Chapter 1 PEOPLE PLACES AND POST-WAR POWER New York City is the biggest and most influential city in the United States The central part of the city is Manhattan New York City is home to more than 8 million people That makes it bigger than Los Angeles and Chicago the next biggest U S cities combined World Trade Center Ellis Island Statue of Liberty Staten Island Bronx Central Park Manhattan Queens Brooklyn New York City 4
Rising high above Lower Manhattan the new World Trade Center dominates the New York City skyline Near the Island’s south end sits the World Trade Center WTC Just a few city blocks square the World Trade Center is a symbol of the United States economic power It is also the central site of the worst day in the country’s history 5
The idea to create a World Trade Center began right after the United States’s victory in World War II By the late 1940s thanks in part to the U S winning the war New York City grew into the financial and shipping center of the United States and the world 6
Powerful People Perhaps nobody was more responsible for the creation and location of the World Trade Center than the Rockefeller family John D Rockefeller Jr and his sons owned a lot of Manhattan real estate Right after the war the Rockefeller family not only worked to bring the newly formed United Nations to New York City but they helped turn Lower Manhattan into the commercial center of the world They were able to accomplish this through Nelson Rockefeller's position as governor of New York David Rockefeller's vision for the huge redevelopment project and the families investments Some New Yorkers called the WTC Twin Towers David and Nelson after the Rockefeller brothers Nelson Rockefeller 1908 1979 was the 48th Governor of New York and the 41st Vice President of the United States David Rockefeller 1915 was the visionary behind the World Trade Center 7
