Building Foundation Honors the Memory of 166 Industry Members Lost on September 11, 2001

More than 500 attended the event in memory of the 166 men and women employed in the building trades, engineering, architecture and other building disciplines that were lost in the tragic attack on America and New York City. The largest losses were sustained by 17 unions, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and Washington Group International.

The Building Foundation designed and produced a separate crystal memorial for each of the companies, agencies and unions involved. Each memorial was inscribed with the names of the employees/members who were lost from that organization.The memorials, displayed prior to the breakfast, were officially presented to each organization during the morning’s program. Family members, some of whom were present at the event, are being given printed replicas of the appropriate memorial as a keepsake.

Richard T. Anderson, President of the New York Building Foundation and the New York Building Congress, opened the program by saying, “This industry has always been known for generosity and civic involvement, but I have never seen it contribute so much so willingly than in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Building Foundation’s World Trade Center Memorial Fund is truly a labor of love that is channeling not just money but support for the larger building community from all sectors throughout the Country and the world.”

John F. Hennessy III, Chairman of the New York Building Foundation, introduced each of the organizations that received memorials saying, “These unions, companies and agencies experienced very personal losses on September 11 that have changed them forever. In many ways it has made them, and all of us in the industry, more determined to do whatever we can to help the City not only recover but grow in prominence and strength. The losses our colleagues have suffered are serving to unify our industry and spur us all to greater accomplishments than we could have imagined prior to the tragedy
of September 11, 2001.”

The keynote speakers were Joseph J. Seymour, Executive Director of the Port Authority, and Edward J. Malloy, President of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, an organization that represents 200,000 skilled workers in the City's building unions.

Said Seymour, “Eighty-four members of the Port Authority lost their lives in the attack, including my predecessor and friend Neil Levin.” He noted that many who perished did so in the line of duty, including six Port Authority police officers who were helping a woman who could not walk. He also praised his colleagues’ work over the past 15 months, noting “the quiet heroics of those who were fortunate enough to survive and went right back to work.”

Malloy said that the building trades will rebuild Lower Manhattan in honor of its 63 brothers and sisters who perished on September 11. “Someone said to me that rebuilding is part of healing. We have to rebuild. It’s a legacy we leave to the 63 people we lost. Let them be reassured that we, as an industry, will leave nobody behind. Nobody will ever be forgotten.”

In the days and months after the World Trade Center attack, the New York Building Foundation raised more than $350,000 from member employees, firms, and
other industry colleagues for its World Trade Center Memorial Fund. A large majority
of the fund was then distributed directly to surviving family members of building industry workers and uniformed personnel who perished on September 11, 2001.