Frank Noviello, Senior Vice President and Labor Coordinator for AECOM Tishman and a LIUNA Local 79 member, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with a firsthand account of what he saw, did and built in the years that followed.
Noviello had been scheduled for a meeting at the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11 and narrowly avoided being under the towers when a phone call from his wife prompted him to cancel. The next morning, he arrived at Ground Zero via police escort through an empty Long Island Expressway, tasked with stabilizing the severely damaged Verizon building at 140 West Street. Within six days, Verizon's vault had been cleaned out by LIUNA Local 79 members, and Communications Workers of America workers had re-spliced the wiring needed to restore the New York Stock Exchange.
Noviello described the 25-year arc of the World Trade Center rebuild — from 7 World Trade Center in the early months to One World Trade Center to towers 3 and 4 to the Oculus. It was an all-union effort completed on time and on budget, a point of pride he attributes to the partnership between AECOM Tishman, the New York City Building and Construction Trades Council and the skilled union trades. He also discussed structural design changes made in response to 9/11, the World Trade Center Health Program, and the approximately 9,000 current LIUNA Local 79 members.
- Noviello had a meeting scheduled at the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11 and would have been under the towers when they fell if his wife had not called prompting him to cancel. He arrived at Ground Zero via police escort through a deserted Long Island Expressway on the morning of Sept. 12 to begin stabilizing the severely damaged Verizon building at 140 West Street. LIUNA Local 79 set up a trailer with a physician assistant at Ground Zero to fit-test members with proper respirators. Silica dust — not just the toxins from the buildings’ construction materials — was the primary long-term respiratory threat to everyone present, Noviello said. He participates in the World Trade Center Health Program's annual monitoring.
- The World Trade Center site rebuild involved multiple major projects over 25 years. The project list includes 7 World Trade Center, One World Trade Center (originally called the Freedom Tower), Towers 3 and 4 for the Silverstein Organization and the Oculus. Tower 2 is currently under construction. It is being built by a major general contractor and expected to be completed in about five or six years as the American Express headquarters. Tishman was the original builder of the Twin Towers in the early 1970s and has been central to the rebuild. Noviello described the entire rebuild effort as done on time, on budget and with the most skilled and safest union workforce.
- New buildings on the site incorporate structural design changes learned directly from the Sept. 11 attack, including a massive concrete core within the steel structure, wider staircases for emergency workers' access, dedicated elevators for first responders, and redundant power systems. The labor-management partnership between AECOM Tishman and the New York City Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as a national partnership through NABTU, was critical to delivering projects of this scale on time and on budget, Noviello said.
A Meeting That Was Never Kept
Frank Noviello had a meeting scheduled at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, at the corner of Washington and Vesey Streets, directly adjacent to the towers. A phone call from his wife, reminding him he hadn't packed for an international convention he was supposed to attend, prompted him to cancel the meeting.
Noviello opened his podcast appearance with a tribute to those who were on hand when the towers collapsed: the New York City Police Department, the Fire Department, the Port Authority Police Department, and everyone who ran toward the towers that morning, trying to save lives.
Sept. 12: The Police Escort and Ground Zero
The morning of Sept. 12, Noviello was mobilized by Verizon — his client and the owner of 140 West Street, a building adjacent to the World Trade Center that had been severely damaged and was flooding. AECOM Tishman needed to stabilize it immediately. A police escort was arranged to meet Noviello and labor foreman John Wilkson on the Long Island Expressway in the middle of the night. Their drive ran through Nassau County, Queens and Lower Manhattan without another car on the road. When they reached Ground Zero, Noviello described the sight as surreal. The buildings had imploded and fallen straight down, and the devastation across Lower Manhattan was something that no one could have imagined seeing on American soil, he said.
His immediate priority was 140 West Street. A greater effort unfolded around it: LIUNA Local 79 had more than 3,000 members rotating through different stages of the cleanup at various sites, working alongside other building trades. The work was coordinated by the New York City Building and Construction Trades Council, and the contractors engaged to clean up the towers. Within the first three days, the cleanup transitioned from informal bucket brigades to contractual, structured work managed by construction managers and general contractors.
