5 World Trade Center (1970–2001)

This article is about the original building demolished after the September 11 attacks. For its proposed replacement, see 5 World Trade Center.

5 World Trade Center, also known as the Northeast Plaza Building, was a nine-story building in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Part of the World Trade Center complex, it opened in March 1972. The building was damaged during the September 11 attacks and later demolished. Its former site is now the location of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub and the proposed 2 World Trade Center.

5 World Trade Center
5 World Trade Center as seen from the Austin J. Tobin Plaza
Alternative names	5 WTC WTC 5 Building 5
General information
Status	Demolished
Type	Office
Architectural style	Modern
Location	Lower Manhattan
Town or city	New York City
Country	United States
Coordinates	40°42′43″N 74°0′41″W
Current tenants	List
Opened	March 1972[1]
Demolished	December 2001 (heavily damaged on September 11, 2001)
Owner	Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Technical details
Floor count	9
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Yamasaki & Associates Emery Roth & Sons

History

5 World Trade Center (5 WTC) was originally a steel-framed nine-story low-rise office building built in 1970–72 at New York City's World Trade Center. The building was designed by Minoru Yamasaki and Emery Roth & Sons. The structure was 118 ft (36 m) tall and had a black exterior. The building was L-shaped and occupied the northeast corner of the World Trade Center site. Overall dimensions were 330 by 420 feet (100 by 130 m), with an average area of 120,000 square feet (11,000 m²) per floor. It hosted a police desk.^[2]

The Chambers Street and World Trade Center (A, ​C, and ​E trains) subway stations were located directly east of the building, and one exit to the station was available through the lobby. The building's remaining underground concourse space housed The Mall at the World Trade Center. The largest Borders bookstore in New York City spread across three floors of 5 World Trade Center, on the corner of the building adjacent to the intersection of Church and Vesey Street.

In 1984, artist Joanna Gilman Hyde painted the 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) canvas titled "Self Organizing Galaxy" on the roof of 5 World Trade Center, a temporary art exhibit.^[3] It took eight days to paint and was signed on October 10, 1984.

September 11 attacks

5 WTC was the least damaged building of the entire complex. Floors 4–9 suffered partial collapse and/or fire damage as a result of the September 11 attacks, while Floors 1–3 were not damaged. The building's structural integrity on its upper floors were partially compromised due to the impact of steel and other debris from the North Tower. Other collapsed sections were due to fire damage. Portions of internal collapse and burnout were found on upper floors, mainly floors 6–8. The black exterior facade suffered severe fire damage. Floors 5–9 were on fire after the collapse of the South Tower. A section of the fuselage from United Airlines Flight 175 landed on the roof and a plane engine was found in the ninth floor cafeteria.^[4] The Borders bookstore was undamaged after both towers collapsed.

The building was demolished by weakening its internal structure and using cables to pull down the rest of the structure, the same way 4 and 6 World Trade Center were demolished.^{[citation needed]} The last standing section of 5 WTC was removed by December 2001.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)/ASCE Building Performance Study Team found that some connections between the structural steel beams failed in the fire. This was most apparent in the collapse of 5 World Trade Center, where the fireproofing did not protect the connections, causing the structure to fail. The structural failure didn't cause the entire building to collapse, as seen after the attacks that the structural skeleton remained intact.^[5]

The building was the location of the Survivors' Staircase, which was moved 200 feet along Vesey Street in 2008 to prevent further damage. In 2010, the staircase was placed inside the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, where it resides today.

2 World Trade Center will stand at the exact location where the original 5 World Trade Center once stood.

Tenants

The following is a list of tenants of 5 World Trade Center prior to its destruction:^[6]

FL#	Companies
9	Credit Suisse First Boston, American Shipper Magazine, Howard Publications, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Council Of State Governments, Hunan Resources and Tech Institute, Our Planet Management Institute Ltd.
8	Credit Suisse First Boston, New York Court of Claims, Continental Forwarding, Hon. Christopher J. Mega
7	Credit Suisse First Boston
6	Morgan Stanley
5	Morgan Stanley
4	Morgan Stanley
3	Borders Bookstore, Affiliated Physicians of St. Vincent, World Trade Center Dental
2	Borders Bookstore
PL	Chase Bank, Citibank, Borders Bookstore, Children's Discovery Center, Krispy Kreme, Morgan Stanley, HSBC Bank, FedEx Corporation, Satellite Airlines Counter, Daniel Pehr, Inc.
C	The Mall at the World Trade Center

The Satellite Airlines Counter, in the Plaza Level, was a retail space where airlines would lease out "booths" to house airline services. Tenants included Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Inc., US Airways, and many others. Courier tenants included FedEx Corporation and DHL. The space was located adjacent to the lower floor of the three-floor Borders Bookstore.^[7]

Gallery

• 
  Original 5 World Trade Center building seen from the courtyard of The Sphere, 1998.
• 
  An aerial view of the World Trade Center site, including 5 WTC, after the September 11 attacks, featuring the building footprints.
• 
  Closeup of WTC 5's remains from the air.

References

1. "History of the Twin Towers". The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. September 11, 2015. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
2. "World Trade Center History". New York City. Archived from the original on February 19, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
3. Bird, David; Carroll, Maurice (September 5, 1984). "New York Day By Day: Putting Mop to Canvas". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
4. Newman, Marissa (September 10, 2021). "When ash fell like snow: 20 years on, a fire warden's 9/11 memories still haunt". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
5. Testimony of Dr. W. Gene Corley Archived September 20, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, on behalf of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), to Subcommittee on Research, Committee on Science, U. S. House of Representatives, May 1, 2002.
6. "Building: 5 World Trade Center – Northeast Plaza". www.cnn.com. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
7. "City Ticket Offices." Delta Air Lines. Retrieved on November 20, 2012. "World Trade Center Ticket Office 5 World Trade Center – Plaza Level New York, New York 10048"