WTC1 just keeps getting worse and worse

What the city ended up with as a replacement to the original World Trade Center towers is safe and bland, and while you might have thought it couldn't get any worse, it will.  In an effort to save 20 million dollars, The Durst Organization and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have decided to discard the steel and fiberglass shell, designed in collaboration with sculptor Kenneth Snelson, encasing the broadcast antenna atop Tower One.  The Durst Organization has claimed that maintaining and repairing the antenna enclosure would be too difficult and expensive.  Architect David Childs said:

“We are disappointed that a decision has been made to remove the sculptural enclosure at the top of 1 World Trade Center...Eliminating this integral part of the building’s design and leaving an exposed antenna and equipment is unfortunate. We stand ready to work with the port on an alternate design that will still mark the 1 World Trade Center’s place in New York City’s skyline.”

Not only will this change take away the only mildly interesting element of the design, it will also likely negate WTC1's status as the tallest building in the country since the unclad broadcast antenna will not be classified as a spire, and therefore cannot be included in the total height of the structure according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.  The Council will wait to make a final ruling on the height of the structure until it is complete on 2014, but if they ultimately decide the antenna cannot be considered, the total height of Tower One will be 1,368 feet (see below, C2E).

Here's what some idiot commenters over at the Wall Street Journal had to say:

 

While someone at the New York Times insisted it's not too late to get back on the right track and just rebuild replicas of the original towers in the two remaining empty lots.

[NYT]