The new design for the Freedom Tower on the former site of the World Trade Center, disclosed to the public yesterday, has, not surprisingly, not put out the fires of controversy.

The architecture critic of The New York Times, Nicholai Oursousoff, wrote in today¿s edition that ¿The temptation is to dismiss it as a joke,¿ adding that ¿The effort fails on almost every level,¿ but the lead item on the editorial page in the same edition termed it ¿impressive¿ and ¿In almost every respect¿better than the one it replaces.¿

Go figure.

What is most remarkable about the tower¿s new design is how fast it was completed by David Childs, the architect and partner in the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It was a little over a month ago that Governor Pataki requested a redesign to meet security concerns raised about the project¿s vulnerability to car and truck bombs.

The state and city seemed very concerned that the project not be delayed any longer than necessary, perhaps caught up in the frenzy to redo its bid for the 2012 Olympic Games in the wake of the collapse of the deal for a new stadium for the Jets in the West 30¿s.

Given the simultaneous frenzy of the residential real estate market, it is surprising, therefore that the most prominent conversion of downtown office space to condominiums has not moved forward with greater fanfare.

Not far away from the Freedom Tower site, of course, is the Woolworth Building, the ¿Cathedral of Commerce¿ landmark that was the world¿s tallest building from 1913 to 1931 at 233 Broadway that dominates City Hall Park. Scaffolding is up around its base and its ornate pyramidal crown is undergoing restoration work.

A marketing spokesman for the conversion project said yesterday that interior demolition working is proceeding but said, without a trace of frenzy, that the marketing of the 75 or so condominium apartments at the top of the tower is still several months off.