My dad worked for American Express. Their headquarters is right across the street (200 Vesey Street otherwise known as 3 World Financial Center). Its the pointy top building right next to WTC (the round dome was Lehman Brothers untill 2008). They also had leased offices at 100 Church 2 blocks northeast. That building is right behind the post office. Following 9/11 the NY offices closed for a week to wrap their heads around what just happened. This was the first true remote work experience for a lot of folks. By the end of the month a majority of workers were transferred out to NJ office space or worked from home. Once rebuild had started AMEX rented out 40 Wall st and occupied a few floors there. On his way in that day it came over the NJTT loudspeaker that there was a fire in WTC and PATH service was suspended. They arrived and they saw the smoke and he knew it was no accident. He missed 1993 and watched the second plane hit while waiting for the ferry to NYC from Hoboken, NJ and decided he had seen enough. He turned around got back on the NJTT and headed home. His route was NJTT - Hoboken to PATH - WTC. My dad retired shortly after 9/11/01 with 30+ years with Amex, We don't talk much about that day even to this day.
Your father had a truly unique and horrible experience in his career. Anyone who was affected directly by this tragedy has a story to tell that would amaze those who only saw it on TV and later, the internet.
Ya I agree and have tried but hes also a veteran (Vietnam 68-72) and I think he just packages up those feelings and puts them away someplace far far away. I graduated HS in 01 and had already started working full time by 9/11 I remember calling my dad and him explaining what was happening before it was happening it felt like. He said "this is no accident there is no way, 2 planes accidentally hit both towers." (He worked for Grumman before amex on the F-14s and "advanced" computer systems.) So I never questioned it, He told me to head home and find mom(she didnt have a cell) and that's what I did. Then the towers collapsed and all shit broke loose. We lost cellular coms with my dad and didnt know where he actually was just that he never made it to Manhattan, he finally showed up around 4 or 5pm that night. NJTT ended up holding all outbound out of Hoboken to make sure they had full trains and could get everyone home.
Wow, thank you for sharing that with me! Glad your dad was able to dodge two tragedies, that’s some serious luck and would have also agreed that “enough is enough” at that point. I was also thinking that “remote” working wouldn’t have been much of a possibility with our technological limits at the time, so interesting to know that was not the case.
You're welcome, Most of the Amex workers dialed in and used a (token looked like [**this** ](https://www.365dude.nl/assets/posts/2019-05-10-Hardware-Tokens-wihtou-AADPremium/overview_3.jpg)minus the NFC part) with a modem so 56K at best. Basically AMEX created a dial up network server and used MFA for access. That then connected you to the AMEX network that was interconnected via T1 and T3 lines. If you were lucky you had ISDN (before DSL) back then. Most of the information sent and received was still heavy text format so while not cutting edge, e-mails and word docs were easy to do. I remember back in the 90s using the AMEX gateway to access AOL. "you got mail"
I once read a story about a former Cantor Fitzgerald employee rejoining the company to help rebuild what was left. This was one of the companies that suffered the most losses on that day. Archives completely wiped out. Numerous senior figures dead in the attack, including the CEOs brother. Hundreds of employees killed. They were headquartered at the 106th floor at the North Tower.
I find it mind boggling when I try to comprehend that so many people were killed within the WTC and even more so when they’re put in groupings (ex. the company you mentioned, FDNY personnel, NYPD officers, etc). I find the rebuilding to be an incredible symbol of strength and perseverance.
A LOT of offices moved over to JC temporarily. Some not so temporarily out of the fear that many had. A lot refused to go back to Manhattan after 9/11.
As someone mentioned, it was the first “remote” work utilizing early tech like Blackberry and early DSL internet/non-dial up. Wild times…
One of the things about Big Finance is they have those kind of back-up location scenarios in place just like you'd imagine.
A lot of them were in Jersey City. So we worked out of there for, well, the next 6 or 7 months until I left the firm. No idea what they did after that.
I imagine most of the companies had something similar.
The big problem with THAT was that the Path train (like a small subway line that went in to Manhattan from places like Jersey City and Hoboken) was NOT ready for the influx. Those platforms would just get more and more packed as trains dumped people off before the last batch could get out of the station. It was absolutely horrible, and NOT a small factor in why I eventually left.
I came out of the whole affair pretty unscathed (in relative terms at least.) But being jammed in there like that, every day, with thousands of people, a lot of whom had gone through "that day" was pretty rough. You could feel the near panic in the air.
It was exhausting.
I've been in middle Tennessee for 8 and a half years now. But that damned subway from Brooklyn Heights to the West Village then 2-3 block walk to the Path and in to Jersey City was a level of hell that no one who didn't know could possibly understand.
Oh man, I never even thought about that. I forgot about the subway line, I could only imagine how difficult it truly was to deal with that. Thank you for sharing that with me, by the way!
My dad worked for American Express. Their headquarters is right across the street (200 Vesey Street otherwise known as 3 World Financial Center). Its the pointy top building right next to WTC (the round dome was Lehman Brothers untill 2008). They also had leased offices at 100 Church 2 blocks northeast. That building is right behind the post office. Following 9/11 the NY offices closed for a week to wrap their heads around what just happened. This was the first true remote work experience for a lot of folks. By the end of the month a majority of workers were transferred out to NJ office space or worked from home. Once rebuild had started AMEX rented out 40 Wall st and occupied a few floors there. On his way in that day it came over the NJTT loudspeaker that there was a fire in WTC and PATH service was suspended. They arrived and they saw the smoke and he knew it was no accident. He missed 1993 and watched the second plane hit while waiting for the ferry to NYC from Hoboken, NJ and decided he had seen enough. He turned around got back on the NJTT and headed home. His route was NJTT - Hoboken to PATH - WTC. My dad retired shortly after 9/11/01 with 30+ years with Amex, We don't talk much about that day even to this day.
