| Windows on the World | |
|---|---|
| Restaurant information | |
| Head chef | Michael Lomonaco |
| Street address | One World Trade Center, 107th Floor |
| City | New York, NY |
| Postal code/ZIP | 10048 |
| Country | United States |
| Seating Capacity | 240 |
| Website | www.windowsontheworld.com |
Windows on the World was a complex of venues at the top floors (106th and 107th) of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan that included a restaurant, Windows on the World, a smaller restaurant called Wild Blue, and a bar called The Greatest Bar on Earth, as well as rooms for private functions. Developed by restaurateur Joe Baum and designed initially by Warren Platner, Windows on the World occupied 50,000 square feet (4,600 m²) of space in the North Tower. The restaurants operated from April 1976 until 2001 when they were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.[1]
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The main dining room faced north and east, allowing guests to look out onto the skyline of Manhattan. The restaurant was not only one of the most respected in New York, but due to the premium location also had high prices. The dress code required jackets for men and was strictly enforced; a man who arrived with a reservation but without a jacket was seated at the bar.[2]
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. The bar's dress code was more relaxed and it had average prices. Looking out from the bar through the full length windows, one could see views of the southern tip of Manhattan, where the Hudson and East Rivers meet. In addition, one could see the Liberty State Park with Ellis Island and Staten Island with the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Windows on the World closed after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It underwent a US$25 million renovation and reopened in 1996. In 2000, its final full year of operation, it reported revenues of US$37 million, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States.[3]
Executive Chef of Windows on the World included Philippe Feret of Brasserie Julien, and the last Chef was Michael Lomonaco.
Windows on the World was destroyed when the North Tower collapsed during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. At the time of the attack on the World Trade Center, the restaurant was hosting regular breakfast patrons and the Risk Waters Financial Technology Congress. Everyone present in the restaurant when American Airlines Flight 11 penetrated the North Tower survived the plane's impact but perished either because of smoke inhalation during the ensuing conflagration, jumping or falling to their deaths, or the eventual collapse of the tower 102 minutes later, as all passages to below the impact zone were blocked. At the time of the attacks, present in the restaurant were 72 restaurant staff members (including acting manager Christine Olender, whose desperate calls to Port Authority police represented the restaurant's final communications), 16 Risk Waters employees, and 76 other guests/contractors.[4] The last people to leave the restaurant before Flight 11 collided with the North Tower at 8:46 AM were Michael Nestor, Liz Thompson, and Geoffrey Wharton, who departed at 8:44 AM.[5]
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 Sept. 11 in the World Trade Center. Windows on the World executive chef Michael Lomonaco and owner-operator David Emil were among the founders of that fund.
It has been speculated that The Falling Man, a famous photograph of a man dressed in white falling headfirst on September 11, was an employee at Windows on the World, but his identity has never been conclusively established, although he was believed (and identified) to be Jonathan Briley.[6]
On January 4, 2006, a number of former Windows on the World staff opened "Colors", 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.