More Than Just a Job: Ferrara Bros. Pours Concrete at WTC

For Joseph J. Ferrara, Vice-President of Ferrara Bros. Building Materials Corp., supplying concrete to the World Trade Center site gives his work meaning.

"The memorial is probably the most important project for us," he said. "We've been blessed, being able to be a part of it."

Ferrara Bros. has operated along the shores of the Gowanus Canal since 1973. A family run business, started by Ferrara's father, is now run by five Ferrara's. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the company immediately knew they needed to be involved with the rebuilding effort.

"It was very important to me," said Ferrara. "I wanted to be a part of it."

The son of the Ferrara family nanny, a firefighter with Squad 1 in Park Slope—which lost 12 members that day—had died in the Towers. After that, Ferrara met some of the members of his company, and was touched with how heroic the firefighters were.

"I just fell in love with these guys. I would do anything for these guys," he said.

And so, Ferrara, along with about a dozen other concrete companies in the area, put in bids and were chosen to help rebuild the Towers. Ferrara was there from the beginning, doing emergency work on underground slurry walls, which kept the Hudson River from running into the site.

They went on to work on the the 1 and 9 subway station and PATH train station, as well as to supply all the concrete for the memorial, and some for the foundations of towers 2 and 4.

Ferrara even bought extra trucks, including a few CNG (compressed natural gas) trucks that don't run on diesel, and are therefore more environmentally friendy.

This wasn't the first time Ferrara worked at the Towers. Ferrara trucks were brought in to pour concrete after the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, too.

"We've been there twice," said Ferrara. "Unfortunately, from the result of some bad guys."

And while the contracts are great for business, Ferrara says working at the World Trade Center site gives him a lot of pride.

"When I go to visit, I can tell my family, this is Ferrara Bros. concrete here," he said.