9/11: New Towers coming up fast at Ground Zero Text and Photos: Sujoy Dhar

Yet another 9/11 anniversary arrived under the shadow of religious mistrust and suspicion and with remembrances of those who perished in the world?s worst terror attack.

This year tensions mounted across the globe over the plans of a Florida pastor to burn copies of Koran to mark the day (9/11) when Islamist terrorists crashed planes into the twin towers of World Trade Center on Sep 11, 2001.

The anniversary also comes at a time when America is bitterly divided over the issue of a proposed mosque and Islamic center on the ground zero site in New York.

The man behind the idea of an Islamic centre and mosque is Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

Rauf is an imam of a New York mosque who apparently wants to bridge the gap between the West and the Muslim world but there is mounting opposition against his plans and credentials.

According to Christian Science Monitor, the detractors of Rauf focuses on a “60 Minutes” interview from late that fateful September in which Rauf said, “US policies were accessory to the crime that happened.”

?He added, ?In the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the USA,?? the paper wrote.

However, the pace of construction at the site is rapid. The giant construction site is teeming with cranes, hydraulic machines, beams, columns, rebar and concrete as more than 2000 construction workers engage in building five new towers on the site.

Outside the barricaded area, New York bustles. Busy New Yorkers rush in every direction. It is business as usual.

According to the Lower Manhatten website, the Port Authority (New York) is making progress on the $3.1 billion One World Trade Center (formerly called the “Freedom Tower”), the main building of the four tall towers coming up at the site. Located at the northwest corner of the WTC site, installation of steel columns and core concrete continues.

The skyscraper is being built according to a revised design released in June 2005. The new design retains essential elements of the original plan– soaring 1,776 feet into the sky, its illuminated mast evoking the Statue of Liberty’s torch — but features a smaller, cubic base set back further from West Street to protect the building against future attacks.

A brief visit to the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site at 20 Vessy Street gives one an idea of shape of things to come.

The plan for the World Trade Center site calls for five office towers, including the soaring One World Trade Center (or Freedom Tower) which is rising from the base clad in glass prism. It would have 69 stories offering 2.6 million square feet of office space. The building will be among the country?s safest, the builders said.

Tower Two will rise 78 stories, and stand out for its distinct cruciform core and diagonal roof that slopes toward the WTC Memorial plaza.

Tower Three will be a 71-story tower, the third tallest building on the World Trade Center site.

Tower Four is a 61-story tower, while a fifth tower would be the smallest. Its design plan is not yet finalized.

Also planned are a performing arts centre, a transit centre, a visitors centre, and a national memorial site with two waterfall-filled pools.

The Port Authority of NY & NJ will hold an Interfaith Remembrance Service at St. Peter?s Church, corner of Barclay and Church streets in Lower Manhattan, at 2 p.m. on Saturday to mark the day.

The service will honor the 84 Port Authority employees who were killed on September 11, 2001, in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as the victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The 9/11 Preview site showcases everything- from the attack in pictures to the future constructions, their miniature models.

The preview site also displays the helmets of the brave New York firemen who rescued many before dying themselves.