Marriott World Trade Center

The New York Marriott World Trade Center was a 22-story, 825-room hotel within the original World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. It opened in April 1981 as the Vista International Hotel and was the first major hotel to open in Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street since 1836. In November 1995, it was bought by Marriott Corporation and renamed to the Marriott World Trade Center. It was unofficially known as the Marriot Hotel, Vista Hotel and World Trade Center 3 (WTC 3 or 3 WTC).

The hotel was damaged in the World Trade Center bombing by al-Qaeda terrorists in February 1993. The city's Port Authority considered demolishing the building, but instead decided to repair it, reinforcing its structure. It re-opened in November 1994. In 2001, it was mostly destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers during the September 11 attacks by al-Qaeda. Only the southern end of the hotel was spared, but it was eventually demolished. Around 50 people inside the building died. The hotel was not replaced as part of the new World Trade Center complex, although its address was reused for the tower at 175 Greenwich Street.

Description
The building was a 22-story steel-framed structure with 825 rooms and six basement levels (labeled B1 through B6).

The hotel was connected to the North tower via an underground entrance at concourse level, and a small pedestrian walkway that extended from the west promenade of the Marriott to the North Tower on plaza level. On the 22nd floor, there was a gym that was the largest of any hotel in New York City at the time, with a swimming pool and a running track with views of the Hudson River and the Austin J Tobin Plaza. The hotel also had 26000 sqft of meeting space on the entire third floor. It was considered a four-diamond hotel by the American Automobile Association (AAA).

The hotel featured two restaurants: The Tall Ships Bar and Grill, located at street-level, and the Greenhouse Café, a restaurant on the plaza level that featured a large skylight looking up at the North and South tower. Previously, another restaurant had operated called The American Harvest; however, it was removed following the bombing in 1993 and was renovated and remained as a rentable space called the Harvest Room.

History
The hotel was first known as the Vista International Hotel, but also became known as World Trade Center 3 (WTC 3 or 3 WTC), the World Trade Center Hotel, the Vista Hotel, and the Marriott Hotel. The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with construction beginning in March 1979. It opened on April 1, 1981, with 100 of 825 rooms available, and it was completed in July 1981. Shortly before the opening day of the Vista, a fire broke out on the 7th floor. The Vista International was the first major hotel to open in Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street since 1836.

Kuo Hotel Corporation, based in Hong Kong, bought the hotel's leasehold in 1982 from Edward W. Ross and Jerrold Wexler. In 1989, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey bought the leasehold from Kuo for $78 million, but the operating rights remained in the hands of Hilton International as management agent.

1993 World Trade Center bombing


On February 26, 1993, the hotel was seriously damaged as a result of the World Trade Center bombing. Terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda took a Ryder truck loaded with 1,500 pounds (682 kilograms) of explosives and parked it in the North Tower parking garage below the hotel's ballroom. They likely viewed this as the area where an explosion would cause the most structural damage. At 12:18 p.m. (EDT), the explosion destroyed or seriously damaged the lower- and sub-levels of the World Trade Center complex. The Marriot Financial Center, a hotel located two blocks west, served as press conference area and a command post for the law enforcement response.

The city's Port Authority considered demolishing the building for some time. The building was instead closed for 18 months while they worked on extensive repairs. Reinforcements to the hotel's structure, including the installation of "the largest steel beam ever put in a building to that point". The hotel reopened on November 1, 1994. On November 9, 1995, the hotel was sold to Host Marriott Corporation for $141.5 million. It was renamed to the New York Marriott World Trade Center. The new company adminstering the hotel started operations in January 1996. Security was increased at the hotel, but they were ineffective in the face of the attacks in September 2001. In January 2001, 77 New York Police Department (NYPD) police cadets graduated in a ceremony held at the hotel.

September 11 attacks
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes to crash into various targets in the U.S. Two crashed into both of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, which were located right next to the hotel. Based on eyewitness accounts compiled by the New York Times, around 50 people in the hotel died from the attacks, out of the roughly 2,753 people who died in New York City from the attacks. At least 41 firefighters died, along with two hotel employees who assisted them with evacuating guests. 11 guests were never identified, and it is not known if they died in the building or elsewhere in the World Trade Center complex. 14 people survived both collapses from inside the building.

On the 11th, the hotel had 940 registered guests. The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) was holding its yearly conference at the hotel from September 8 to 11, 2001. In addition, the hotel was planned to host the Law School Admission Council's New York City Law School Forum – a law school recruiting event – on September 14 and 15. The council was expecting 4,000 students to attend, from 160 schools. About 11 people who were planning to go to the forum were scheduled to check in to the hotel on September 11, but did not make it there before the attacks started.

