Posted on 09/22/2001 10:17:37 PM PDT by sinkspur
It's "The Wall" that Stuart Fraser can't face right now.
Located in the company's crisis center in a conference room in New York's Pierre Hotel on Central Park, the wall is covered with photos. Each one represents a father, a mother, a friend, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter.
They are people Fraser knew, people he loved, partners, people he hired, people he worked alongside of, some for almost 20 years.
More than 700 of them.
And they are gone.
Fraser, 40, is the majority owner of the Fort Worth Brahmas minor-league hockey team. More importantly, he is the co-chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald, the bond-market brokerage firm that was, for all intents and purposes, wiped out in last Tuesday's stunning terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
"I can't look at that wall," Fraser said by phone late Saturday night. "It's too much to take in, with all those photos. But every now and then I'll accidentally glance up and see someone's picture I hadn't thought of, and realize that they perished, too."
Fraser had phoned in the middle of the night - it was almost 1 in the morning in New York - and he talked for the next hour-and-a-half. Time stopped having any meaning to him shortly before 9 Tuesday morning. Days and nights run together now.
He sleeps no more than two hours a night, exhausted emotionally and physically, but to stay in bed longer might be to dream, and he cannot face that possibility yet.
"My 10-year-old daughter, Samantha, came up to me the other day," he said. "She had tears in her eyes, and she said, `Daddy, this is too big for me to understand.' "
"I told her, `Honey, it's too big for me to understand, too.' "
So Fraser simply deals with life moment by moment, tick by tick, because everything changed forever last Tuesday morning when the television program he, his wife Elise and their three children were watching over breakfast suddenly switched to a special report. Horrified, Fraser heard for the first time that a plane had smashed into the 110-story north tower of the World Trade Center.
Cantor Fitzgerald, the company founded in 1945 by Fraser's uncle, Bernie Cantor, occupied five floors, 101-105, in that building.
"I don't even know what was on TV, maybe traffic reports or something, but whatever was on switched to the report, and suddenly I see the Trade Center and they're saying a plane flew into it," Fraser said. "I start looking ... and I'm in shock.
"Little planes fly up and down the river all the time. Helicopters come pretty close. I've been up there for seven hurricanes. I wasn't there for the '93 bombing, but I was there the next day. But this ... I knew almost instantly this was no accident."
Fraser should have been there that day. Normally he spent Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Trade Center offices. But because of a business meeting scheduled in Westchester County, near his home, Tuesday morning, he'd gone into the office on Monday instead.
His partner and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, seen breaking down in multiple television interviews over the weekend, also survived. Lutnick was late arriving at the office because he took his 5-year-old son to his first day of school that morning.
"On Monday, for some reason, I walked around the whole office, all five floors," Fraser said. "I just wanted to talk to people, to see everyone."
It was a routine he'd once urged his Uncle Bernie, who died in 1996, to take up.
"I always encouraged him to walk around, because it gave people a charge," Fraser said. "He was a big guy and stood out and people enjoyed seeing him."
Cantor was a visionary who revolutionized the bond-market business and became a legend in the financial district. In 1945, when he wanted to open his own brokerage, the business was dominated by the Irish. There was serious doubt that a young Jewish businessman would be accepted.
Cantor persuaded an insurance company president named John Fitzgerald - he just happened to be Irish - to take 10 percent of the business and put his name alongside Cantor's on the company letterhead.
"On Monday I just enjoyed touching base with everybody," Fraser said. "It was a good day. Everyone was working hard."
Working hard meant making money at Cantor Fitzgerald, which did $40 trillion in business last year.
As Fraser helplessly watched the drama play out on TV - by now the second plane had hit the south tower - he realized that the first jet had crashed into the north tower somewhere beneath Cantor Fitzgerald's offices.
"I'm watching this thing and my cell phone beeped," he said. "It didn't ring, but it beeped. I wondered why I had a message.
"It was my secretary Lourdes. The time of the message was 8:55 a.m. She was almost whispering, her voice was husky and I could hear things in the background.
"She said in this raspy voice, `Stuart, [it's] Lourdes...something hit the building. We can't get out. Please help us."
Goose bumps prickled Fraser's arms and the back of his neck.
