Survivors' Staircase
 The staircase before 9/11
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The staircase several days after 9/11
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The staircase in 2006
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The staircase in the National 9/11 Museum
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The Survivors' Staircase was the last visible remaining original structure above ground level at the World Trade Center site. It was originally two outdoor flights of granite-clad stairs and an escalator that connected Vesey Street to the World Trade Center's Austin J. Tobin Plaza. During the September 11 attacks, the stairs served as an escape route for hundreds of evacuees from 5 World Trade Center, a 9-floor building adjacent to the 110-story towers. The staircase is now an important feature of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
The preservation of the staircase became a matter of dispute since May 11, 2006, when it was listed as one of America's Most Endangered Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The stairs occupied part of the site of a new office building which the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was contractually obligated to clear before the site was turned over to developer Larry Silverstein of Silverstein Properties, who in turn has a contractual obligation to develop the site as the 200 Greenwich Street office building, which is also referenced as "Tower 2" in the master plan.
The World Trade Center Survivors' Network urged the Port Authority and Silverstein to make a commitment to preserve the stairs, but neither made a public decision on the issue. Meanwhile, the already heavily-damaged stairs continued to deteriorate due to the heavy vibrations caused by construction of the permanent PATH station, the World Trade Center Memorial and 1 World Trade Center on the site.
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Wikipedia