security issues. The New York Times observed in 2005 that the "bird has grown a beak", and that because of the new security features, the station might "now evoke a slender stegosaurus more than it does a bird". The design was further modified in 2008 to eliminate the opening and closing roof mechanism because of budget and space constraints. A Curbed NY reporter wrote in 2015, "The platform's mezzanine level ... is kind of amazing and shows off the station's soaring ribbed structure", but other reviews derided the station redesign as being more gaudy than utilitarian. In 2014, Benjamin Kabak, a blogger writing for The Atlantic's CityLab, criticized the emphasis placed on form over function, citing design flaws driven by aesthetic choices that detract from the station's usability as a transit hub. He stated that the staircases could not accommodate the number of passengers using the station during rush hours, and that any leaks caused the marble floors to become slippery. Kabak also said that "the PATH Hub is shaping up to be an example of design divorced from purpose." Steve Cuozzo of the New York Post described the station in 2014 as it was being built as "a self-indulgent monstrosity" and "a hideous waste of public money". Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, referred to the structure as "a kitsch stegosaurus". In 2015, as the station neared completion, New York magazine referred to the hub as a "Glorious Boondoggle" and, while withholding final judgement on the unfinished structure, did note the "Jurassic" appearance. When the station opened in 2016, the New York Post editorial board called the hub the "world's most obscenely overpriced commuter rail station — and possibly its ugliest", deeming the transit hub a "white elephant" and "monstrosity", comparing the Oculus to a "giant gray-white space insect". West Concourse A pedestrian underpass under the West Side Highway, referred to as the West Concourse and formerly as the East-West Connector, links the WTC station mezzanine with Brookfield Place in Battery Park City, on the west side of the World Trade Center. It contains stores as part of Westfield World Trade Center. The concourse itself opened on October 23, 2013. Access to One World Trade Center from the West Concourse became possible for employees when the tower opened on November 3, 2014. On May 29, 2015, the same day the tower's observatory opened, the entrance to