The World Trade Center reopens Monday, with more than 150 employees from magazine publisher Conde Nast becoming the first to occupy new offices in America's tallest skyscraper.
"The New York City skyline is whole again, as One World Trade Center takes its place in Lower Manhattan," said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns both the Freedom Tower and WTC site.
"One World Trade Center serves as a symbol of the resilience of the people of New York," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement,
reported CBS New York. "Today, as we open its doors for the first time, we remember that strength and courage will always conquer weakness and cowardice, and that the American spirit, defended by proud New Yorkers, will not be defeated."
Patricia Rockenwagner, a Conde Nast vice president and spokeswoman, said that all of the company's 3,400 employees will eventually migrate from their offices in Midtown Manhattan to the Financial District at the southern tip of the island.
By early 2015, employees of Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue, GQ, and The New Yorker, will fill floors 20 through 44, roughly 1.2 million square feet. Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue magazine who inspired the novel and film "The Devil Wears Prada," will move to the 25th floor.
So far, building managers have leased 60 percent of the 104-story tower, which overlooks a new transit hub, a vehicle security center, and the Sept. 11 memorial.
City planners say the tower – which took 8 years to construct – is the crown jewel of a revitalized Lower Manhattan, which in recent years has seen an influx of luxury retailers, and tens of thousands of new residents flocking to new luxury high-rises.