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Open Letter to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat — 11/8/2013 We sent the document below to the executive director and chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat by email on the eve of the body’s meeting to decide whether or not the Freedom Tower’s antenna/spire qualifies as part of the building and can be counted toward the height. We followed up with a hard copy by fax to the Council’s offices around noon. The antenna does not add to the Willis Tower’s official height, the antenna did not add to the North Tower’s official height, and there is no good reason why it should add to the Freedom Tower’s official height. But there is more to be considered, which we discuss in the letter. We have been following the matter in the Twin Towers Journal, and suggest that those who want to know more about this issue check out the coverage there. But we will include a few links to current news items after the Open Letter and suggest that the comments that follow the reports represent the range of mainstream New Yorkers’ and other Americans’ opinions on the subject. As one woman pointed out after the Daily News piece: “Spires shouldn’t be counted at all toward ‘tallest’ building titles. It’d be like calculating someone’s height based on how high their hair is.” The experts will insist there is much more to it, but there really is not. The diagram that follows makes that pretty clear. We are distributing the Open Letter to media outlets, journalists, and bloggers. We realize that while we cannot force the media to report what the public has a right to know, we can make sure that the information goes on the record and then hope for the best. [gview file=”https://twintowersalliance.com/petition/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CTBUH-11-8-13.pdf”] Note: This pdf can best be viewed by clicking the “open in new window” at the top of the viewer.  |
