construction workers on the top floors of the World Trade Center during construction, October 21, 1970

On May 26, 1977, a Queens mountain climber became a New York folk hero by scaling the 1,350-foot South Tower of the World Trade Center. Wearing jeans and using equipment he tested in secret at night,” the 27-year-old made the ascent “to the delight of thousands of pedestrians who watched his 3-and-a-half-hour effort,” The New York Times reported. The man, George H. Willig, was arrested by the Port Authority police and given 3 summonses. He was later served with a $250,000 suit by New York City. “But to the people on the street he was a hero,” The Times reported

Even the officers assigned to climb up with him congratulated him on his achievement. “Officer Allen, who as a member of Emergency Service Squad 1 has rescued potential suicides and been as high as the top of the George Washington Bridge towers in his work, seemed elated after his assignment yesterday — and full of admiration for Mr. Willig, who, he said, ‘was in fantastic shape,’” The Times noted. Our staff photographer Tyrone Dukes took this photo of George climbing as 2 police officers followed in a window washer’s scaffold. Why did he do it? “It was a personal challenge, a challenge to my ingenuity,” George told the paper

two young members of a wedding party look at the view from the lower observation desk of the World Trade Center February 14, 2001 in New York City. Thirty-three couples from around the world participated in the annual Valentine’s Day Wedding Marathon at the World Trade Center

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photos of the World Trade Center on September 10, 2001

Wheatfield - A Confrontation: Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan

the artwork yielded 1,000 lbs. of wheat in the middle of New York City to comment on ‘human values and misplaced priorities’. It was created during a six-month period in the spring, summer, and fall of 1982 when artist Agnes Denes, with the support of the Public Art Fund, planted a field of golden wheat on two acres of rubble-strewn landfill near Wall Street and the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan (now the site of Battery Park City and the World Financial Center). The harvested grain then traveled to 28 cities worldwide in ‘The International Art Show for the End of World Hunger’ and was symbolically planted around the globe

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perv-iously – WTC – Landfill The Void, late 1970s – early 80s

Unfortunate Pre-9/11 World Trade Center Ads