"She'd worked for me for just over two years," he said. "Just a wonderful person. She didn't really have the qualifications when I hired her, but she had a personality I liked and she just got better, and better and better.
"I didn't know what to do. I was calling every number I knew at the offices and no one was answering. They'd shut down the tunnels and bridges into New York. I couldn't get there."
Lutnick did, racing to the entrance to the building and grabbing survivors as they emerged, asking them what floors they'd evacuated. The highest he got to was 91. Then the south tower came down and the force of the collapse blew him under a nearby truck.
"I knew when the first building fell, it was just a matter of time before ours would go, too," Fraser said. "I just hoped our people were getting out. It never occurred to me that the stairwells were compromised by the [first] plane.
"Then No. 1 came down and my life changed forever. I knew then that we'd lost considerable people. I had no idea it would be more than 700. We lost three of every four who worked for us in the World Trade Center."
None of those who were working that day and were in the company offices escaped. Among those lost was 37-year-old Eric Sand, brother to Fraser's wife Elise.
"He had phoned his house and his mother-in-law answered," Fraser said. "He told her, `You'll see it tonight on the news. I'm on the way down.'
"Another partner had talked to his dad and told him "I'm all right, we're evacuating.' People knew where the exits were. They knew how to get out. Some even had gas masks in their desks after the '93 bombing."
Twenty sets of brothers worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. They all died. More than 1,300 children lost a father or a mother.
"We've adopted more than 700 families and those children are ours now," Fraser said. "That's why this company has to survive. We have to take care of our family."
The Pierre Hotel offered the company free space for its crisis center. It has also provided food and others have rushed to help.
"Bellevue sent over counselors, rabbis, priests," Fraser said. "I've had employees who worked for us 10 years ago who have come back and said, `Stuart, what can I do? I want to help. I want to work for you. I'll wash your car. Anything.'
"We fired 20 people on Monday, just changing things. It saved 19 lives. One guy came back Tuesday morning for his check. He died. The other 19 have all come back saying they want to work for us again. We'll probably hire them back."
Fraser's main focus has been the families. The wives, the husbands, the children, the parents, all have come to him, asking what they should do next.
"I've sat with so many wives ... it's the same concerns. Do I have to move? Do I have enough money? Do my kids have to go to a different school?
"We lost 700 leaders, good people," he said. "I'm in a tough business and these people worked hard and long hours. You're right there with them. You know more about these people than you want to know. You know when their wife is mad at them and when their kids are in trouble.
"Your relationships are intense. It really is like another family. That's what it takes to be successful on Wall Street. These were the leaders of their families, the ones their brothers and sisters went to, the ones who helped the parents out, the leaders in their communities. That's the kind of people we hired.
"Sometimes they didn't know everything about the business, but they were teachable and they wanted to learn and they did."
And then, in the blink of an eye, they vanished.
"People have been wonderful, offering everything. But what I need now is my people back. That's what I need most of all. So many names. So many people. So many wives, so many mothers, so many kids.
"I'm driving home from the crisis center [Friday] night, and I'm thinking, `Stuart, can anything be worse than this?' And I think, yes, it's what my in-laws are going through. They lost a son. I don't think I could take it."
He's not even sure how he gets through each day. He does it because it's all he can do. The numbers ring constantly in his head: 700 families, 1,300 children.
"I know the enormity of it is going to hit me one day soon," he said. "I know it's going to be like hitting a wall. Right now it's just too big for me to comprehend.
"I've cried. I've cried plenty of times but never for a long time. I haven't let it all out. I can't. That's not my purpose now. It's not about me. It was never about me anyway."
There are times when Fraser stops for a moment and reaches for his cell phone. He listens, again, to Lourdes' message, the raspy voice, the plea for help, and his eyes fill with tears of frustration, tears of anger, tears of loss.
"I don't know," he said, "if I'll ever erase that message."
Then he puts it down and goes back to work. There is so much to do, so many to care for, so many to love.
For education and discussion purposes only.
KING: Hundreds of business were devastated by the attack on the World Trade Center. One that got the worst was Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the Wall Street top bond brokerage firms. Earlier this afternoon I had a very emotional conversation with Cantor Fitzgerald's chairman and CEO, Howard Lutnick. We began by asking Howard how many people he lost.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWARD LUTNICK, CHAIRMAN & CEO, CANTOR FITZGERALD: It's over 17,000. I just can't -- actually can't look at the number. I can't get an exact number because I don't want to.