Crashes into the Twin Towers
When American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower (1 WTC) at 8:46 a.m. EDT, its landing gear fell and crashed through the roof into an office next to the 22nd-floor pool. The whole building shook, and parts of it caught on fire. Alarms went off throughout the building, and its phones and elevators shut down. The freight elevator still worked, however. Security guards escorted out the group attending the NABE conference. Firefighters reported human remains and corpses on the roof, from people who fell or jumped from the south face of the North Tower. At least ten firefighter companies used the lobby as a staging area; it is possible that many or all of the companies were not sent there, but instead got lost amidst the evacuation of the towers. United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower (2 WTC) at 9:02 or 9:03.

Some fire companies evacuated guests that were on the upper floors, being followed by elevator mechanic Robert Graff and two employees with master keys: Joseph Keller, the hotel's executive housekeeper, and Abdul Malahi, an audiovisual technician assisting with the law school forum who was the only civilian Arab that died on 9/11. The evacuation effort was led by Keller, Richard Fetter (the hotel's resident manager), and Nancy Castillo (human resources head at Marriot World Trade Center and Marriott Financial Center). Fetter attempted to get a new version of the hotel registry, but their computer system had shut down, so he found the most recently-printed copy and a set of emergency phone numbers.

People who were escaping the tower crashes, especially the North Tower, also stopped at the hotel; these people numbered at a thousand or more. This is in part due to a door at the north face of the building, facing the North Tower. The people in the lobby moved away from the North Tower, walking south through the hotel, until they reached the Tall Ships Bar and Grill, which opened onto Liberty Street. A police officer stood at the exit, stopping civilians from crossing the street whenever debris was falling.

Collapse of the Twin Towers
The collapse of the South Tower at 9:59 crushed the middle of the building, creating a large gap. The lobby was filled with debris, but nonetheless acted as a shield for firemen, police, and hotel staff, due to its reinforcements after the bombing. Abdul Malahi was killed. Before the collapse, there were seven firemen from Engine Company No. 74 in the middle of the hotel on the 21st floor, four of whom died. Around 17 people in the evacuation effort were still alive on the 3rd and 4th floors; three firefighters on these floors went upstairs to find a fireman who radioing a mayday signal, Michael Brennan. On the half of the building that was nearer the South Tower, three civilians and two firemen trapped on the 3rd floor escaped to the 2nd floor by crawling through an opening in a wall on an I-beam, which probably fell from the tower. In the lobby, firefighters began exiting the building to get reinforcements. Joseph Keller and Fire Lieutenant Bob Nagel were trapped by debris, and the other firefighters began trying to cut away the debris around them using saws. While this happened, the North Tower collapsed.

The collapse of the North Tower at 10:28 destroyed the rest of the hotel, aside from a small section surrounding the southern stairwell. This section would have collapsed if not for the reinforcements made after the 1993 bombing. There were 14 survivors trapped in this section, on the 2nd floor; this included 13 firemen from Company 74 and hotel guest Frank Razzano, who had evacuated from his 19th-floor room. The group found a hole in the building, and threaded either a rug or drape through it, then climbed down onto a pile of debris. Keller and the three firefighters who went to rescue Michael Brennan died from the second collapse. Eight firemen from Brooklyn Heights Engine 205 (including Scott Davidson, father of celebrity Pete Davidson) likely died from the collapse, after saving around 900 people. All the firemen still in the lobby escaped, and Richard Fetter survived.

After destruction
Bill Marriott, the businessman who owned the hotel, delivered a speech to his employees on the 20th, where he thanked them for their work on the 11th, and announced they would be employed until at least October 5, and covered by the hotel's health insurance for a year. The guests staying at the Marriott World Trade Center and the Marriott Financial Center, which was also damaged during the attacks, were sent to seven other Marriott hotels in the city. At those locations, security was increased and cancellation fees were waived.

On the afternoon of the attacks, photographer Thomas E. Franklin captured the now-iconic image Raising the Flag at Ground Zero, depicting the U.S. flag being raised by firefighters upon a flagpole believed to have been Marriott property located on what remained of the hotel grounds. A Marriott flag that was found in the rubble in December was displayed in a glass case for the next few months, honoring the hotel's employees with the plaque: "Our Spirit to Serve From sacrifice . . . honor From adversity . . . resolve From grief . . . remembrance".

In January 2002, the remnants of the hotel were dismantled to make way for reconstruction. The Marriott Corporation was then offered an opportunity to rebuild the hotel in the same location within the World Trade Center site, as its lease which was signed until 2094 had not expired. Marriott declined the offer, and in October 2003, the Port Authority voted on an agreement under which the Host Marriott Corporation would "surrender the premises", resulting in termination of the lease and thus giving the land to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The museum received the displayed Marriott flag.

The building and its survivors were featured in the television special documentary film Hotel Ground Zero, which premiered on September 11, 2009, on the History Channel. Some survivors only found out after watching the documentary that others they had met during the attacks were still alive. The survivors have reunited near or at the hotel site multiple times. In 2013, there was charity run in the area to honor Ruben Correa, a firefighter who died as a part of the group on the 21st floor.