Making it Official, 9/11 Museum to Honor Transit Workers

22 years ago when the Towers fell, 3500 transit workers rushed to Ground Zero to engage in the rescue and recovery effort, believing as most observers did, that hundreds of survivors may be alive under the rubble. Most were assigned by New York City Transit to the scene -- not only because transit property was at stake, but also because only NYCT had the heavy equipment needed to remove debris, smashed cars, and iron beams so that first responders to get to the pile. We set up telecommunications equipment at the scene for first responders, conducted a massive clean-up after removing debris, and set up lighting towers to rescuers could work through the night. Our work trains removed thousands of tons of debris via subway tunnels.

Most members of the general public did not know that story -- but that's changing. This August, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, where the world goes to understand that happened on 9/11/01, agreed to feature transit worker artifacts and stories within their exhibit space. On August 21, we held our annual medal ceremony for members injured or made ill at 9/11 at the Museum. Local 100 President Richard Davis was joined by 9/11 Memorial and Museum CEO Beth Hillman and NYC Transit President Richard Davey. You can see photos of the event here.