FREEDOM TOWER OBSERVATORY DRIVER

I think for me it’s about finding something unique to you – I’m a big New York Giants fan, and from here we can see the stadium where they play. For me it’s always those unique findings you start searching and you’re like “Can I see this?” or “Can I see that!?” One time someone asked me ‘’What are all those flashing lights in the distance?” and I said it’s Times Square! For example, the other day I found the arch of Washington Square Park, and it just seemed magical that I could see it from here. We have to ask, if you had to pick one view, what would be your favourite view from the Observatory? An unfair question to have to pick one! One World Trade Center rising above the New York skyline, as seen from the water. Whether it’s locals trying to find where they live, or those that are not familiar with the city who are trying to learn about the place where they’re about to venture. When you have the opportunity to look around 360 degrees, you’ll always find something that makes you go “ wow, that’s incredible!”. It’s not just the unique views that are close to us, whether it be the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, or the famous bridges like Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, but also beyond – you can see the hills that extend out into Jersey, or into upstate New York. On a clear day, you can see fifty miles, which is absolutely incredible. I would say that a key part of the design is that when you get to where we are – up in the sky – you really get incredible views of the city and the area around us. There’s a lot of significance in the building itself the height of the actual building is the same height as the original Twin Towers, for example. Our architect was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and they were involved heavily in the process. People often have questions like “How tall is the building?” – then we can say, for example, that the reason it’s often called the ‘Freedom Tower’ is because it’s 1776 feet tall with 1776 being the year that we gained our independence.

They spend an incredible amount of time educating.

So I’ll preface it with this we have some incredible tour ambassadors that are not only well-versed in the building, but well-versed in the city around us. Nice! In terms of the building itself, can you tell us a bit about the architecture of One World Trade Centre? What’s the story behind the design? That definitely is what wakes me up in the morning and gets me excited about coming into work each day! I’m a big fan of togetherness, whether that be with our customers or associates.

FREEDOM TOWER OBSERVATORY DRIVER

That’s a daily driver for me: I love having people here. I get most excited when the team is happy, and looking forward to providing the best experience possible. I love being involved with the team, and the excitement we get from trying new things and the interactions that we create with the customers who visit us. You already touched on it a bit there, but what do you enjoy most about working at One World Observatory? I serve two: the associate, and the customer. My associates serve one entity: the customer.

I think it’s important to continue creating the level of experience that you would get at a high-end hotel our role is to service customers, and part of my job is ensuring that everyone here receives a first-class experience. My statement to the team is always that we need to display pride – in the place where we work, as well as in the city that we represent. The fact is that we represent New York City to the world half of our customers are from overseas, and we have the opportunity to welcome them each and every day. Well, I lead an incredible team of associates who really demonstrate pride, each and every day, in the Observatory we work at. Tell us a bit more about your role at One World Observatory – what does your position involve?

Freedom tower observatory