NEW YORK (AP) – A 55-story hotel that was damaged in the World Trade Center attack reopened Monday after $30 million in repairs and renovations.
“For years to come, our guests will be able to watch from this hotel as New York rebuilds on hallowed ground across the street,” said Ted Ratcliff, a senior vice president for Hilton/Doubletree, which operates the Millennium Hilton Hotel.
The hotel sustained exterior damage and its interior was contaminated by debris when the twin towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Most of the hotel’s 565 rooms have a view of the trade center site. Hotel officials have surveyed guests and found that most say they would not mind staying in a room overlooking the scene of the terrorist attack.
Gov. George Pataki called the reopening “an incredible symbol of the rebirth of confidence and energy in lower Manhattan and in the greatest city in the world.”
Hundreds of uniformed hotel employees cheered as the tattered U.S., New York state and New York City flags that flew at the hotel on the day of the attack were hoisted at the reopening ceremony.
Nataleen Price, a housekeeping manager, said she used to spend her lunch hour browsing at a bookstore at the trade center.
“It’s just hard to imagine it’s not there,” she said. “But it’s good that we’re back and we’re working.”
AP-ES-05-05-03 1656EDT
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