The 2/26 Before 9/11 @ The World Trade Center

About the Book

This book is based on a true, eyewitness account of what actually happened on that uneventful, gloomy, snowy and cold early afternoon on Friday February 26, 1993 at America’s famous landmark, the World Trade Center. As one of the living survivors of that first attack in 1993, I realized that the 9/11/2001 story would be incomplete without the knowledge and clear understanding of the tragic and sad events of 2/26/1993 which shook many Americans and citizens of other nations, who called the World Trade Center their home for business. I also thought that it would be morally and psychologically unfair to the thousands of men, women and children who were directly or indirectly victimized by that particular incident which took six innocent lives and left hundreds of people wounded and traumatized, and several families devastated, in its aftermath. You will agree with me that one life lost, is one too many.

About the Author

Clifford N. Opurum, Ph.D., MCIT is a seasoned Professor of Transportation Planning & Engineering, Economics, and Management. He currently teaches for the City University of New York (CUNY), and Pratt Institute (Pratt University) in New York City, where he has been teaching since 2006 and 2008, respectively. He has also taught at two campuses of the State University of New York (SUNY New Paltz and F.I.T. SUNY). In the 2008/9 Academic Year, Dr. Opurum taught various micro and macroeconomics courses (including Economics of Globalization) as a full-time Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics at SUNY-New Paltz, and in 2009, at F.I.T.-SUNY as an Adjunct Faculty (Economics). He was also an Adjunct Instructor of Business Administration and Management at Briarcliffe College in Bethpage, New York, Adjunct Professor of Management at Berkeley College in New York City, and a visiting faculty at the College of New Rochelle, New York. Dr. Opurum is the author of the award-winning Automated Fare Collection System & Urban Public Transportation: An Economic and Management Approach to Urban Transit Systems. He is also the author of the spiritually inspiring Forty Days of Fasting & Prayers in the Biblical Context: A Kingdom Message for Believers and Unbelievers, and the international business-oriented Globalization and Regional Integration: The ECOWAS Model, among his other published works. His unpublished peer-reviewed research papers include “A Review of the Relationship Between Public Transportation Pricing and Travel Demand: An Exploratory Study”, which was presented at the 2006 International Business Conference in Orlando, Florida held by the Society for the Advancement of Management. Some of his work-in-progress research papers include “Transportation Alternative Energy and Social Entrepreneurship”, and “Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development”. In 2008, Dr. Opurum presented a research paper titled “Regional Economic Integration” at the First World Diaspora Conference sponsored by the First World Chapter of the State University of New York at New Paltz Alumni Association and the Departments of Black Studies and Foreign Languages, and the Latin-American Studies. He was also a Special Guest Speaker at the State University of New York at New Paltz Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) event held on November 7, 2008, where he delivered a special keynote speech on “Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development”. In addition to his other academic and professional credentials, Dr. Opurum holds a Diploma (B.A. Hon.) in Transport Studies from University of London, England (1982), a Master of Science (Marine Transportation Management) from State University of New York Maritime College (1985), M.A. (Economics) from Fordham University, New York (1987), Master of Science (Transportation Planning & Engineering) from the Polytechnic University, New York (1994), and a Ph.D. (Transport Studies) from the University of Leeds, England (2005). His professional memberships include Corporate Member of The Chartered Institute of Transport (MCIT), Associate Member of the Institute of Transportation Administration, former Member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and Member, Society for the Advancement of Management (SAM). Dr. Opurum’s research interest is in the areas of international/global business, strategic management, economics, sea, land and air transportation management, planning and engineering, and urban policy. He has attended several international business management and other academic conferences (including one organized by the Federal Reserve Bank New York at its corporate offices in New York City), and presented and reviewed some research papers at some of the conferences he attended. Prior to his teaching appointments, Dr. Opurum held several management positions in both the public and private sectors within the New York Metropolitan Region most of which are in the transportation industry. From 1991 to 1993, he authored the New York Metropolitan Area Regional Transportation Status Report as the Project Manager for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Tri-State Regional Transportation and Demographics Monitoring Project at the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT). He was a member of the New York City Transportation Task Force and Senior Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee (1988-91), which designed and implemented the New York City premier Para-transit Program otherwise known as the Access-A-Ride, during the administrations of Mayors Edward I. Koch and David N. Dinkins. During that same period, he worked for the New York City Department for The Aging (DFTA) as a Community Coordinator (Transportation and Social Services) and subsequently, as a Program Officer (Contract Manager). In 1994, Dr. Opurum worked with the consulting firm of Louis Berger & Associates, Incorporated as a Senior Transportation Planner at the company’s East Orange, New Jersey corporate offices, where he supervised field assignments on public transportation and highway improvement projects under contracts with government agencies ((including the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) and New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA)). He was also a Transportation Planner (Project Manager, Ridership Analysis and Reports) from 1997 to 2004 with the Metro-North Railroad of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Dr. Opurum’s extra-curriculum activities include doing God’s work as an Ordained Deacon, a licensed Chaplain, and a Chorister. By the grace of God, he narrowly survived the first terrorist attack at the World Trade Center in New York City on February 26, 1993 where he worked for NYMTC of the NYS DOT (then located on the 82nd Floor of Number One World Trade Center). He would have been a victim of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack had he not listened to the still small voice of God in 1994, and this, indeed, motivated him to write this book. He is married and lives in New York with his family.