KING: Now, tell us, you were supposed to be at work, but what happened?
LUTNICK: It was my -- my 5-year-old had his first day of kindergarten, so I had dropped him off at (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kindergarten, and it was his first day of big-boy school. And then I went -- so I was a little late getting down to the office.
KING: Where were you when all this hit?
LUTNICK: Just leaving the -- just leaving the school. And...
KING: How did you hear about it?
LUTNICK: Just my phone rang, and they said, you know, the building was hit by a plane, and I was thinking it was sort of like a -- a small, like a Piper Cub or something like that. So I got in the car and started driving down the left side trying to get there as fast as I could. And I could see the smoke from downtown, and I was -- I just had to get there.
KING: You had to know with the height of the building and everything that your firm was in a lot of trouble, right?
LUTNICK: Yeah, I don't like smoke from the -- smoke from the World Trade Center, so I just had to -- I had to get down there as fast as I could to see if I could find out what was going on and to make sure my people were getting out. So I was scared to death on the way there, but I had to get there.
KING: Your brother was in the building?
LUTNICK: My brother was in the building.
KING: He works for Cantor Fitzgerald?
LUTNICK: He does, on the 104th floor.
KING: How are you dealing with this, Howard?
LUTNICK: Not too well. Not too well.
KING: Have you had -- have you had grief counseling for the employer? How have you set this up? What is this past week, what have you been doing?
LUTNICK: Well, you know, Tuesday, I just -- I don't know what happened Tuesday. I think the day just went by. I just was trying to find people who were alive.
Wed -- you know, we got some calls from people who said anything we can do to help you. And then one of my friends from high schools, Arthur Bacall (ph), who works with The Pierre, called and left a message. And at about 5:00 in the morning I was talking to my wife and she said: Why don't we, why don't we get a hotel somewhere so everyone who, everyone who has a victim can come, and we can, we can all sort of be together?
And so The Pierre was unbelievable. They gave us -- well, they gave us the hotel for -- for all of our family members to come. And it was -- well, I mean, it was nice to be together, but it was the saddest thing ever.
KING: When you got to the building, did you go in at all? Did you try to reach people?
LUTNICK: I stood at the -- I stood at the door and I was yelling at people to get out, sort of standing with the policemen and some firemen, just standing there yelling at people to get out. And I grabbed them as they walked by and said, "What floor are you on, what floor are you on?" And -- because I wanted to go up the building.
So when I first got there, I was yelling at people in the 50s, and the last person before -- before I heard that noise was -- was someone who said they came down from 91. And they -- so I almost got there, but then I heard that noise, and the noise was the No. 2 World Trade Center collapsing. It sounded like a -- it sounded like a jet engine right over my head. Then I just -- I went running and the smoke knocked me over.
KING: I understand that your brother phoned your sister?
LUTNICK: Yeah, he called my sister, and he said that -- he said he was stuck on -- he was trapped on 103 and he wasn't going to make it, and the smoke was coming in and things were bad. And he called her and said goodbye, that he loved her, and for her to tell me that he loved me. And...
KING: Oh my god. This was a very young staff, too, right? Cantor Fitzgerald was known as a lot of young people.
LUTNICK: A lot of young people, early 30s, and a lot of babies. More than -- I think more than 1,500 children on that staff. So a lot, a lot of kids. A lot, a lot of kids.
KING: Have you explained it to your son?
LUTNICK: I told him -- my wife has a brother named Gary, too. So he always had two Uncle Garys. I told him that he only had -- he only has one Uncle Gary. The other Uncle Gary got hurt at work and he -- he can't come -- he can't come over anymore.
(SOBBING)
KING: Howard, I know how difficult this is and I appreciate you giving of your time. Your image was one of a hard-bitten, as I understand it, tough financial guy. Wall Street respected you a great deal. Is that -- are you different? Are you changed?
LUTNICK: As much as it can be.
KING: You'll never be the same.
LUTNICK: I will never be the same. I mean, every -- every person who came to work for me in New York, every one of them was in the...
