11 Most Endangered

World Trade Center Vesey Street Staircase

Year Listed: 2006
Location: New York , New York
Current Status: Saved
Threat: Development

Overhead view of the World Trade Center's Vesey Street Staircase.

Credit: Robert Kornfeld, Jr.

Significance

Before the September 11 attacks, the Vesey Street Staircase was seen and used by the public on a daily basis. Located near the intersection of Vesey and Church streets, it consisted of two granite-clad outdoor flights of stairs and an escalator that led from the World Trade Center plaza to Vesey Street. When terrorists crashed two planes into the Twin Towers, the staircase provided a path of escape for hundreds of people. The staircase now stands isolated and consists only of concrete slabs and blocks, a few remaining pieces of stone cladding, and steel supports - but it is nonetheless an authentic and invaluable remnant of the World Trade Center that once stood here.

As of May 2007, the need to plan for the preservation of the World Trade Center Vesey Street Staircase was as urgent as ever. For the last several years, advocates have offered feasible options that would allow the site's redevelopment to move forward on schedule while preserving the Staircase. The site on which the Staircase stands is slated for construction of new underground elements of the PATH system, as well as for the office tower planned for the site.

Updates

The Vesey Street Staircase in New York City is back from the brink of destruction. One of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2006, masses of people escaped from the attacks on the World Trade Center over the "Survivor's Staircase." After the recovery effort ended and redevelopment began, it stood as the last above-ground remnant of the World Trade Center still on the site.

On March 9, 2008, the reinforced stair-run was moved from its site in the path of new construction, to a temporary location near 7 World Trade Center. On December 11, 2008, it was installed in the future National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center Site. Because of its size, the staircase had to be installed prior to the walls of the museum, which are now being constructed.

This plan moves the Staircase from its original position, but the intact stair-run will be a featured part of the commemorative and educational experience in the future Memorial and Museum. It also saves the Staircase from a prior plan to destroy all but a few treads, scattering them around the site. Upon entering office, Governor Eliot Spitzer's administration rejected that destructive plan, and worked with preservationists and the agencies involved to develop this solution, which will respect the meaning and value of the iconic Staircase.

In addition to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the coalition of partners that worked to save the stairway included the Preservation League of New York State, the World Monuments Fund, the Municipal Art Society, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy.