Why the Oculus Matters [A Byte Out of the Big Apple]

In many ways, the original World Trade Center was just that — while about 50,000 people worked there, 140,000 people visited each day. They came, for instance, for the summer concerts at Austin J. Tobin Plaza, to dine on roast loin of veal stuffed with wild mushrooms at Windows of the World and drink cocktails at The Greatest Bar on Earth, and to take in the breathtaking view from the Top of the World Observation Deck. My father went regularly to the World Trade Center when he first moved to New York City to learn the English language. And underneath it was a busy mass transit system that included both the New York City Subway and Port Authority’s PATH trains, which shuttled government workers, hot dog vendors, bankers, engineers, attorneys, window washers, and tourists in and out of the Financial District.