2 World Trade Center
200 Greenwich Street | also 33 Vesey Street, 2 World Trade Center, 185 Greenwich Street | Financial District | built 2023
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1966
Radio Row, an earlier district of electronics shops on this site, is torn down for the World Trade Center
Radio Row, a crowd of electronics shops that grew up around Cortlandt Street after the first store opened in 1921, was cleared in 1966 for the World Trade Center, whose footprint covers this lot. Firms that started there include Arrow Electronics, Avnet and Schweber. When the Port Authority moved to acquire the land that runs from Church Street to West Street between Vesey and Liberty, a committee of shop owners led by Oscar Nadel objected to an offer of $30,000 per business. The court threw out the case in November 1963.
“Radio Row was torn down in 1966 to make room for the World Trade Center.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1984
An earlier building on this site, 5 World Trade Center, wears a painted galaxy on its roof
In 1984 the artist Joanna Gilman Hyde covered the roof of 5 World Trade Center, the low-rise building that stood where 2 World Trade Center is being built, with a 10,000-square-foot canvas titled Self Organizing Galaxy. The temporary exhibit took eight days to paint, and she signed it on October 10, 1984.
“…painted the 10,000-square-foot canvas titled "Self Organizing Galaxy" on the roof of 5 World Trade Center…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2001
An earlier building on this site, 5 World Trade Center, burns on September 11 and is cleared by December
The nine-story 5 World Trade Center, which stood at the exact spot where 2 World Trade Center is rising, was the least damaged building of the complex on September 11, 2001. Floors 4 to 9 partly collapsed or burned, a piece of the fuselage of United Flight 175 landed on the roof, and an engine was found in the ninth-floor cafeteria. The Port Authority demolished the remains by December 2001.
“A section of the fuselage from United Airlines Flight 175 landed on the roof and a plane engine was found in the ninth floor cafeteria.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2015
Bjarke Ingels Group begins redesigning the tower, replacing Norman Foster's plan
At the request of developer Silverstein Properties and prospective media tenants, Bjarke Ingels Group starts redesigning the tower in May 2015, setting aside Norman Foster's 2006 design. The new scheme has a cantilever on its north side and terraces on the east, leaning toward One World Trade Center. In January 2016, News Corp and 21st Century Fox decide against moving in, and the design goes unbuilt.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2016
News Corp and 21st Century Fox decide against moving into 2 World Trade Center
A June 2015 report said that two Rupert Murdoch companies, News Corp and 21st Century Fox, had reached a preliminary, non-binding deal with the Port Authority to make the tower their shared headquarters, and the design was being switched from Norman Foster to Bjarke Ingels to suit a media tenant. On January 15, 2016, it was reported that both companies had decided to stay on the Avenue of the Americas, concluding that the cost of relocating was better spent elsewhere.
“On January 15, 2016, it was reported that the two companies had decided against moving into 2 World Trade Center, instead keeping their current headquarters on the Avenue of the Americas.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2026
American Express signs on as sole tenant as construction of the tower begins
Foster and Partners, working on the project again since 2020, revises its design for a 55-story tower after American Express announces on February 25, 2026 that it will be the only tenant. A groundbreaking ceremony follows on July 9. Completion is now scheduled for 2031, about twenty-five years after Foster's first design for the site.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 2 World Trade CenterWikipedia
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