Community Corner

9/11 Survivor: "It's Amazing That It Finally Has Happened"

Daryl Finizio was outside World Trade Center when second plane hit

As residents at the news that Osama bin Laden—who led the terrorist network al Qaeda in the attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001—had been killed in Pakistan, New London resident Daryl Finizio said he was still sorting through his emotions.

“I think part of it’s still sinking in,” said Finizio. “After all these years of waiting it’s amazing that it finally has happened. I did not feel joy in learning of his death, but I felt great joy when I saw the crowds of people celebrating, because I felt that it rekindled that spirit that we had after 9/11, of this national unity of purpose that got lost because of a national misadventure in Iraq.”

Finizio, then 24, had been working in New York City for less than a year when it faced one of its worst disasters. Hired as a criminal justice policy analyst to the New York City Council in December of 2000, he had worked with the police, fire, and probation departments on criminal justice legislation. September 11 was a Democratic primary for the city’s mayoral race, and Finizio knew his office at 74 Park Place would be understaffed. He went into work early, at 7:15 a.m.

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About an hour and a half later, a concussion shuddered through the building. A co-worker on a computer across the office said that a plane had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, located only two blocks south of them.

Finizio said planned to go to City Hall to help with the response to the disaster, and was outside 7 World Trade Center when a second explosion sent debris showering to the street. Along with a woman beside him, he took refuge beneath a nearby postal truck.

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“The fireball went out for several blocks. If you looked up it looked like the entire sky was on fire,” he said. “I survived. Some people near me did not. I did see many people who were killed.”

Upon reaching City Hall, he learned from a doorman that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center. The municipal building was evacuated soon after, and Finizio returned to 74 Park to make sure everyone was out of that building. Leaving again, he heard a deep rumbling and took shelter in the garage enclave of a nearby building with several other people as a cloud of dust rolled past. When he found that the South Tower had collapsed, Finizio thought the building had fallen laterally and crushed dozens of crowded buildings and streets in southern Manhattan. He told his companion, “I think we just lost more people in an hour than we lost in the Vietnam War.” Joining the exodus from the area, he was eight blocks north of the site when the North Tower disintegrated as well.

Finizio’s brother, who worked at the Borders bookstore in 5 World Trade Center, was also in the area of City Hall looking for Finizio when the towers collapsed. Both survived, but through his work with public safety officials Finizio knew dozens who did not. Between the fire department and employees at the World Trade Center he met through his brother or work, he believes he knew about 50 of the approximately 3,000 people killed in the attacks.

Their old offices damaged, Finizio and his co-workers moved to 250 Broadway and promptly took up anti-terrorism work. This included looking into the best ways to secure bridges and tunnels, improving fire department radios that had been unreliable, and re-examining a high-rise disaster response which had established a command at the base of the towers. Adding to the pressure was the mailing of anthrax to City Hall and New York television stations, a plane crash in Queens in October of 2001, and the exit of much of the city’s mayor along with much of the City Council and fire administration.

Finizio said that while anger and sadness permeated the attitudes of New York residents, there was also a sense of unity and charity. Stores cleared out their foodstuffs to supply emergency personnel at Ground Zero. He said everyone felt they had a duty to respond to the attacks.

“The automatic response was to do anything you could to help those around you,” he said.

Finizio continued working for the city through 2002, at which point he left to pursue a legal career. He said he has not spoken publicly about the experience since 2006, when he attended a 9/11 memorial service. He said he was a candidate for the Westerly Town Council at the time and was accused of attending for political purposes. A in New London, he said he also had not intended to go to the 10th anniversary memorial this year.

“I do feel compelled to comment because of the nature of the news and because I’ve received many inquiries about my experience with 9/11 from voters in New London.”

Finizio saw the news of bin Laden’s death on Sunday evening as he was getting ready to go to bed. He called his brother and woke up his partner to let them know what had happened.

“I just am very appreciative of all the people in the intelligence community and the military who for the last 10 years have kept this hunt going, and I am particularly appreciative of the president’s leadership,” he said. “I’m glad that he didn’t just get away with it and die of old age somewhere…It’s not a joy in killing someone, it’s just more a sense that if you do this kind of thing to our country, we will keep on you for as long as it takes.”


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