Golden Age of Demolished Office Buildings - Hudson Terminal / World Trade Center - Been There Done That - Before 9/11

            When opened in 1909, the "twin towers" of Hudson Terminal was the largest office building in the world. Each tower covered an entire block with 22 floors above ground and 3 levels below. The underground portion contained a shopping mall and the downtown station of the H&M (Hudson and Manhattan) Railroad running to Newark, Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey. The H&M was the first rail connection between New York City and New Jersey and helped ease the intolerable congestion and delays crossing the Hudson on ferries. The H&M is now called PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) and still runs frequent service..

The building was closed in 1971 and demolished starting in 1972 to make way for the World Trade Center. At the time, this was the largest building intentionally demolished. During construction of the WTC the H&M tracks were suspended in the "bathtub" surrounding the excavation (the excavation extended below sea level). The construction debris was used to fill in part of the Hudson River for a new development.

The World Trade Center was in turn demolished in the terrorist attack on 9/11/2001. I was scheduled to take a boat excusion on the Hudson to Bear Mountain on 9/15/2001, but never even left Los Angeles. In any case, the excursion boats were all needed to ferry commuters from New Jersey until the PATH station could be repaired. In good weather it was also possible to take the Midtown branch of PATH to the Cristopher Street station and walk to downtown.

As part of the current WTC reconstruction, the rats nest of subway stations, stairways and dark narrow passageways  beneath Fulton Street (southeast side of Hudson Teminal / WTC) has been totally rebuilt and is now open.

My father worked a few blocks from here all through the 1960s and 1970s and I would tag along at every opportunity. I remember being in Hudson Terminal, seeing the demolition, seeing the excavation for the WTC, shopping in the mall below the WTC, taking the PATH train to New Jersey, and taking the elevator to the observation deck several times. The "Radio Row" surplus electronics market on Cortlandt Street (north side of Hudson Terminal) was a favorite destination. Otherwise would just systematically walk on every street (both sides in both directions) and watch the frantic pace of redevelopment. 

Among the many unique places was a "Customs Seizure Store" that specialized in items that someone tried to bring into the USA illegally - best item was genuine Kodak color film from France that included the prepaid mailer (prohibited by then in the USA) at about 1/3 the usual price of the film alone - only sold in packs of 40. Brought 3 packs with me on the first visit to Europe / Egypt.

Taken on: March 16, 2015

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Sets appears in: • Nostalgia / The Good Old Days

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