by Dwyer, Jim
Josephine Harris
Mark Jakubek
Patrick Hoey
Michael Hurley
Shivam Iyer
Vickie Cross Kelly
John Labriola
Louis Lesce
Cecilia Lillo
Wilson Pacheco
John Paczkowski
Tony Pecora
George Phoenix
John Rappa
Alan Reiss
Colin Richardson
Tony Savas
Gerald Simpkins
George Tabeek
Greg Trevor
Peggy Zoch
Silverstein Properties
John Griffin
Windows on the World guests
Peter Alderman
Caleb Arron Dack
Garth Feeney
Christopher Hanley
Emeric Harvey
William Kelly
Stuart Lee
Neil Levin
Peter Mardikian
Michael Nestor
Liz Thompson
Richard Tierney
Stephen Tompsett
Geoffrey Wharton
Windows on the World staff
Ivhan Carpio
Doris Eng
Howard Kane
Jan Maciejewski
Christine Olender
WPIX-TV
Steve Jacobson
Others
Keith Ensler
David Frank
Norma Hessic
Michael Hingson
Bill Hult
Vanessa Lawrence
Theresa Leone
Jules Naudet
Al Smith
Richard Wright
Building staff
Jan Demczur
Anthony Giardina
Mike McQuaid
Marie Refuse
Tony Segarra
Lloyd Thompson
Greg Trapp
2 WORLD TRADE CENTER (SOUTH TOWER)
Aon Insurance
Mary Jo Arrowsmith
Kevin Cosgrove
Keating Crown
Sarah Dechalus
Eric Eisenberg
Tamitha Freeman
Richard Gabrielle
Karen Hagerty
Gary Herold
Howard Kestenbaum
Alan Mann
Greg Milanowycz
Ed Nicholls
Marissa Panigrosso
Vijay Paramsothy
Robert Eisenhardt
Kelly Reyher
Sean Rooney
Gigi Singer
Donna Spera
Judy Wein
Euro Brokers
Brett Bailey
Brian Clark
Bobby Coll
Dennis Coughlin
Ron DiFrancesco
Richard Fern
Edward Keslo
Ed Mardovich
Jose Marrero
Ann McHugh
Steven Salovich
Andy Soloway
Thomas Sparacio
Michael Stabile
Patty Troxell
Dave Vera
Karen Yagos
Kevin York
Fiduciary Trust
Shimmy Biegeleisen
Elsie Castellanos
Donovan Cowan
Ed Emery
Anne Foodim
Alayne Gentul
Elnora Hutton
Stephanie Koskuba
Bob Mattson
Ed McNally
Paul Rizza
Doris Torres
Garban ICAP
George Nemeth
Michael Sheehan
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
J. J. Aguiar
Joseph Berry
Will DeRiso
Frank Doyle
Bradley Fetchet
Scott Johnson
Stephen Mulderry
Bob Planer
Linda Rothemund
Lauren Smith
Rick Thorpe
Brad Vadas
Kemper Insurance
Terence McCormick
Mizuho Capital Markets/Fuji Bank
Jack Andreacchio
Manny Gomez
Yuji Goya
Richard Jacobs
Bobby McMurray
Stephen Miller
Michael Otten
Stanley Praimnath
Silvion Ramsundar
Christine Sasser
Keiji Takahashi
Brian Thompson
Morgan Stanley
Nat Alcamo
Ed Ciffone
Kristen Farrell
Sean Pierce
Rick Rescorla
Al Roxo
Louis A. Torres
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
Dianne Gladstone
Mary Jos
Yeshavant Tembe
Diane Urban
Sankara Velamuri
Ling Young
Oppenheimer Management Corp.
Edgardo Villegas
Sandler O’Neill & Partners
Jace Day
Jennifer Gorsuch
Herman Sandler
Others
Katherine Hachinski
Eric Johnson
John Mongello
Building staff/Port Authority
Roselyn Braud
Ed Calderon
Roko Camaj
James Flores
Phil Hayes
Ron Hoerner
Robert Gabriel Martinez
Francis Riccardelli
Esmerlin Salcedo
3 WORLD TRADE CENTER (MARRIOTT HOTEL)
Reverend Paul Engel
Rich Fetter
Joe Keller
Abdu A. Malahi
Fire Department of New York
Commissioner Thomas Von Essen
Deputy Commissioner Tom Fitzpatrick
Chief of Department Peter Ganci Rich Billy
Assistant Chief Joseph Callan Michael Boyle
Deputy Assistant Chief Al Turi Billy Butler
Deputy Chief Donald Burns Robert Byrne
Deputy Chief Tom Galvin Sal D’Agostino
Deputy Chief Peter Hayden Dennis Dowdican
Battalion Chief Ed Geraghty Robert Evans
Battalion Chief Orio J. Palmer Tommy Falco
Battalion Chief John Paolillo Tom Feaser
Battalion Chief Joseph Pfeifer Mike Fitzpatrick
Battalion Chief Richard Picciotto Liam Flaherty
Fire Marshal Ron Bucca Sean Halper
Fire Marshal Jim Devery Pat Kelly
Fire Marshal Steve Mosiello Tom Kelly
Captain William Burke Jr. Robert King Jr.
