Hi all! I've been a lurker here for a long time. I'm originally from NYC (Bronx, Queens, & Manhattan) but have lived in SoCal for over 20 years now. I'm back in NYC for the first time in over 5 years. Last time, the WTC was just the beginnings of the foundation work. In the last few days, my wife and I have been by the site several times connecting from Path to Subway and also went to the Memorial on Friday. We could even see it from my sister's house in Jersey City.
We were very impressed by the site - especially the pools. WTC 1 looks great up close. I do have to say that I'm still not digging updated the glass/design of the base. Looks like some '60s "modern" apartment building. Oh well - everything else looks great. Also checked out 8 Spruce Street (would love to see the insides of those apartments!) and One57. Both are great. Haven't checked out 432 Park (Drake Hotel) yet.
Just so much amazing architecture here!
Here's a few pics I took that I hope folks will enjoy. I'll post of other buildings in their forums.
From my sister's house in Jersey City:
The antenna. Looks cool on its own - just not there...
Base cladding almost done!
Close-ups of base
One pane one the ground: