At least 70,000 people worked at the World Trade Center and another 70,000 visited each day. The Center consisted of two 110-story (1350 feet each) office towers (One and Two World Trade Center), a 47-story office building (Seven World Trade Center), two nine-story office buildings (Four and Five World Trade Center), an eight-story U.S. Customhouse (Six World Trade Center), and the 22-story New York Marriott World Trade Center Hotel (Three World Trade Center). The World Trade Center Mall, located immediately below the plaza, hosted a wide range of shops and restaurants. At 107 floors, The World Trade Center was New York's tallest building and the among tallest buildings in the world. The elevator took passengers to the glass enclosed observation decks for spectacular views of the city skyline. At the 100th floor was the world's highest outdoor promenade. There were a variety of dining choices at the World Trade Center including fast food and full service restaurants. The famous Windows on the World restaurant offered an exceptional dining experience. There were also two restaurants in the Marriott World Trade Center. They were the Tall Ships Bar and the Greenhouse Café.

Empire State Building
A symbol of New York City all over the world, the Empire State Building stood as the tallest building in the world until 1977 when the World Trade Center took the title. None-the-less, the Empire State Building remains one of the most beloved and recognized buildings in the world. Designed in the Art Deco motif, the building was completed in 1931. When the building was opened, they had such a hard time finding tenants to rent space within it that New Yorkers began calling it the "Empty State Building." Luckily, the popularity of the observatories prevented the building from going into bankruptcy. Everything about the building was designed to expedite its construction. Pre-fabricated material was used as much as possible. As a result, work progressed at a rate of about four stories each week. The entire framework took 23 weeks to complete. The original design called for 86 stories, but a 150 ft (46m) mooring mast for zeppelins was added. Today the mast is used for TV and radio broadcasts.
High-speed elevators traveling at up to 1,200 ft (366 m) per minute carry passengers from floor to floor. One frightening incident occurred in 1945, when a bomber plane flying through fog over Manhattan crashed into the building just above the 78th floor. An elevator carrying an elevator operator fell to the bottom. The woman was saved by the elevator emergency brakes.