For Verizon's critical telecommunications infrastructure, the timeline was even more compressed. A vault beneath the building contained the cables that supported the New York Stock Exchange. It had been severely damaged. LIUNA Local 79 members cleaned out the vault. CWA workers moved in and re-spliced the wiring. Six days after the towers fell, the stock exchange was operational.
Silica Dust and the World Trade Center Health Program
Air quality at Ground Zero was declared safe by government officials in the days after Sept. 11. Noviello said those assurances did not shape his decisions. LIUNA Local 79 set up a trailer at the site with a physician assistant and fit-tested members with proper respirators before they went in. The smoldering pile burned for three months. The towers contained known toxins. But Noviello said silica dust — which gets into the lungs and stays — was the primary long-term threat. It affected not just the uniformed workforce and the building trades but the surrounding community for years to come.
Noviello participates in the World Trade Center Health Programs annual monitoring. The program has provided genuine support for the men and women dealing with cancer, respiratory illness and other health effects from their time at the site. He said he is blessed to be doing well.
The Rebuild: 25 Years and Still Going
Tishman Construction was the original builder of the Twin Towers, which opened in the early 1970s. When the rebuild began, Tishman — now AECOM Tishman following AECOM's acquisition 16 years ago — was at the center of the work. The first structure to rise on the site was 7 World Trade Center, for a client Tishman had worked with since the original building in the 1980s. It was underway within seven to eight months after the attack.
What followed over the next two decades was a massive undertaking. One World Trade Center, originally called the Freedom Tower, rises to 1,776 feet — a height Noviello believes was deliberate, chosen to reflect the year of American independence. Towers 3 and 4 were built for the Silverstein Organization. The Oculus transit hub was completed next. The reflecting pools were then built. The last major piece, Tower 2, is currently under construction by another general contractor and is expected to be completed within the next five to six years as the American Express headquarters.
Noviello said the entire rebuild has been done on time and on budget by the most skilled labor and the safest workforce available. It’s an achievement he attributes directly to the union labor involved and the partnership with the New York City Building and Construction Trades Council.
What September 11 Changed About How Buildings Are Built
Noviello spoke carefully about the structural lessons learned from Sept. 11, noting that he is not a structural engineer. He spoke based on his 45 years of industry experience rather than engineering credentials. He said the speed with which the towers fell, given the intensity of the fires and the heat transferred into the steel, did not surprise him. What he was grateful for was that the towers imploded and fell straight down rather than toppling sideways, which would have been catastrophically worse for the surrounding area.
The new buildings on the site reflect what the industry and the engineering community learned. A massive concrete core now runs inside the steel structure of each tower, providing structural redundancy. Staircases are wider to allow emergency workers to move up and down simultaneously during an evacuation. Dedicated elevators are reserved for first responders. Power redundancy systems ensure that critical systems stay operational when primary power fails. Noviello said the current state-of-the-art high-rise construction safety and engineering reflects lessons learned at enormous cost.
Labor and Management: The Partnership That Built It
Noviello closed by addressing the labor-management relationship that made it all possible. He said the partnership between AECOM Tishman and the New York City Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as the national labor-management partnership through NABTU, was essential. Project labor agreements, collective bargaining and the mutual accountability that comes with a genuine partnership are what keep mega-projects on time and on budget, he said.
LIUNA Local 79, is the Laborers’ Local that Noviello served as Local president on Sept. 11 and he has been a member for more than 45 years, The Local currently has approximately 9,000 members under the leadership of Business Manager Anthony Vita. Noviello also expressed gratitude to national LIUNA leadership, naming General President Brent Booker and General Secretary-Treasurer Michael F. Sabitoni specifically. He closed by recognizing the New York City Police Department, the Fire Department, the Port Authority Police Department and all EMS workers who responded on 9/11.
More information on LIUNA is available at liuna.org.
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