Captain Fred Ill Matt Komorowski
Captain Jay Jonas Scott Kopytko
Lieutenant Raymond Brown Scott Larsen
Lieutenant Joseph Chiafari Joseph Maffeo
Lieutenant John Fischer Keithroy Maynard
Lieutenant Gregg Hansson Michael Meldrum
Lieutenant Mickey Kross Bill Morris
Lieutenant Joseph Leavey Rich Nogan
Lieutenant Steve Modica Douglas Oelschlager
Lieutenant Bob Nagel Michael Otten
Lieutenant Kevin Pfeifer Bob Pino
Lieutenant Richard Smiouskas Christian Regenhard
Lieutenant Warren Smith Willie Roberts
Lieutenant William Walsh Bill Spade
Lieutenant Mike Warchola Danny Suhr
Reverend John Delendick David Weiss
Reverend Mychal Judge John Wilson
David Arce
New York Police Department
Chief of Department Joseph Lieutenant Steve Reardon
Esposito Sergeant Michael Curtin
Captain Tim Pearson Detective Timothy Hayes
Detective Greg Semendinger Paddy McGee
Detective Patrick Walsh Dave Norman
Detective Ken Winkler John Perry
James Ciccone Moira Smith
John D’Allara S
cott Strauss
Yvonne Kelhetter
Port Authority Police Department
Inspector James Romito Sue Keane
Captain Anthony Whitaker David Leclaire
Sergeant Al DeVona David Lim
Sergeant John Mariano Patrick Lucas
(via phone) Steve Maggett (via phone)
Sergeant John McLoughlin Ray Murray (via phone)
Sergeant Robert Vargas Richie Paugh
Christopher Amoroso Dominick Pezzulo
Greg Brady (via phone) Barry Pikaard
Thomas Grogan (via phone) Stephen Prospero
James Hall Antonio Rodriguez
Will Jimeno
New York State Court Officers
Captain Joseph Baccellieri Sergeant Andrew Wender
Sergeant Al Moscola
New York City Emergency Medical Services
Division Chief John Peruggia Paramedic Carlos Lillo
Paramedic Joseph Cahill EMT Richard Erdey
Paramedic Manuel Delgado EMT Soraya O’Donnell
New York City Office of Emergency Management
Director Richard Sheirer Rich Zarillo
United States Marine Corps
Staff Sergeant David Karnes
Others
Sister Cynthia Mahoney Chuck Sereika
Deborah Mardenfeld
TIMES BOOKS
Henry Holt and Company New York
Praise for 102 Minutes
“An astounding reconstruction of what happened inside the World Trade Center … . These are stories, after all, you have to share.”
—Newsweek
“There have been many 9/11 books, but the sheer volume of detail about individuals and their acts of heroism and humanity puts this one in a class by itself.”
—Reader’s Digest (editor’s choice)
“It’s just one of those great books of reporting, and you read it almost at one sitting with your hair on end … . There have been 50 different preachy books and 10,000 op-ed pieces, but this is one that really takes you back to that beautiful morning in New York.”
—Garrison Keillor, Hartford Courant
“A masterpiece of reporting … . [102 Minutes] is a remarkably comprehensive account of what went on inside the trade center that day, distilled to an amazingly coherent 261 pages of text. The authors have added charts and drawings to help readers keep track of the dozens of individuals whose plights they follow, but so vivid are their characterizations that one hardly needs to refer to such aids. Their style is invariably succinct and understated; like all the best reporters, they let the story they have dug out speak for itself … . Mr. Dwyer and Mr. Flynn’s story is an intensely human, personal one. And yet it also draws them inevitably into the question of whether or not some part of this calamity might have been ameliorated … . Brilliant and troubling.”
—Kevin Baker, The New York Times
“The chief virtue of 102 Minutes, Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn’s unsparing, eloquent history of the struggle to survive inside the World Trade Center, is the authors’ insistence that truth supplant myth. However comforting myths may be after a defeat, they’re useless in assessing what went wrong and may actually be impediments to preventing future disasters … . With its consistently clear prose, 102 Minutes does an admirable job of conveying this chaos without replicating it.”
—John Farmer (senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission, former New Jersey attorney general), The Washington Post Book World
“The point-counterpoint that runs achingly throughout 102 Minutes is the interplay of the ordinary and the extraordinary … . [A] deeply reported, practically minute-by-minute and floor-by-floor portrayal … . Insightful, compassionate … unmistakably affirming.”
