Hidden in plain sight: The NSA's 'secret spy base inside a windowless, nuclear-bomb proof AT&T skyscraper in lower Manhattan'

Located at 33 Thomas Street is AT&T's faceless telecommunications hub

It can withstand an atom bomb and has its own power and water supply

It's used to route web and phone traffic between the US and the world

Documents, including Snowden's leaks, suggest the NSA is tapping lines

It's believed that the NSA operates its Titanpointe spy center inside

That has been linked to spying operations on the UN, among others

Even in skyscraper-filled lower Manhattan, the windowless mass of 33 Thomas Street stands out: A faceless concrete tower, topped with vents and impervious to the outside world.

Constructed and owned by AT&T, and known as the 'Long Lines Building,' it's officially a telecommunications hub with its own power and water, capable of sheltering those inside against two weeks of nuclear fallout.

But documents leaked by Edward Snowden, along with others gathered by The Intercept, suggest that it has a worrying secret identity: An NSA surveillance base named Titanpointe that spies on phone calls, fax messages and internet data.

The building, which was developed under the name 'Project X,' opened in 1974 about 14 blocks north of Wall Street and houses an international 'gateway switch,' an AT&T employee told The Intercept.

That switch is a major route by which international calls and data enter the US telecomms system - meaning that if someone has access to the data, they could spy on world communications.

If that's the case then it would be a vital location for the NSA's controversial surveillance program, which has allegedly spied on at least 38 countries, including allies.

The program has reportedly also spied on communications to and from the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Top-secret NSA documents indicate that the NSA has indeed set up a site, codenamed 'Titanpointe,' in the building, The Intercept said.

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