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Rebirth In Lower Manhattan: New Fiterman Hall Opens Next Week

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Seven World Trade Center was the first building opened to replace one that was destroyed on 9/11.

On August 27, a Borough of Manhattan Community College building will be the second.

WCBS 880's Peter Haskell On The Story

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Like the Deutsche Bank Building, the old BMCC Fiterman Hall building lingered for years before finally being demolished in 2009.

Now, it's a different story.

"You can see the construction's still going on here," school vice president Scott Anderson told WCBS 880 reporter Peter Haskell inside the new high-tech Fiterman Hall. "We have the latest in technology here."

It's a 17-story brick and glass building just north of the World Trade Center site.

View From Fiterman Hall
View from Borough of Manhattan Community College's new Fiterman Hall building - New York, NY (credit: Peter Haskell / WCBS 880)

"It's really exciting. You can see the reflecting pool. There's the PATH train," said BMCC President Antonio Perez. "This is really a hub, the center of the universe, I feel."

He said he feels the symbolism of the re-building is perfect.

"It's all about hope and that's really what we provide for our students and we've never given up," he said. "It really symbolizes our students. They may not have all the opportunities in the world. But this is this their opportunity to progress and move their lives forward."

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