Peter Bitwinski

That it was my destiny to spend most of my working career at The Port Authority of NY & NJ was both unexpected and remarkable. I previously received shoeboxes of thank you letters from companies I interviewed with that included no job offers. So, I was encouraged in 1978 to receive a letter from the Port Authority offering me a Temporary Accountant position. Even though it was just temporary I accepted.

I began working with the late Carmine Giandalia and Bob Ruane at the WTC in the Payroll Group. This started many years of meeting, working with and admiring the many talented Port Authority staff I encountered. It included working at four P.A. facilities (WTC, PATC. JSTC & 2MONT) and visiting nearly every other. To be Sure, things were not always easy. That I survived the World Trade Center bombing on the afternoon of February 26, 1993 was fortunate. It was so unexpected and forever changed the WTC & the Port Authority. It was then God’s will, fate or both for me to survive the plane attack and exit the WTC to an empty West Street at 10:15AM on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Although those were difficult days, the good always far outweighed the bad for me at the WTC and the Port Authority. To think that I played a small role in the Port Authority’s successful operations, security, construction, and management spanning two centuries is heartwarming. That I contributed important accounting, managing and decision-making to the Port Authority’s unique and wonderful history is prideful for me.

In 1978, I never expected to encounter some of what I did working for the Port Authority. But I am honored & happy to say that I was glad the Port Authority chose me to work for the agency for nearly 43 of the last 100 years. May many others receive the same wonderful opportunity as I in the next hundred years to spend a career working for as great an agency as the Port Authority. Congratulations on your centennial, The Port Authority of NY & NJ.