CHICAGO (AP) — The new World Trade Center tower in New York replaced Chicago's Willis Tower as the nation's tallest building when an international panel of architects announced Tuesday that the needle atop the skyscraper can be counted when measuring the structure's height. The Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat said the needle is not an antenna but a spire, and thus is a permanent part of the building. At stake was more than just bragging rights in two cities that feast on superlatives and the tourist dollars that might follow: 1 World Trade Center stands as a monument to those killed in the 9/11 attacks, and its architects had sought to capture the echo of America's founding year in the structure's height.