One WTC Might Be The Official Name, But The Freedom Tower Is The Right One
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In the heart of Lower Manhattan, two buildings once stood as unmistakable symbols of New York’s ambition and the country’s economic might. Officially, they were known as the North Tower and the South Tower of the World Trade Center. But no one called them that. To New Yorkers, to Americans, and to the world, they were simply “the Twin Towers.”
This wasn’t a marketing decision or an official decree—it was organic. The name captured their identity better than anything the Port Authority could have come up with. The two towers were inseparable in the skyline and in the public imagination, so the name stuck. It didn’t matter what their technical designation was. The people decided what to call them, and that was the end of the discussion.
Fast-forward to today, and history is repeating itself with One World Trade Center. That’s its official name, the one used on blueprints and in corporate press releases. But to many, it will always be the Freedom Tower. That was the name given to the project when it was first announced—a name filled with meaning, resilience, and purpose. It wasn’t just another skyscraper going up in Lower Manhattan. It was a symbol of rebirth, a defiant answer to those who thought they could shatter the spirit of a city.
Somewhere along the way, officials decided that “Freedom Tower” was too evocative, too political, too loaded. They wanted a name that sounded more like an address and less like a statement. But that’s the problem—One World Trade Center is just that: a name. Freedom Tower is an idea. And just like the Twin Towers before it, the name that carries real meaning is the one people should use.
In a world where the struggle is real and the hustle and bustle leaves New Yorkers winded and hopeless, freedom is a word that isn’t being said enough. It isn’t being said enough in America and it isn’t being said enough in NYC. It’s almost the country and the city has given up on freedom. And that is ironic since NYC is arguably the most free city in America.
New York doesn’t take orders on what to call its landmarks. No one says “Avenue of the Americas” when they mean Sixth Avenue. The Ed Koch Bridge will always be the Queensboro. And One World Trade Center? It will always be the Freedom Tower. The city decides what its icons are called, not the bureaucrats. And when something holds this much history, this much weight, the name matters. It reminds us that freedom is something you need to work for and fight for. It isn’t something you can go to bed and always wake up to.
