NEW YORK (AP) — The World Trade Center's final office tower will start construction as soon as this spring and become American Express ' new headquarters, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the company said Wednesday, marking a milestone nearly 25 years after the Sept. 11 attacks destroyed the site.
The 2 World Trade Center building will round out the long, tortuous redevelopment of the original 16-acre trade center property. There remains no construction date for a neighboring apartment building to replace another 9/11-damaged skyscraper.
But the 2 World Trade Center announcement represents a big step, physically and symbolically, in fulfilling a pledge of renewal at ground zero. Hochul and other officials also trumpeted the project as a sign of New York's continued vitality as a business hub. It comes as Florida and other states have been working to woo companies away, and President Donald Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly contended that Democrat-led New York's appeal is waning.
“Building 2 World Trade Center will bring another iconic skyscraper to Lower Manhattan, create thousands of good-paying union jobs and provide billions in economic benefits to New Yorkers," Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement.
American Express CEO Stephen Squeri called the skyscraper “an investment in our company’s future, our colleagues and the Lower Manhattan community,” where the credit card giant has been based for nearly 200 years. Its current headquarters is just west of the trade center.
The trade center was decimated when al-Qaida hijackers crashed jets into its twin towers, part of a coordinated attack that also sent planes into the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed, mainly at the trade center.
Fraught with engineering, financial and political complexities and public debate over what to build, redevelopment unfolded gradually and hit numerous roadblocks.
But over time, the signature 1 World Trade Center skyscraper, other towers, the Sept. 11 memorial and museum, a transit hub -cum-shopping center and a performing arts center were built on the property, owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A damaged Greek Orthodox church was rebuilt in a spot overlooking the plaza.
The 55-story, roughly two-million-square-foot (186,000-square-meter) 2 World Trade Center building is planned at the site's northeastern corner. The spot is currently occupied by a low placeholder building, covered with colorful graffiti-style murals, and a beer garden.
American Express declined to discuss the cost of the new building, which the company will own, leasing the underlying land. The tower isn't getting state, city or Port Authority financing or incentives, said Port Authority spokesperson Tom Topousis, who referred questions about the cost to American Express.
Plans once envisioned a skyscraper soaring as high as 80 stories, and News Corp. and the former 21st Century Fox were among companies that at points eyed leasing space there. Like some other trade center components, the project labored for years to secure financing and an anchor tenant. The task grew tougher when the coronavirus pandemic emptied offices in 2020 and raised questions about companies' future space needs.
Developer Larry Silverstein always insisted the project would happen, however.
Silverstein Properties CEO Lisa Silverstein, who is the 94-year-old developer's daughter, hailed American Express as "an iconic institution embodying the strength, resilience, and global significance of the project.”
The company plans to occupy the entire Norman Foster -designed building, a sleek structure of glassy sections interspersed with landscaped terraces and gardens. It's expected to accommodate up to 10,000 workers; American Express declined to say how that compares to its current headquarters.
Completion is expected in 2031.
A person walks past 2 World Trade Center where American Express will build new global headquarters, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A person walks past 2 World Trade Center where American Express will build new global headquarters, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
People walk past 2 World Trade Center where American Express will build new global headquarters, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI served search warrants Wednesday at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s headquarters and the home of its leader, a former Superintendent of the Year who was knighted by Spain for his work.
The nature of the federal investigation involving the nation’s second-largest school district and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s home was not immediately clear. The district said in a statement that it “is cooperating with the investigation and we do not have further information at this time.” The FBI also searched a third location near Miami, where Carvalho previously led the public schools.
TV news footage showed agents in FBI shirts and jackets outside Carvalho’s home in the San Pedro neighborhood about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of downtown LA. There was no visible sign of agents outside the LA district's headquarters as of mid-morning.
Rukelt Dalberis, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, confirmed that agents were at the properties to serve warrants but declined to comment further because affidavits laying out details for the basis for the searches were under seal.
Before taking the helm of the Los Angeles district in 2022, Carvalho oversaw Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Florida’s largest school district, from 2008 to 2021. During his tenure, he was credited with improving graduation rates and academic performance. The national superintendents association named him Superintendent of the Year in 2014, and Spain knighted the Portugal-born administrator in 2021 for his work in expanding Spanish-language programs for Miami-Dade County schools.
In California, Carvalho has stood out as a harsh critic of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, especially following raids in Los Angeles last year. When its 500,000 students returned to classes in the fall, Carvalho urged immigration authorities not to conduct enforcement activity within a two-block radius of schools.
“I would be the biggest hypocrite in the world, regardless of my position today, if today I did not fight for those who find themselves in the same predicament I faced over 40 years ago when I arrived in this country at the age of 17 as an undocumented immigrant,” Carvalho said at a news conference last year.
Carvalho arrived in Los Angeles at a critical moment, as the district found itself flush with funding from state and federal COVID-19 relief money but still struggling with the impacts of the pandemic, including learning losses and declining enrollment. He previously sparred with Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over his order that schools not require masks during the pandemic.
Officials with the Miami-Dade school system did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on whether the FBI or other federal agencies have contacted them regarding Carvalho.
James Marshall, an FBI spokesman in Miami, told the AP that agents searched a residence in Southwest Ranches, which is in Broward County west of Fort Lauderdale, on Wednesday morning and “have since cleared the scene.” He said no further information was available.
Wednesday's search was the second time in a week the Justice Department has taken action against the LA school district. On Feb. 19, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit alleging that the district discriminates against white students under its decades-old desegregation policy.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s office said it had no information about the search, noting the public school system operates independently of city government.
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Tucker reported from Washington and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, also contributed to this report.
Media stage outside the home of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in San Pedro, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
outside the home of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in San Pedro, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Photos of board members decorate the walls inside LAUSD headquarters Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The exterior of LAUSD headquarters is shown Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The exterior of LAUSD headquarters is shown Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
People stand in the lobby of the LAUSD headquarters Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Media stages outside LAUSD headquarters Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE - Los Angeles District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, at podium, holds a news conference as SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias, left, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, listen, in Los Angeles City Hall, Friday, March 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
