One World Trade Center's Spire Illuminated For The First Time Friday Nov 08,2013

Hundreds of red, white and blue LED modules are illuminating lower Manhattan as officials tested the lights atop One World Trade Center for the first time on Friday night.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that the beacon is packed with nearly 300 lights and their glow can be seen for up to 50 miles.

But the skyscraper faces a tense wait as a committee of building experts met Friday to judge whether a design change that affects the 408-foot needle disqualifies it from being counted as the nation's tallest tower

The beacon and spire of One World Trade Center are lit up, as seen from The Heights neighborhood of Jersey City

Tallest towers: Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, in Chicago on March 12, 2008 (left) and One World Trade Center in New York on September 5, 2013 (right)

The 110 story, 1,450-foot Willis Tower is in competition with the 104-story, 1,776-foot (including spire) One World Trade Center, a skyscraper built at the site of the 9/11 attacks

One World Trade Center, which remains under construction and is expected to open in 2014