Memories of Jim Barbella

Coworker recalls his bravery

I rode the morning LIRR train with Jim everyday for more than a decade from when I was the electrical engineer for the World Trade Center and he was responsible for the radio and fire alarm systems and other electronic systems up until he was a property manager and I was the Director of the Department. Jim was a brilliant, funny person.

After the 1993 bombing attack and the American multiplex fire alarm system computer was damaged, we put Jim on a plane to California to go buy a spare from the estate of the company founder. We got the original up and running, it was a Digital Equipment computer that used a paper tape to download the software. It also had a large floppy drive, something close to 8".

The system was replaced with a state of the art system after the 93 bombing as part of a number of upgrades but Jim was key to getting the old system up & running within a day or 2 of the bombing.

Jim was runner and he would regularly run the fire stairs from the basement B6 level to the 110Th floor during lunch. He would eat large lunches but never put on a pound.

Later on in his career, he became a property manager responsible for a 30+ floors of tenants and did a great job.

He is one of the many World Trade Department heroes who did not run away that day but instead stayed to make sure their tenants and customers safely evacuated.

Alan Reiss, Oceanside