Proposed Skyscraper Evokes Bad Memories of 9/11

"Is he trying to evoke the tragic collision of those 9/11 jets in the gashlike shapes, then offering us a symbol of rebirth in planted balconies? By telephone he says no. Instead, the idea is to extend the greenery of Madison Square Park into the sky, to make 'every apartment a penthouse,' since most floors would open to one of the gardens.

The core and a few super columns would need to thread their way through the Met Life building, then down to bedrock. As they rise, the super columns divide like fork tines, into smaller columns to run less obtrusively through apartments, then unite again to zoom though the wedges of space.

This would be the most daring feat of engineering and construction proposed by a developer in years. There's no price tag yet, but it is not an undertaking for the faint of heart or the light of wallet."