October 18, 2014 marks an emotional and a truly historic milestone for both New Yorkers and the United States as a whole. 13 years after the 9/11 terrorist attack that formerly demolished the Twin Towers, the revitalized and the iconic World Trade Center has officially emerged from the ruins and is open for business.

The One World Trade Center is a 104-story, $3.9 billion-dollar high-rise that rules the Manhattan skyline. It is now America’s largest skyscraper. It’s the focus of the 16-acre site where the destroyed twin towers once stood and where more than 2,700 people perished on Sept. 11, 2001, immersed within smoking dunes of fiery wreckage.

Through the excitement of the new skyscraper, the spirit of renewal did not suppress the memories of the horrific act of terrorism. The One World Trade Center sets new principles of layout, production, stature, and durability. The opening of this iconic structure is a major milestone in the transformation of Lower Manhattan into a thriving 24/7 neighborhood.

The area of Lower Manhattan has prospered in recent years beyond anyone’s imagination since the building of the Freedom Tower. About 60,000 more citizens now reside there — three times more than before 9/11 — keeping roads, restaurants and stores thriving even after Wall Street and other offices close for the day. Still, it’s a nostalgic triumph, one accomplished with the past in mind as the architects created One World Trade Center.

With the construction fences gone and the many boxes of office equipment in place, employees of Conde Naste, Cantor Fitzgerald, and new companies walked in Monday into what is now called “the most secure office building in America.”

The One World Trade Center has officially welcomed in a massive 2,300 employees from its primary tenant, Conde Naste. This dominant and overpowering edifice embraced multitudes of the original workers from Cantor Fitzgerald and new renowned magazine enterprises, such as Vogue, GQ, and Vanity Fair. These misplaced men and women have finally found a home throughout the offices of the 24 floors of this massive and compelling structure in Lower Manhattan.

Although the Freedom Tower reopened, only about 340 of Conde Naste and Cantor Fitzgerald’s 3,400 employees are moving in now, filling five floors of the tower. About 3,000 more workers will arrive by early 2015.

This remarkable edifice is 60-percent leased by well-known and successful businesses, with another 80,000 square feet belonging to various magazines and publishing enterprises. Some of these include advertising firm Kids Creative, the arena operator Legends Hospitality, the BMB Group finance consultants, and Servcorp, a source for administrative offices.

The government’s General Services Administration signed up for 275,000 more square feet and the China Center, a trade and cultural facility that will comprise of 191,000 square feet.

Plans to rebuild these incredible structures and reopen the World Trade Center have been in effect ever since the debris from the horrific attacks cleared in 2002. However, unbeknownst to the public, the eight-year formation of the 1,776-foot-high skyscraper came years after political, financial and legal strife that threatened to derail the project.

However, the bickering slowly died down as two other towers started going up on the southeast end of the site. These include the now completed 4 World Trade Center, whose anchor tenant is the Port Authority, and the 3 World Trade Center that’s slowly rising.

After much deliberation, a 408 foot spire was added to the Freedom Tower, making it the tallest building in the United States. The illuminated spire of One World Trade Center serves as a beacon of hope to planes that fly above the city, presumably at eye level with the skyscraper’s open roof. The sight of the building expands from Manhattan to the Statue of Liberty into New Jersey and Connecticut and all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Even after the sun sets, the incandescent steel-and-glass behemoth can be seen from vessels in New York Harbor approaching Manhattan.

With the new spire, the Freedom Tower now stands at 1,776 feet tall, significant to the year that America gained its independence.  Steve Plate, the overseer of the World Trade Center construction plan, spoke approvingly of the revival of the fallen site, and even called it the “eighth wonder of the world.”

The One World Trade Center’s viewing area One World Observatory deck will take over the building’s 100^th, 101^st, and 102^nd levels when it opens to the public in 2015. Admission will cost $32. This experience will include a 1,250-foot climb to the top floors, which will only take 60 seconds in the building’s special Sky Pod elevators. The tour will start with a demonstration that shows the tourists a first-hand account of the rising tower as well as some of the bedrock on which it’s built. Once guests reach the top of the building, they will be escorted to view a collaborative video whose screen draws back to unveil the real-life views from the 102nd floor. Tourists can then visit the surveillance deck’s other amenities, like its restaurants, bar, retail area, or its City Pulse station where tour guides will be available to inform the guests about the views.

For years, the grisly pit where the surviving workers found mostly body parts was dubbed Ground Zero of the aerial terror attack. Now, from the northeast corner of the Ground Zero site, the tower overlooks the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Objects big and small from the greatest terrorist attack on American soil now make up a museum dedicated to that catastrophe and the 2,983 people who died. It is one of America’s largest and most ambitious dedication museums, almost fully underground and instituted in the graveyard and the footprints of the twin towers. It’s indicated purpose is to honor those who perished on that bright September morning. It opened to the public just six months ago.

One dominant concern of the new residents and employees of the One World Trade Center is the uncertainty of future terrorist attacks. To pacify the public about imminent terrorist attacks, T.J. Gottesdiener of the Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill practice that created the final design for the skyscraper stated, ‘’The high-rise was built with steel-reinforced concrete that makes it as terror attack-proof as possible. The firm went beyond the city’s existing building codes to attain that. We did it, we did it at last.’’

“It’s a fantastic breakthrough,” Steve said.  “I was there that historic day. And to see from where we began to where we are now, it’s a dream come true.  It is the eighth wonder of the world.  And the edifice itself is truly iconic.”

“The New York City horizon is complete once again, as One World Trade Center takes its place in Lower Manhattan,” said Patrick Foye, supervisor of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that owns both the building and the World Trade Center site.