STUCK IN A LIFT… (OR IS IT AN ELEVATOR?) IN THE ONE WORLD TRADE CENTRE.
My day in New York started brilliantly with a walk in Central Park, which is now my routine before I go to my office in Wall Street. The Japanese blossom trees in the park are just spectacular and amazingly, the very cold weather had turned into a very blue skied, sunny morning.
I was feeling particularly excited as I was making a private visit to view the new One World Trade Centre, which stands where the Twin Towers formerly stood. The building is designed by David Childs and is breath-taking; the fact that I was able to have a private tour before the building was even finished made me feel very privileged.
This beautiful building together with the memorial plaza that provides eight acres of landscaped, open space has turned a disaster and tragedy into a victory. Before being able to enter the site, the agents gave me a Health & Safety lesson, providing me with the regular ensemble of hard hat, safety glasses, orange high-vis jacket and steel toe-capped boots. The boots I think were by Ugg and between you and me I was hoping that perhaps I’d be able to keep them but sadly they asked for them back.
The outside is almost finished and the beautiful, glass structure is reaching into the sky and proverbially sticking its finger up to the people who formerly devastated this site. The floors are solid concrete and the glass windows give spectacular views. I was taken to the 46th floor of this three million square foot building. The agents from Cushman & Wakefield cheerfully told me that there are still 1.3 million square foot still available. “Phew” I thought, “that’s a relief!” He’s obviously read my blog and saw that we are having our best ever trading period! But between you and me it is brilliant but not 1.3 million-square-feet- of-extra-office space –brilliant!
They took my photo next to the spiral which will go up in the next few days onto the tip of the building and will make it the highest building in the U.S. A real historic moment for me.
The floor appears to be almost circular, complete with floor to ceiling windows. Everywhere the view was breath-taking. ‘I don’t know how anybody can work in such a place’ I thought. I’d probably spend most of my time gazing out of the window!
So back to work. Or so I thought.
We got in the elevator which I thought was quite crowded with six burly, New York builders and pressed the lift to descend. Which it did, for a few seconds before stopping! There I was stuck in a temporary elevator in this historic building, praying desperately in front of these macho guys that I don’t have a panic attack. Claustrophobia was setting in. ‘Breathe slowly’, I said to myself. Ten minutes later we were thankfully on our way, back down to earth. I didn’t lose my cool and I did have the most fantastic experience in what I know is one of the most beautiful buildings - showing the positivity of humanity after such a devastating disaster.
Our New York office on Broad Street, in the New York Stock Exchange is still a great place to be, but in my opinion, the U.S market is poised to expand exponentially. So… watch this space! I will keep you informed where we’ll be.
As they say here, “it’s been great reaching out to you” and “I look forward to you circling back to me” and “have a great day!”
Larry
I was feeling particularly excited as I was making a private visit to view the new One World Trade Centre, which stands where the Twin Towers formerly stood. The building is designed by David Childs and is breath-taking; the fact that I was able to have a private tour before the building was even finished made me feel very privileged.
This beautiful building together with the memorial plaza that provides eight acres of landscaped, open space has turned a disaster and tragedy into a victory. Before being able to enter the site, the agents gave me a Health & Safety lesson, providing me with the regular ensemble of hard hat, safety glasses, orange high-vis jacket and steel toe-capped boots. The boots I think were by Ugg and between you and me I was hoping that perhaps I’d be able to keep them but sadly they asked for them back.
The outside is almost finished and the beautiful, glass structure is reaching into the sky and proverbially sticking its finger up to the people who formerly devastated this site. The floors are solid concrete and the glass windows give spectacular views. I was taken to the 46th floor of this three million square foot building. The agents from Cushman & Wakefield cheerfully told me that there are still 1.3 million square foot still available. “Phew” I thought, “that’s a relief!” He’s obviously read my blog and saw that we are having our best ever trading period! But between you and me it is brilliant but not 1.3 million-square-feet- of-extra-office space –brilliant!
They took my photo next to the spiral which will go up in the next few days onto the tip of the building and will make it the highest building in the U.S. A real historic moment for me.
The floor appears to be almost circular, complete with floor to ceiling windows. Everywhere the view was breath-taking. ‘I don’t know how anybody can work in such a place’ I thought. I’d probably spend most of my time gazing out of the window!
So back to work. Or so I thought.
We got in the elevator which I thought was quite crowded with six burly, New York builders and pressed the lift to descend. Which it did, for a few seconds before stopping! There I was stuck in a temporary elevator in this historic building, praying desperately in front of these macho guys that I don’t have a panic attack. Claustrophobia was setting in. ‘Breathe slowly’, I said to myself. Ten minutes later we were thankfully on our way, back down to earth. I didn’t lose my cool and I did have the most fantastic experience in what I know is one of the most beautiful buildings - showing the positivity of humanity after such a devastating disaster.
Our New York office on Broad Street, in the New York Stock Exchange is still a great place to be, but in my opinion, the U.S market is poised to expand exponentially. So… watch this space! I will keep you informed where we’ll be.
As they say here, “it’s been great reaching out to you” and “I look forward to you circling back to me” and “have a great day!”
Larry
