"Near the World Trade Center the new $500 million Perelman Performing Arts Center opened this fall as what has been described as the last piece of the post‑9/11 rebuild for theater, art, and food. Michael Kimmelman called the eight‑story, 129,000‑square‑foot building “a spectacular marble cube” that may yet turn the World Trade Center into a neighborhood; it was conceived in the fraught economy after 9/11 as a place the community needed to come back to life. The building’s design includes an entrance that rises under the south corner like a hem and a staircase that functions as “a stoop for the neighborhood,” and it houses Metropolis and a separate lobby lounge (Wine Barre), positioning the center as both an arts venue and a new local gathering spot." - Melissa McCart