The World Trade Center in New York City, United States, (sometimes informally referred to as the WTC or the Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan, mostly designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki and engineer Leslie Robertson and developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It was initiated in 1960 by a Lower Manhattan Association created and chaired by David Rockefeller, who had the original idea of building the Center, with strong backing from the then-New York governor, his brother Nelson Rockefeller. The World Trade Center, New York, like most World Trade Centers located around the globe, belonged to the family of World Trade Centers Association. Prior to its destruction, Larry Silverstein held the most recent lease to the complex, the Port Authority having leased it to him in July 2001. The complex, located in the heart of New York City's downtown financial district, contained 13.4 million square feet (1.24 million m²) of office space, almost four percent of Manhattan's entire office inventory at that time.

Best known for its iconic 110-story twin towers (107 usable floors, two engineering-only floors on top of a lobby which was three stories high) the World Trade Center was beset by a fire on February 13, 1975 and a bombing on February 26, 1993.

The seven buildings were as follows:

• Building number 1 was the "North Tower," a 110-story tower featuring an antenna mast on its roof.
• Building number 2 was the "South Tower," a 110-story tower with an observation deck on its roof.
• Building number 3 was the 22-story Marriott World Trade Center Hotel.
• Building number 4 was a low-rise (9-story) office building.
• Building number 5 was a low-rise (9-story) office building.
• Building number 6 was the low-rise (7-story) United States Customs House, a Federal office building.
• Building number 7 was a mid-rise (47-story) building containing office space and utility infrastructure as well as the New York City government emergency response center.

All seven original buildings in the complex were destroyed by terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001. Three of the buildings collapsed: One World Trade Center (1 WTC, the North Tower), Two World Trade Center (2 WTC, the South Tower), and 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC). The Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC) was crushed by the collapses of 1 WTC and 2 WTC. 4 World Trade Center (4 WTC), 5 World Trade Center (5 WTC), and 6 World Trade Center (6 WTC) were damaged beyond repair and later demolished. Three buildings not part of the complex were also destroyed: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was destroyed by the collapse of 2 WTC, and the Deutsche Bank Building and Borough of Manhattan Community College's Fiterman Hall were damaged beyond repair and are currently being deconstructed.