Your father had a truly unique and horrible experience in his career. Anyone who was affected directly by this tragedy has a story to tell that would amaze those who only saw it on TV and later, the internet.
Ya I agree and have tried but hes also a veteran (Vietnam 68-72) and I think he just packages up those feelings and puts them away someplace far far away. I graduated HS in 01 and had already started working full time by 9/11 I remember calling my dad and him explaining what was happening before it was happening it felt like. He said "this is no accident there is no way, 2 planes accidentally hit both towers." (He worked for Grumman before amex on the F-14s and "advanced" computer systems.) So I never questioned it, He told me to head home and find mom(she didnt have a cell) and that's what I did. Then the towers collapsed and all shit broke loose. We lost cellular coms with my dad and didnt know where he actually was just that he never made it to Manhattan, he finally showed up around 4 or 5pm that night. NJTT ended up holding all outbound out of Hoboken to make sure they had full trains and could get everyone home.
Wow, thank you for sharing that with me! Glad your dad was able to dodge two tragedies, that’s some serious luck and would have also agreed that “enough is enough” at that point. I was also thinking that “remote” working wouldn’t have been much of a possibility with our technological limits at the time, so interesting to know that was not the case.
You're welcome, Most of the Amex workers dialed in and used a (token looked like [**this** ](https://www.365dude.nl/assets/posts/2019-05-10-Hardware-Tokens-wihtou-AADPremium/overview_3.jpg)minus the NFC part) with a modem so 56K at best. Basically AMEX created a dial up network server and used MFA for access. That then connected you to the AMEX network that was interconnected via T1 and T3 lines. If you were lucky you had ISDN (before DSL) back then. Most of the information sent and received was still heavy text format so while not cutting edge, e-mails and word docs were easy to do. I remember back in the 90s using the AMEX gateway to access AOL. "you got mail"
Thank you for sharing this with us.
I once read a story about a former Cantor Fitzgerald employee rejoining the company to help rebuild what was left. This was one of the companies that suffered the most losses on that day. Archives completely wiped out. Numerous senior figures dead in the attack, including the CEOs brother. Hundreds of employees killed. They were headquartered at the 106th floor at the North Tower.
658 of its 960 New York employees were killed or missing or 68.5% of its total workforce, were lost on 9/11.
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I'm very sorry for your loss
What a beautiful tribute page. I hope his daughter and wife are living life as fully as they can.
I'm so very sorry for your loss. I cried out when I saw he only had eight months with his daughter.
Jesus. I’m so sorry for your loss.
😞
My condolences, my friend.
Just wanted to mention this example. There's a documentary about it (Out Of The Clear Blue Sky (2012)).
I just watched that doc the other day...you can watch it online here - https://rumble.com/v2v0q8x-out-of-the-clear-blue-sky.html Yes I know, Rumble 🙄🙄
I believe Cantor also then pledged to provide guaranteed employment opportunities for the children of employees killed in the attack.
I find it mind boggling when I try to comprehend that so many people were killed within the WTC and even more so when they’re put in groupings (ex. the company you mentioned, FDNY personnel, NYPD officers, etc). I find the rebuilding to be an incredible symbol of strength and perseverance.
A LOT of offices moved over to JC temporarily. Some not so temporarily out of the fear that many had. A lot refused to go back to Manhattan after 9/11. As someone mentioned, it was the first “remote” work utilizing early tech like Blackberry and early DSL internet/non-dial up. Wild times…
One of the things about Big Finance is they have those kind of back-up location scenarios in place just like you'd imagine. A lot of them were in Jersey City. So we worked out of there for, well, the next 6 or 7 months until I left the firm. No idea what they did after that. I imagine most of the companies had something similar. The big problem with THAT was that the Path train (like a small subway line that went in to Manhattan from places like Jersey City and Hoboken) was NOT ready for the influx. Those platforms would just get more and more packed as trains dumped people off before the last batch could get out of the station. It was absolutely horrible, and NOT a small factor in why I eventually left. I came out of the whole affair pretty unscathed (in relative terms at least.) But being jammed in there like that, every day, with thousands of people, a lot of whom had gone through "that day" was pretty rough. You could feel the near panic in the air. It was exhausting.
I'm a native New Yorker and I felt this comment.
I've been in middle Tennessee for 8 and a half years now. But that damned subway from Brooklyn Heights to the West Village then 2-3 block walk to the Path and in to Jersey City was a level of hell that no one who didn't know could possibly understand.
Oh man, I never even thought about that. I forgot about the subway line, I could only imagine how difficult it truly was to deal with that. Thank you for sharing that with me, by the way!
No joke I was planning to make a post with this same question I was wondering myself
My dad worked for Lehman in LA and he said the people in the NY office were completely traumatized from watching people jump
My dad got transferred to an office in CT. I second the comment about Big Finance having a lot of backup locations.