The Sun (Baltimore)
“I strongly, strongly recommend 102 Minutes, the excruciatingly human and painful account of the demise of the twin towers. Incredibly detailed reporting, and I found it a Grisham-esque pageturner. Be ready to mist up at times, but you will really learn things you didn’t know.”
—Peter King, Sports Illustrated
“For those of us haunted by the tragedy, an indispensable book.”
—O Magazine
“It is Dwyer and Flynn’s brilliance as storytellers that makes [September 11] come alive once again. It would not be overstatement to say that 102 Minutes is an important book. Certainly it is an invaluable reminder for those of us whose memories of good and evil on that day may have since dimmed.”
—Forbes FYI
“If someone asks—‘So what was 9/11 all about, anyway?’—point to this.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“It took the authors three years to describe what happened in 102 minutes … . The book is worth the wait.”
—Providence Journal
“I was struck from the beginning of 102 Minutes by how much it resembles Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember, about the Titanic tragedy … . 102 Minutes is beautifully written with real people as its heroes. Dwyer and Flynn did their research meticulously, and the book is just as meticulously footnoted. They have not mythologized. They didn’t need to; their story can stand on its own.”
—Maysville Ledger Independent (Kentucky)
“Superb reporting.”
—The New York Sun
“This is a poignant, emotion-stirring and important book … . It is a story that gets to the center of the most violent and heinous attack on American soil. Mostly, though, it is a story of how ordinary people exhibit extraordinary traits in times of peril.”
—The Denver Post
“The writing—sometimes searing, sometimes factual but always appropriate—brings the human experience of disaster into focus … . Thanks to this volume, those voices have not been silenced.”
—Boston Herald
“Riveting human drama.”
—The Columbus Dispatch
“A powerful account of the disaster that hesitates neither to confer laurels nor point fingers … . [Dwyer and Flynn] celebrate the extraordinary capacities of ordinary folk. Swift, photographic prose defines the dimensions of hell—and of humanity.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Superb reporting … . The book vividly captures the stories of those struggling to survive. Heartbreaking and heroic.”
—The Dallas Morning News
“A masterful account.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“This is a heart-stopping, heartbreaking book. It is also an infuriating one. Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn give us vivid examples of uncommon valor in the face of approaching doom. Nobody can read those pages without feeling a chilly surge of fear. But they also give us—in lucid, understated prose—explanations for the immensity of the calamity. In short, this is an essential document about New York’s worst human tragedy. And it’s a terrific book.”
—Pete Hamill, author of Forever and Downtown: My Manhattan
“A triumph of ground level reporting. Dwyer and Flynn deliver us inside a day the world has seen only from the outside looking in, and in the process show what happens in the first moments when human beings collide with the impossible.”
—Robert Kurson, author of Shadow Divers
“102 Minutes does for the September 11 catastrophe at New York’s World Trade Center what Walter Lord did for the Titanic in his masterpiece, A Night to Remember. Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn have written a book that is searing, poignant, and utterly compelling.”
—Rick Atkinson, author of An Army at Dawn and In the Company of Soldiers
Afterword
The stock market reopened within a week. After a year, the subway lines that ran beneath the towers resumed full service. In December 2002, Deborah Mardenfeld, who had been among the first people injured, left New York University’s Rusk Institute, where she had relearned how to use her shattered legs. She had been at the corner of Church and Vesey streets on her way to work at American Express when she was hit by cascading debris as the second plane hit the south
tower. That morning, she arrived, unidentified and barely alive, at NYU Downtown Hospital as Jane Doe No. 1. Fifteen months later, she was the last of the 4,400 injured to go home.
For months after the attacks, the people who had escaped from the 89th floor of the north tower wondered about the men who had come to save them. That group, including Diane DeFontes from the law firm, her friend Tirsa Moya from the insurance company, and Raffaele Cava, the older man with the hat, had crept from their offices to discover that they were trapped. Their elevator bank had become a gaping, burning hole. Their staircase doors were jammed and impassable. The floor itself was heating and melting beneath their feet. Suddenly, someone in the staircase pried open an exit door, unsealing their fate.
The survivors sent word to the Port Authority that they recalled one of their saviors as a man with an earring and salt-and-pepper hair. Alan Reiss, who had been in charge of the building and worked on the 88th floor, recognized the description at once. To be sure, he assembled a lineup of mug shots, using ID card photos, and passed that along to the tenants of the 89th floor. They immediately picked out the man Reiss had in mind, Pablo Ortiz. And Mak Hanna, who had accompanied Ortiz and Frank De Martini to the 89th floor but left ahead of them to escort out an older colleague, confirmed the names of the men who had gone up the stairs. For the first time, the people on the 89th floor learned that two of the three men who had saved their lives—Ortiz and De Martini—never made it home. More of the De Martini–Ortiz pilgrimage through the north tower was pieced together by Roberta Gordon, an attorney who represented Nicole De Martini in her application to the compensation board set up by Congress for the families of people killed or hurt in the attacks.
