A Sign Survives

The sign at the cover of Church and Cortlandt streets in New York City once cheerfully boasted, “What has 200 elevators, 1,200 restrooms, 40,000 doorknobs, 200,000 lighting fixtures, 7 million square feet of acoustical tile ceilings, more structural steel than the Verrazano Narrows Bridge – and was built for a final cost of over one billion 1970s dollars? That’s right, the World Trade Center.”

Overlooked and forgotten since 9/11, the 7-ft.-high sign stood as a poignant artifact until construction crews on the Fulton Street Transit Center erected sidewalk fences that caused minor damage to the sign.

The trade-center sign was one of 42 markers that highlighted points of interest around Lower Manhattan. Installed in 1997 by the nonprofit group Heritage Trails New York, the sign was maintained by the Alliance for Downtown New York, which had preserved the sign as an authentic marker.

The sign was removed at the end of February and will probably be displayed at the Tribute WTC 9/11 Visitor Center on Liberty St.