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TOWER OF HATE: Racist and sexist slur-filled graffiti covers inside of new World Trade Center
EXCLUSIVE: The soaring symbol of American resilience now bears the markings of lowlifes. The graffiti looms over the 16-acre site in lower Manhattan where more than 2,800 people of all colors and creeds died — victims of an attack directed at the heart of American ideals.
Welcome to the 1,776-foot tower of hate.
Shocking Daily News photos show bathrooms throughout 1 World Trade Center rife with repugnant graffiti — appalling scrawls that range from the N-word to sexist slurs and ethnic insults.
“Whites only,” reads a Jim Crow-era taunt over the urinals in one bathroom of the 104-story building.
Other anonymous offenders target President Obama — who visited the construction site just last June: “Where’s Obama’s birth certificate!!!!”
The soaring symbol of American resilience now bears the markings of lowlifes.
“It’s filthy, it’s shocking,” said Marie-Anne Sanchez, 37, who was visiting from Paris with her fiancé. “This is a holy place. People died here. I don’t like this. It makes me sad.”
A worker at the site told The News it’s difficult to walk into 1 WTC, commonly known by its previous name, Freedom Tower.
“We’re all supposed to be there as one, the whole 9/11 thing,” the worker said. “When you walk through the gate, you get a strong sense of pride.
“And then this is what you see. It’s so negative. It shouldn’t be on these walls.”
The plywood men’s rooms, spaced every five floors in the $3.8 billion building, bring racism and sexism to new heights — and lows.
Edgar Aguilar’s jaw literally dropped when a News reporter showed him photos of the filthy language.
“This is crazy. Totally unacceptable,” said the 20-year-old from Ozone Park, Queens. “It’s disrespectful to the whole memorial. I can’t even believe this. So immature.”
The most vile comments are near the top of the gleaming structure that will have 15,000 window panels when it opens in 2014. There, the breathtaking view is tempered by the vile commentary, the insider told The News.
“Most of it’s racial,” said the insider. “Most of it — I mean, there’s a lot of stuff with the N-word. But pretty much every race is covered: Spanish people, Irish people, Jewish people, women.”
The N-word, he added, “is written all over the place, to be honest with you. That’s a big deal. It’s there.”
One screed says that the Irish need to take baths.
“This is crazy. Totally unacceptable,” said the 20-year-old from Ozone Park, Queens. “It’s disrespectful to the whole memorial. I can’t even believe this. So immature.”
The most vile comments are near the top of the gleaming structure that will have 15,000 window panels when it opens in 2014. There, the breathtaking view is tempered by the vile commentary, the insider told The News.
“Most of it’s racial,” said the insider. “Most of it — I mean, there’s a lot of stuff with the N-word. But pretty much every race is covered: Spanish people, Irish people, Jewish people, women.”
The N-word, he added, “is written all over the place, to be honest with you. That’s a big deal. It’s there.”
“The new World Trade Center is more than just a skyscraper,” said Gov. Cuomo, hailing the moment when the building surpassed the Empire State Building in height in April of last year. “It is a symbol of the enduring spirit of the city and state of New York, representing our commitment to rebuilding stronger than before.”
But the metaphors become much more unsettling given the craven messages out of public view.
Typically, workers at 1 WTC hail the job as the most significant of their careers.
“I’ve been on many difficult and challenging projects, but this one transcends anything I could ever think of,” Steve Plate, the director of construction, said in December.
But behind the scenes, some workers treat the world’s most high profile work site as if it were a truck stop on Interstate 95.
While some effort is made to paint over the vitriol, neither Tishman Construction nor the Port Authority make it a priority, the insider said. And the racist writers are relentless.
The insider recalled a staircase where somebody wrote “Lame n----- be quiet.
Once it was painted over, the word “n-----” was quickly written three times in its place.
During his visit last June, Obama signed a steel beam with his own upbeat message: “We remember. We rebuild. We come back stronger!”
But his words were lost on some of the site’s 1,000 workers — especially in the leadup to last year’s presidential election.
On the 22nd floor, where the President and First Lady visited, someone had written, “Obama was here.”
The message was altered to read, “Obama was s---.”
Scribbles in the building about female workers reflect a level of sexism unheard of in most developed nations. Filthy messages suggest they have no business on a construction site — unless they’re providing sexual favors for male colleagues.
“Woman don’t belong in construction!” one sexist rant read. “Maybe painting, that’s it. Then who’s gonna (perform a sex act on) us?”
The anti-women remarks include graphic insults. A vulgar four-letter word for the female anatomy was written in orange spray paint on the 35th floor, the insider said.
But the graffiti isn’t limited to personal attacks inside the building that will soon be the tallest in the Western Hemisphere.
One twisted worker asked colleagues to supply their guesses for the age of Penn State pedophile Jerry Sandusky’s youngest victim. Several co-workers offered responses.
“This is pretty bad stuff,” the insider said. “Some guys write things like ‘Pride’ and ‘God bless America.’ That’s 1% of what’s written. The other 99% is all negative s---.”
The nasty comments are usually scrawled with permanent black markers that are common at the construction site.
According to the insider, the subject of graffiti has been raised several times during weekly meetings with officials at Tishman Construction Corp.
Their response is tepid at best, the insider said.
“They might come and paint the wall, and a week later it’s covered in graffiti again,” the insider said
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