Deutsche Bank Building

For the current Deutsche Bank building, see 60 Wall Street

The Deutsche Bank Building at 130 Liberty Street in New York City, United States, was built as Bankers Trust Plaza and opened in 1974 and is slated to be deconstructed in 2007. Bankers Trust was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1998.

The 40-story building was severely damaged by the collapse of the 2 World Trade Center (South Tower) in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The collapse of 2 World Trade Center tore a 24-story gash into the facade and destroyed the lobby. As of July 2005, the Deutsche Bank Building was the only real visible sign that a large-scale disaster had occurred at the site, the gaping hole in its front serving as an eerie reminder of the tragedy. The building was declared a total loss in 2004.

Aftermath

After the 9/11 attacks, netting that had the appearance of a black burial shroud was placed around the building. The bank maintained that the building could not be restored to habitable condition, while its insurers sought to treat the incident as recoverable damage rather than a total loss. Work on the building was deferred for over two years during which the condition of the building deteriorated. The fire sprinkler system had sprayed excessive water in the building, which caused black mold to grow, making the building unsafe.

In 2002, over a year after the attacks, a number of mummified human remains were found inside the building. The remains had been ejected there by the explosions across Liberty Street. Additionally, in September 2005, even more human remains were found on the roof.^[1] In March 2006, construction workers who were removing toxic waste from the building before deconstruction found more bone fragments and remains. This has prompted calls from victims' family members for another search of the building by forensic experts. In 2006 between April 7 to April 14, over 300 human bone fragments were discovered in the ballast gravel on the roof. Workers sifted through the gravel to find these remains. In total, more than 700 bone fragments were discovered on the roof of the building.

The cost of this deconstruction (photo right) has steadily increased as large amounts of 9/11 toxins, asbestos, dioxin, lead, silica, quartz, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chromium and manganese have been found in the building.

On February 27,2004, an agreement was announced to settle the disposition of the building and insurance claims. Later that year as part of this agreement, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation acquired the land and commenced its deconstruction.^[2]

Deconstruction

An Associated Press December 7, 2006 report indicates that the building will be dismantled. This report indicated that area residents were fearful of the 9/11 toxins in the dust within the building. ^[3] Deconstruction is expected to begin in March of 2007. ^[4][5]

Future of the 130 Liberty Street site

Negotiations over the World Trade Center site concluded in April 2006 with private developer Larry Silverstein yielding his right to develop on the site designated for Tower Five to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in exchange for assistance in financing Towers Two, Three, and Four.^{[citation needed]} Bloomberg later claimed there wasn't enough demand for office space to fill the five towers included in the World Trade Center's master plan and called for a major revision of the plan to include housing and hotels. But the demand for Manhattan office space, including downtown, has boomed since 2006, and on January 16, 2007, financial giant JPMorgan Chase was in talks with the Port Authority about developing the Deutsche Bank building area aka fifth World Trade Center skyscraper into a corporate tower, which would prevent Mayor Bloomberg's push to use the site for housing.

Several sources familiar with JPMorgan Chase's talks with state and Port Authority officials said the firm's bid to develop the proposed 57-story tower for major corporate tenants is being taken seriously by the bistate agency. In fact, sources said, JPMorgan Chase is not the only corporate bidder for the site.

To make the commercial deal work, the Port Authority would have to agree to expand the size of Tower 5's base in order to accommodate the large, lower-level floors needed for trading rooms, a requirement for most financial-services firms.

See also

• Collapse of the World Trade Center
• Health effects of September 11, 2001 attacks

References

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