Construction workers carefully placed a steal beam on top of the new World Trade Center Monday, making it New York City's tallest building.

One World Trade Center stands 381 meters above the streets of downtown Manhattan, surpassing the iconic Empire State Building.

When completed, the new building will be 104 stories high and 541 meters tall, which is 1,776 feet — a height chosen to symbolize freedom. 1776 was the year the United States declared independence from Britain.

One World Trade Center, often called Freedom Tower, is being built at the site of the twin towers of the original World Trade Center, destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.