This written history recounts my experiences as a Port Authority employee who spent 32 years in the World Trade Department. I survived both the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center truck bomb detonated in the underground parking garage and the attack of two huge airliners flying into the two towers, the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, witnessing first-hand the loss, resilience and recovery that followed each tragedy.
On July 7, 1969, I was a naïve seventeen-year-old high school graduate from Long Island traveling via the LIRR and the subway to 111 8th Avenue to start my first day at The Port of New York Authority a/k/a Mother PONYA. After three days of orientation, I was assigned to the World Trade Department as a Jr. Clerk Steno I filling in for secretaries who were on vacation.
Several months later, I was promoted to a permanent position as a Clerk Steno II, a C-15. I loved my job and all my co-workers because we all worked as a team. I was asked by my boss to transfer with him to another position which led me to The World Trade Center in 1971 in the Information Center. We moved down ahead of most of the PA into Suite 3311.
In 1973, I was asked to join the Manager of Special Programs Division and in 1975, I was promoted to Secretary working for the Manager of the Development and Rentals Division, responsible for the leasing of office and retail space in the Trade Center. He was then promoted to Deputy Director of the Department and asked me to go along with him which led to my promotion as Sr. Secretary. I was then promoted again to Supervising Clerk and decided to attend college courses at Adelphia University at night and on weekends to enter the junior management ranks of the PA. In 1986, I graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in four years.
I entered the management ranks and worked as an administrative aide to the Manager of Operations at that time. The next year, I joined the Tenant Services Division as a tenant representative acting as liaison between the tenants and the World Trade Department. I had found my niche.
On February 26, 1993, I had a meeting with one of my tenants who had some issues that needed to be resolved. I went to the B2 level to meet with our mechanical and structural staff and to say goodbye to Monica, who was eight months pregnant as this was her last day. I went back to my office and 90 minutes later the unthinkable happened. There was an explosion and we all thought it was a transformer. Having fire safety drills on a regular basis, we all went down the stairs which were very smoky and which we later learned was due to the tires and cars on fire in the garage. Once I got to the Mezzanine level and out to the Plaza, I asked a co-worker if it was a transformer and without blinking an eye, he said it was a bomb. And when he saw my face, he said he was in Vietnam and he knew. Unfortunately, he was right and the three mechanical and structural men I met died. They were in a conference room innocently having lunch when the bomb went off on the other side of the wall. Monica was also in that room having lunch. So, we lost four of our friends and Monica’s little boy. There were two other people who died that day – one who had parked his car in the garage and the other an employee of Windows on the World. All innocent victims.
We were all gathered in the Vista hotel when the announcement was made to evacuate immediately. The floor was not structurally sound. As I walked south on West Street, I saw Don, one of our mechanical staff, standing in the snow with a t-shirt on. I gave him my parka, and we all went into the old Alexander’s Department Store. Once plans were established for the next day, my friend, Paul, and I took the ferry to Hoboken where my husband picked us up. Neither one of us realized our faces were covered in soot until my husband mentioned it.
The next day we were back at work sending notifications to our tenants. The Port Authority pulled out all the stops to be able to get the tenants back into their offices as quickly as possible. We kept in communication with all our tenants, most of whom were in temporary locations. We all worked so many hours during the next several weeks and as the time drew near, we established a Move-Back team and along with four moving companies started to move our tenants back into their offices. Governor Cuomo was back in his office in four weeks. It truly was an example of the PA at its best.
Following the bombing, the PA installed many upgrades in the stairwells so that if there were a situation in the future, the stairwells and the door signs would be lit with phosphorescent paint guiding everyone down the stairs. There was also emergency lighting installed.
Over the course of the next few years, we reorganized several times. In 1998, I was promoted to Building Manager of One World Trade Center. This was such an honor. When I started in 1969, I watched the Towers from the LIRR being built and years later to be Manager of one of them was not even in my wildest dreams. We had over 300 tenants in One World Trade Center in various fields ranging from your normal 9-5 companies to those working around the clock and handled many issues beyond the normal day to day as we were always on call.
On September 11, 2001, I was sitting in our conference room having my normal Tuesday morning staff meeting when the whole building shook. It was 8:46. Watching all the glass and metal rain down the north side of the building, we just knew a plane had hit the building. We left our office, checked other tenants on the floor, and then headed down the very smoky stairs. What we saw when we reached the lobby was horrific. I was on my way to the Fire Command Station in the Lobby when I saw our COO who immediately told us to go into the hotel. As we tried to set up a command center, we were told to leave immediately by a NYC Police Officer as both towers had been attacked and when we did, we were horrified to see both Towers on fire. We stood on West Street in shock and immediately started counting floors to determine where the planes went into the buildings and who was affected. We had co-workers on both the 86th and 88th floors plus all our tenants above the points of impact. Suddenly, there was a loud roar, it was the South Tower imploding. Covered in dust, we ran south as fast as we could around to the seaport, to the Holland Tunnel, where we learned both Towers were gone. We were driven to the Tech Center, reuniting with some co-workers, and then Journal Square to meet our Director and executive staff. I think four of us were later picked up by my friend Bob’s son. We dropped one friend, Frankie, off at the Bayonne Bridge and then went to Bob’s home for dinner thanks to Bob’s wife. I know we were all in shock. I met my husband, daughter and son-in-law at 10pm that night for a very emotional reunion.
On 9/12, I went to my son’s house to try and activate our emergency command center remotely and then headed to the Emergency Command Center in Journal Square that night along with other senior staff.; It was then that we started to learn who was missing. It was devastating and we prayed they would be found. That night, the Chief Engineer asked me if I could get someone immediately who could take engineers to the 66” water line at the Trade Center. I called one of my staff and he was there at record speed. Before he left, I begged him to be careful and once he left, I totally fell apart. The Chaplain brought me into a conference room to talk and listen to me. The magnitude of what happened was starting to sink in.
During the following days, weeks, and months, we attended many meetings in Manhattan with various governmental agencies, communicated with tenants, and at the same time tried to find positions for our co-workers. We also had very difficult conversations with our victims’ families who wanted answers that we did not have. Although we attended many funerals for our friends and co-workers, none of us really had the time to grieve. After all this time, I still do not think we have fully grieved. The Emergency Command Center was shut down in December of 2001. I then went across the hall to the Operation Services Department and continued to work on World Trade Center and World Trade Department issues. I was the signatory of many items that were found either at the site or on Staten Island which I held with the utmost respect. When I retired, I donated all those items to the Museum.
Of my 38.5 years in the PA, 32 were in the World Trade Department having started there in 1969. We lost four friends and an unborn baby in 1993 and sixteen friends and co-workers, our tenant friends and contractors, our jobs, our careers, and our home on 9/11. There was no rebuilding, no reconstruction, no facility to run. We had been through the best of times and the worst of times and were always there to support each other. Our World Trade Department was, is and will always be a family.
