One World Trade Center's Final Spire Raising Postponed Due To Winds

One World Trade Center's "tallest building in the Western Hemisphere" moniker will have to wait a few days. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the weather was at fault for the delay of the placement of the spire atop the Lower Manhattan skyscraper. As the "Latin Times" previously reported, 1 World Trade Center will be the address of the third tallest building in the world and the tallest in the West.

For right now, those inside the Willis Tower (better known by its former name "Sears Tower") in Chicago can rest easy knowing their building is the tallest in the western hemisphere at 1,451 feet. The new One World Trade Center will be 1,776 feet tall upon placement of the antenna beacon, which was supposed to be put in place Monday.

Low visibility brought on by sporadic rain as well as reported wind conditions delayed the placement of the spire. The PANYNJ did not name a rain date for the placement of the beacon which will sit atop the skyscraper. The building is scheduled to open in 2014, according to the Port Authority.

The subject of the tower's construction has been a point of criticism for the Port Authority, which raised Hudson River tolls to $13 in 2012 and plans to hike them another dollar in 2013. The organization, which is not run by New Jersey nor New York's government, owns the site and is not allowed to use toll revenue for its real estate ventures.

That hasn't stopped the public from demanding answers from the organization, whose river crossings some say haven't been improved in the least despite the high tolls. When a WCBS reporter asked then-chairman David Samson about the hikes and their posited relation to the World Trade Center site, Samson bristled when a PANYNJ press release was quoted by the reporter, Steve Langford, citing the need for additional WTC funds. In a terse exchange, Samson declined to go into specifics on the matter.

In contrast to the Port Authority, the New York Department of Transportation operates the Staten Island Ferry at no cost to passengers. Unfortunately for commuters, 25-minute ride from St. George, Staten Island to South Ferry, Manhattan no longer has the capacity to handle vehicular traffic, which at this point must seek the northerly reaches of the metropolitan area to cross the Hudson River for a more realistic rate.

Though expected to soon overshadow the Port Authority's current financial requisites when the New York State Thruway Authority begins construction on a brand new span, the Tappan-Zee Bridge's toll rate is $5. Additionally, the next crossing to the north, though located about 40 miles north of the city, is the Bear Mountain Bridge, which charges a tiny $1.50 to cross the exact same waterway that the Port Authority charges $13 to cross on the George Washington Bridge.