NEW YORK — Girder by girder, glass pane by glass pane, the rise of what is now New York City’s tallest skyscraper was documented over the past year and a half in a time-lapse series of photographs by The Associated Press.
On Monday, One World Trade Center, the skyscraper that is being being built to replace the twin towers destroyed on 9/11, extended more than 1,250 feet into the sky, eclipsing the observation deck at the Empire State Building.
Groundbreaking took place in 2006. Since October 2010, the AP has been photographing its progress as the seasons turned and the tower’s gleaming, chisel-like form took shape.
It will be at least another year before the Freedom Tower, as it is also known, reaches its full height of 1,776 feet. At that point, it could be pronounced the tallest building the U.S., taller even than the Chicago skyscraper formerly known as the Sears Tower.
