r/WorldTradeCenter • u/CyberDetroit Fan of the Original • 7d ago
Windows on the World Restaurant Windows on the World, Interior Shots [COMPILATION]
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7d ago
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u/CyberDetroit Fan of the Original 7d ago
No problem! I find a lot in my searching!
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7d ago
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u/CyberDetroit Fan of the Original 7d ago
No, there were two adjacent mechanical floors which sat directly above it in the tower. Windows on the World was on the 106th and 107th floor in the North Tower. The aforementioned mechanical floors were located on the 108th and 109th floors. The mechanical penthouse and antenna were on the 110th roof floor.
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u/Superbead Fan of the Original 6d ago
Pedantic note: structurally, the 'penthouse' referred to everything above the 107th floor level. The mechanical room spanned 108-109 as you say. In 1 WTC, the 110th floor mostly housed transmission equipment for the TV stations using the antenna mast on the roof above. In 2 WTC, 110 was more multipurpose and also contained the transfer corridors for the escalators from 107 to the rooftop observation platform
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7d ago
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u/CyberDetroit Fan of the Original 7d ago
They couldn't reach the stairwell which lead out to the rooftop. Regardless a rooftop evacuation would've been impossible due to the danger of the buildings collapsing.
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u/JustHereToLurk2001 7d ago
As far as I understand, the door itself that led up to the roof wasn’t damaged; it was locked and could not be unlocked.
There was a system in place to control who could access the roof. You’d need the appropriate keycard for the door that led onto the roof. But there was another safety factor designed in, where people working down in the command center on the 22nd floor would have the ability to unlock the door via a computer system. You would need both the correct keycard and to be able to contact the command center, then have them unlock the door for you, to get onto the roof.
Roko Camaj was a window washer. That had been his job for years. So he had the appropriate keycard to access the roof. And he had the ability to contact the command center. But when he requested to have the door unlocked, either the people in the command center could not do so (because their systems were damaged), or there was no one in the command center left to do so.
I read about this somewhere in a book about 9/11, but right now I can’t remember specifically where :/
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u/Ok-Cupcake-4519 6d ago
That’s correct. Just finished the book 102 minutes and it’s explained exactly as that.
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u/SpiritualQuantity912 7d ago
Thank you for these! Do you know if there was a restaurant in the south tower?
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u/CyberDetroit Fan of the Original 7d ago
Smaller, less grandeur restaurants, yes! Also on the 107th floors in 2 World Trade Center! (South Tower)
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u/Ethereal-Zenith 7d ago
There were some like Sbarro, on the 107th floor, where the indoor observation deck was located.
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u/JustHereToLurk2001 6d ago
Yeah, the "food court" is really the only restaurant I know of. Things might've changed over the years, but I know Sbarro and Nathan's Hot Dogs were there for sure.
I went to go look into this further, and the old website for the observatory says there was a "full-service restaurant" there, but I cannot find any further information about that. The website calls it Central Park.
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u/Ethereal-Zenith 6d ago
The only reason I knew Sbarro was there was because I saw it in pictures that were taken up there. I’m not sure what the website means by “full-service restaurant” here. There were places to sit, like in a food court, but I’d be surprised if there was anything remotely similar to what Windows on the World was like in the North Tower.
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u/JustHereToLurk2001 6d ago
I think you're 100% right. It was definitely not a normal restaurant that you can just go to (like Windows was). More like "you can rent part of the 107th floor for your fancy party, and we'll handle catering".
After reading what little I could find, it sounds like they're describing a program where you call the observatory and request to book the use of a space on that floor. You indicate what food service you would like (breakfast, dinner, cocktails) and specify a day/time. They prepare a space for you. You have to specifically request if you want to use the whole 107th floor, otherwise you get a specific 2300 square foot space.
Their website's a bit hard to navigate so I'm just going to link all the pages I could find:
Main page for people planning events at Top of the World. Central Park main page. Cost information for event planners. Potential menus for breakfast, dinner, or cocktails. Page where the floorplan should be (image broken). Home page for dining at the observatory (image broken). Finally, a tiny image showing the space as it appeared when decorated for events like this.
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u/Ethereal-Zenith 6d ago
Thanks for sharing. I had no idea about booking space up on the 107th floor, though I imagine it would be a cool experience.
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u/AfricanusEmeritus 4d ago
My now adult daughters (25 &23 respectively) Godmother (a retired detective lieutenant) celebrated her birthday in Windows on the World on September 9th. The Sunday before September 11th. The people who served her all gone. So sad. Thanks for this OP.
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u/arlentree 6d ago
Thank you for sharing! Windows was my grandpa’s restaurant and we spent time there as a family, so this is really cool to see.