| Windows on the World | |
|---|---|
 Logo designed byMilton Glaser | |
 Interactive map of Windows on the World | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | April 19, 1976; 49 years ago (April 19, 1976) |
| Closed | September 11, 2001; 24 years ago (2001-09-11) (destroyed in theSeptember 11 attacks) |
| Previous owner | David Emil |
| Head chef | Michael Lomonaco |
| Location | 1 World Trade Center, 107th Floor,Manhattan, New York City, NY, U.S.,New York City, New York, 10048, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°42′44″N74°0′47″W / 40.71222°N 74.01306°W /40.71222; -74.01306 |
| Seating capacity | 240 |
| Website | windowsontheworld.com (archived) |
Windows on the World was a complex of dining, meeting, and entertainment venues on the top floors (106th and 107th) of theNorth Tower (Building One) of the originalWorld Trade Center complex inLower Manhattan, New York City, United States.[1]
It included a restaurant called Windows on the World, a smaller restaurant called Wild Blue[1] (before 1999 was called "Cellar in the Sky"), a bar called The Greatest Bar on Earth[1] (which had previously been the Hors d'Oeuvrerie[2]) as well as a wine school and conference and banquet rooms for private functions located on the 106th floor. Developed byrestaurateurJoe Baum and designed initially byWarren Platner, Windows on the World occupied 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of space in the North Tower. The Skydive Restaurant, which was a 180 seatcafeteria on the 44th floor of 1 WTC conceived for office workers, was also operated by Windows on the World.[3][4]
The restaurants opened on April 19, 1976,[5][6] and were destroyed in theSeptember 11 attacks.[3] All of the staff members who were present in the restaurant on the day of the attacks perished; the impact ofAmerican Airlines Flight 11 severed all means of escape from the 92nd floor up.[3]
The main dining room faced north and east, allowing guests to look out onto the skyline ofManhattan. The dress code requiredjackets for men and was strictly enforced; a man who arrived with a reservation but without a jacket was seated at the bar. The restaurant offered jackets that were loaned to the patrons so they could eat in the main dining room.[7] The dinnerware, rugs, lighting fixtures, menus and the communication equipment were designed byMilton Glaser.[8][9][10]
A more intimate dining room, Wild Blue, was located on the south side of the restaurant. The bar extended along the south side of 1 World Trade Center as well as the corner over part of the east side. Looking out from the bar through the full length windows, one could see views of the southern tip of Manhattan, where theHudson andEast River meet. In addition, one could see theLiberty State Park withEllis Island andStaten Island with theVerrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The kitchens, utility spaces, and conference center in the restaurant were located on the 106th floor.
Windows on the World closed after the1993 bombing, in which employee Wilfredo Mercado was killed while checking in deliveries in the building's underground garage. The explosion also damaged receiving areas, storage and parking spots used by the restaurant complex.[11] On May 12, 1994, thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey announced that the Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Company had won the contract to run the restaurants after Windows's former operator,Inhilco, gave up its lease.[12] It underwent a US$25 million renovation and reopened on June 26, 1996.[13][14] Cellar in the Sky, a 60-seat space within the restaurant, reopened afterLabor Day.[15] In 1999, Cellar in the Sky was changed into an Americansteakhouse and renamed "Wild Blue".[16] In 2000, its final full year of operation, it reported revenues of US$37 million, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in theUnited States.[17]
Theexecutive chefs of Windows on the World included Philippe Feret ofBrasserie Julien, while the last chef wasMichael Lomonaco.
_-_Flickr_id_15720238041.jpg)
Windows on the World was destroyed when the North Towercollapsed during theSeptember 11 attacks. While the restaurant was hosting regular breakfast patrons and the Risk Waters Financial Technology Congress,American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower between floors 93 and 99 at 8:46 a.m.[18] Everyone present in the restaurant died that day, as all means of escape (including the stairwells and elevators) were instantly destroyed or blocked by the impact. Victims trapped in the restaurant either died fromsmoke inhalation from the ensuing fire, jumping or falling, or the North Tower's eventual collapse at 10:28 A.M. At least five Windows occupants were witnessed falling to their deaths from the restaurant.[19]
There were 72 restaurant staff present in the restaurant, including assistant general manager Christine Olender, whose desperate calls toPort Authority police represented the restaurant's final communications.[20] SixteenIncisive Media-Risk Waters Group employees, as well as 76 other guests/contractors, were also present.[21] Among those also present was the executive director of the Port Authority,Neil Levin, who was having breakfast. After about 9:40 a.m., no further distress calls from the restaurant were made. The last people to leave the restaurant before Flight 11 crashed into the building were Michael Nestor, Liz Thompson, Geoffrey Wharton, and Richard Tierney, who all shared an elevator together. They departed at 8:44 a.m. and survived the attack.[22]
World Trade Center lessorLarry Silverstein regularly held breakfast meetings in Windows on the World with tenants, as part of his recent acquisition of the Twin Towers from the Port Authority, and was scheduled to be in the restaurant on the morning of the attacks. However, his wife insisted that he had to go to a dermatologist's appointment that morning, whereby he avoided death.[23]
In its last iteration, Windows on the World received mixed reviews.Ruth Reichl, aNew York Times food critic, said in December 1996 that "nobody will ever go to Windows on the World just to eat, but even the fussiest food person can now be content dining at one of New York's favorite tourist destinations." She gave the restaurant two out of four stars, signifying a "very good" quality rather than "excellent" (three stars) or "extraordinary" (four stars).[24] In his 2009 bookAppetite, William Grimes wrote that "At Windows, New York was the main course."[25] In 2014, Ryan Sutton ofEater.com compared the now-destroyed restaurant's cuisine to that of its replacement,One World Observatory. He stated, "Windows helped usher in a new era of captive audience dining in that the restaurant was a destination in itself, rather than a lazy byproduct of the vital institution it resided in."[26]
Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund was organized soon after the attacks to provide support and services to the families of those in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries who had been killed on September 11 in the World Trade Center. Windows on the World executive chefMichael Lomonaco and owner-operator David Emil were among the founders of that fund.
On January 4, 2006, a number of former Windows on the World staff openedColors, a co-operative restaurant in Manhattan that serves as a tribute to their colleagues and whose menu reflects the diversity of the former Windows' staff.[27] The original location closed in 2017 and reopened in 2019.[28] Windows on the World was planned to reopen on the top floors of the newOne World Trade Center, but that project was canceled in 2011.[29] Instead, One World Observatory contains eateries named ONE Dine, ONE Mix and ONE Café.[30]
It has been speculated thatThe Falling Man, a famous photograph of a man dressed in white falling headfirst on September 11, was an employee at Windows on the World. Although his identity has never been conclusively established, he was believed to be Jonathan Briley, an audio technician at the restaurant. Jonathan was the younger brother ofAlex Briley, the original "G.I." from the bandVillage People.[31]
In March 2005, the novelWindows on the World, by French novelistFrédéric Beigbeder, was released; the novel focuses on two brothers who are in the restaurant on September 11 with their father.[32]Kenneth Womack's 2012 novelThe Restaurant at the End of the World is a fictive recreation of the lives of the staff and visitors at the Windows on the World complex on the morning of September 11.[33]
In 2021, young adult novelistAlan Gratz published a book calledGround Zero about a boy named Brandon who is with his father in Windows on the World on the morning ofSeptember 11, 2001.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
