Neil David Levin (September 16, 1954 – September 11, 2001) was an American businessman and political figure who was executive director of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

from April 2001 until his death during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

on the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

later that year.

Early life

Neil David Levin was a native of Brooklyn.

Career

In February 1995, Levin was appointed by New York Gov.

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

to serve as the state's Superintendent of Banks. He took over from acting Superintendent Carmine M. Tenga. In this role, Levin was the state's chief banking regulator, head of the Department of Banking, and Chairman of the State Banking Board. He was succeeded by

Elizabeth McCaul Elizabeth McCaul is a member of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank. McCaul previously served as Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York, the head of the New York State Banking Department and held several senior executive p ...

as Superintendent of Banks. In 1997, Pataki named Levin as the state Superintendent of Insurance, which made him the state's chief insurance regulator. Pataki also named him the Chairman of the Commission on the Recovery of Holocaust Victims' Assets, which arranged for the return of assets to families in New York. In early 2001, Pataki and then New Jersey Gov.

Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

named Levin as the Executive Director of the Port Authority. In this role he was the chief executive officer of the agency which runs the World Trade Center, various bridges and tunnels around

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the three airports in the New York City area, the seaports in New York and New Jersey, and various international trade programs. Levin was executive director for five months before his death. Levin worked in a corner office on the 67th floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower. On September 11, 2001, Levin was at the

Windows on the World Windows on the World was a complex of dining, meeting, and entertainment venues on the top floors (106th and 107th) of the North Tower (Building One) of the original World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. It included a restaurant called ...

restaurant at the top of the North Tower, where he was speaking on the phone with his executive adviser, Karen Eastman. She later related that when

American Airlines Flight 11 American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 as part of the September 11 attacks. Lead hijacker Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Tower ...

hit the tower, "Our reaction was 'What was that?' It hit on the opposite side so we just felt the impact and the building kept shaking and swaying for a long time."

Personal life and legacy

Levin lived in Manhattan. At the

National 9/11 Memorial The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombi ...

, Levin is memorialized at the North Pool, on Panel N-65. He is buried at Mount Lebanon Cemetery in

Glendale, Queens Glendale is a neighborhood in the west-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Forest Hills to the east, Ridgewood to the west, Woodhaven to the south, and Middle Village to the north. Glendale was built on a ...

, New York.

References

External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Neil David 1950s births 2001 deaths Year of birth uncertain 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American terrorism victims Assassinated American politicians Businesspeople from New York City Goldman Sachs people Lafayette College alumni Long Island University alumni Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni Murdered American Jews New York (state) Republicans People murdered in New York City Male murder victims Politicians from New York City Port Authority of New York and New Jersey people State cabinet secretaries of New York (state) Terrorism deaths in New York (state) Victims of the September 11 attacks