(SOBBING)
... every single one was there. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) anymore. You can't find them, one of them. Every one. Every one.
(SOBBING)
KING: A lot were on conference calls when the plane hit, right? There were a lot of phone conversations. Cantor Fitzgerald was a very busy phone place, not...
LUTNICK: Yeah. A lot of people, a lot of phones, a lot of talking. And a lot of... KING: Where are you set up now?
LUTNICK: We have -- well, we have a small office at 299 Park Avenue, and we have -- UBS Warburg helped us out, gave us some space, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in New Jersey as well. And then -- and then, you know, the balance of our staff is in our Rochelle Park, New Jersey disaster site, which was, you know, a big giant building near the AT&T complex out there.
KING: And are you working every day? Is the firm functioning?
LUTNICK: Well, the firm is open in the U.S. We've opened with two businesses, our U.S. equities business and our U.S. government securities business. You know, I -- I get up at 6 o'clock in the morning. I talk on the phone with -- pretty much with ladies who've lost their husbands, and they have young kids and they just want to talk, or they want to ask what's going and how we're going to help them and how am I going to take care of them like I said I would. And I do that until about 9 or 10 o'clock, and then I, generally at 10:00 some funerals or wakes, and try to talk business in the interim period, go to funerals, go to wakes, talk to people all night long, and go to bed at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, generally knowing I can call, you know, some of these women at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning because they're not asleep. I'm not asleep and they're not asleep.
KING: Does your firm -- how is your firm going to deal with all of these families and the like? Can Americans help you in any way?
LUTNICK: Well, I'll tell you how we decided to deal with it. My partners and I, we talked about it and we decided that what we're going to do is we're going to give 25 percent of the profits of the company to the families of the victims to try to take care of them so they stay part of our family and that we can try to take care of them with our company, because you see they call me and they say: How come you can't pay my salary? Why can't you pay my husband's salary? Other companies pay their salary -- why can't you? But you see I lost...
(SOBBING)
... I lost everybody in the company, so I can't pay their salary.
(SOBBING)
They -- they think we're doing something wrong. I can't pay their salaries.
(SOBBING)
I don't have any money to pay their salaries.
KING: Can America help at all? Can people help, Howard?
LUTNICK: Well, I guess, you know, we're -- the victims, all the families, they're going to stay in the Cantor family and they're going to stay our partners. And so everything that we do, they're going to get 25 percent of whatever we do. So we do business with banks, we do business with broker dealers, and we...
KING: So every dollar you make they get a quarter.
LUTNICK: They get a quarter. So I mean, you know, if every money manager and pension fund just gives us a little bit of business then maybe we'll survive.
KING: Howard, I know how difficult this has been. I thank you. You have the condolences of all of the CNN family and everybody in the world.
LUTNICK: Thank you, Larry.
KING: Hang tough, Howard.
LUTNICK: Thanks.
KING: God bless. You'll be saying Kadish a long time.
LUTNICK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
(SOBBING)
KING: That's Howard Lutnick. He's the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.
The address of the Cantor Fitzgerald relief fund is 101 Park Avenue, 45th floor, New York, New York, 10178. And the phone number, if you want information is 1-800-466-0500.
A Storm is coming - and only PETA will have a right to cry over the dead...
Lost employees that were at their desks working to make the massive amount of revenue this company.....most certainly they are in the hands of G_D now, but the fact that this company stopped all money to the families is disgusting.
Thank you for posting this.
I personally would like hear every single story, to see every single picture that has been censored by the nanny media---I want to burn those images into my brain cells, so that I will never ever forget what those madmen did to my fellow countrymen.
We may disagree on many things, sinkspur, but I am confident that you and I share in our resolve to bring justice to the murderous vermin who committed these atrocities.
When asked how many employees "he lost", Lutnik responded with "It's over 700.....", not the figure of 17,000 as shown in the transcribed text.
That's the LAST thing he should be doing. If he's not sleeping long enough to dream, he's not getting into REM sleep, which means he's not really getting, for lack of a better term, "real" sleep, and just going to get progressively more out-of-sorts, eventually starting to halleucinate. After that comes plain old insanity.
Usually, this would be something rather amusing to watch. But not with this guy, in this situation.
The Tarheel
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