother Nelson, then New York's 49th governor, signed the legislation to build it.

[20] The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes' burning jet fuel, which, along with the initial damage to the buildings' structural columns, ultimately caused both towers to collapse.

It was on this shoreline, close to the intersection of Greenwich and the former Dey Street, that Dutch explorer Adriaen Block's ship, Tyger, burned to the waterline in November 1613, stranding him and his crew and forcing them to overwinter on the island.

To help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, David Rockefeller suggested that the Port Authority build a World Trade Center there.

They also decided to move the World Trade Center project to the Hudson Terminal building site on the west side of Lower Manhattan, a more convenient location for New Jersey commuters arriving via PATH.

[42] On August 3, 1966, an agreement was reached whereby the Port Authority would make annual PILOTs for the portion of the World Trade Center leased to private tenants.

[43] In May 1967, the New York City Planning Commission approved several changes to the street grid that would allow the Port Authority to begin acquiring land for the complex.

[42] Despite public criticism over the height of the 110-story twin towers, Yamasaki & Associates and Emery Roth & Sons made only relatively minor changes to the plans, which were released in May 1966.

[53] The World Trade Center was one of the most striking American implementations of the architectural ethic of Le Corbusier and was the seminal expression of Yamasaki's gothic modernist tendencies.

[77] To construct the World Trade Center, it was necessary to build a "bathtub" with a slurry wall around the West Street side of the site, to keep water from the Hudson River out.

The North Tower stood 1,368 feet (417 m) tall[101] and featured a 362 foot (110 m) telecommunications antenna or mast that was built on the roof in 1979 (which was upgraded in 1999 to accommodate DTV broadcasts).

[113][114] During the summer, the Port Authority installed a portable stage, typically backed up against the North Tower within Tobin Plaza for musicians and performers.

[124][125] This involved replacing marble pavers with over 40,000 gray and pink granite stones, as well as adding benches, planters, food kiosks, and outdoor dining areas.

[140] As well as the main restaurant, two offshoots were located at the top of the North Tower: Hors d'Oeuvrerie (offered a Danish smorgasbord during the day and sushi in the evening) and Cellar in the Sky (a small wine bar).

[140] On May 12, 1994, the Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Company won the contract to run the restaurants after Windows's former operator, Inhilco, gave up its lease.

[163][164] The first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center occurred on February 26, 1993, at 12:17 p.m. A Ryder truck filled with 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of explosives (planted by Ramzi Yousef) detonated in the North Tower's underground garage.

[172] The slurry wall was in peril following the bombing and the loss of the floor slabs that provided lateral support against pressure from Hudson River water on the other side.

Seventeen minutes later, at 9:03:11 a.m.,[a] a second group led by Marwan al-Shehhi crashed the similarly hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 into the southern facade of the South Tower, striking it between the 77th and 85th floors.

[196] The terrorist organization al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, carried out the attacks in retaliation for certain aspects of American foreign policy, particularly U.S. support of Israel and the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.

[204][205] The Deutsche Bank Building across Liberty Street from the World Trade Center complex was later condemned because of the uninhabitable toxic conditions inside; it was deconstructed, with work completed in early 2011.

[206][207] The Borough of Manhattan Community College's Fiterman Hall at 30 West Broadway was also condemned due to extensive damage, being eventually demolished and completely rebuilt.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), established in November 2001 to oversee the rebuilding process,[218] organized competitions to select a site plan and memorial design.

[227] In November 2013, according to an agreement made with Silverstein Properties Inc., the new 2 WTC would not be built to its full height until sufficient space was leased to make the building financially viable.

Its site was the location of Radio Row, home to hundreds of commercial and industrial tenants, property owners, small businesses, and approximately 100 residents, many of whom fiercely resisted forced relocation.

[53][240] Lewis Mumford, author of The City in History and other works on urban planning, criticized the project, describing it and other new skyscrapers as "just glass-and-metal filing cabinets".

[242] Cultural critic Paul Fussell dismissed the Twin Towers for being "charmless, merely tall, and huge blunt buildings" in his 1991 book BAD Or, The Dumbing of America, adding that they were "brutal and despotic.

"[244] In his book The Pentagon of Power, Lewis Mumford described the World Trade Center as an "example of the purposeless giantism and technological exhibitionism that are now eviscerating the living tissue of every great city".

[245] Retrospectively, the American Institute of Architects ranked the World Trade Center complex as 19th among 150 buildings in its List of America's Favorite Architecture, published in 2007.

[251] The Port Authority ultimately decided to rebuild Cortlandt, Fulton, and Greenwich Streets, which were destroyed during the original World Trade Center's construction.

[276] Other filmmakers such as Michael Bay, who directed the 1998 film Armageddon, opposed retroactively removing references to the World Trade Center based on post-9/11 attitudes.