NYC-WTC_000230590

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Washington post, tuesdaY, octobeb 2,2001

Back to Business, biit Elsewhere WORKEHS, From El

lingering fear, and' employees moved by the tens of thousands to niakesliilt offices scattered across three states. At Merrill, the huge financial services firm, 9,000 employee.s have been driven out of Lower Manhattan by the disaster. The lives of many have been whip- sawed as whole departments have been moved to temporary quar­ ters—and moved again, as far as 40 miles aw'ay, as the company has scrounged to find room for every­ body. “We've all been scrambling a lit­ tle bit,” said Jeff Hughes, a Merrill BY JUSrih lANE OR Ta WASHINGTON TOSI

executive. "Basically you sit in a Multex.com's operations and networking staff had to move from their room and say, ‘Wc gotta do it and building to the company’s headquarters elsewhere in lower Manhattan, we gotta do it now, and what does that take?’" City estimates that 80,000 to ment they had at headquarters. Commuting patterns in the 100,0011 employees, as many as a They found a generator and got New York region have been third of those who normally work it shipped to Manhattan in the turned upside down by the attack. in Lower Manhattan, have been days after the attack, but initially Some Merrill employees who used displaced. couldn’t get permission to move it to have two-hour commutes—.say, Many employees have found an through police lines. As the situa­ from southern or western New emotional outlet in helping tlieir tion dragged on, the trucker haul­ Jersey to Lower Manhattan—now companies get back into gear. ing the rig parked overnight un­ have four-hour commutes to Jer­ "It helps you overcome the trag­ der a highway overpass riear the icho, N.Y., on Long Island, where ic event," said Isaak Karaev, chair­ East River. Afraid the man would . the company has temporarily man and chief executive of Mul- give up and leave. Draper spent housed its international equities tex. "You start worrying right part of the night sleeping on the division. away, are my people okay? How bed of the track next to his pre­ Merrill has offered hotel rooms do I get electricity? How do I get ciousgenerator, using his arm as a to the most-affected and counsel­ phones? How do 1 get the thou­ pillow. ing to all employees, but Hughes sands of clients we have back up “You get focused on what it is said the situation is taking an and running?" you need to do,” Draper said. "So emotional toll. The challenge of keeping busi­ you just do It," With subway lines and stations ness going has produced folk he­ Eventually they got the genera­ that tan near the World Trade roes at many companies. Malcolm tor through, improvised all man­ Center shut down, probably for Draper, Multex’s vice president of ner of technological fixes, and years, worker.s who still commute international operations, is one of were running their company on to Lower Manhattan depend on those—the sort of unflappable fel­ emergency power when the stock ferry service, expanded after the low you want to have around in a market reopened on Sept. 17, attack. But it’a a tough situation; crisis. "It was like ‘Who cares what Ferries and remaining trains, es­ When other employees Hcd your job title is?’" S'aid Samantha pecially those to and from New Lower Manhattan right after the Topping, a spoke.swoman for Mul­ Jersey, are jam-packed, attacks, he and colleague Thomas tex. '“Here’s a drill. Cut through Christopher Feeney, Multex’s D’Ambrosio, chief information of­ the wail.’" president, lives 45 miles west of ficer. stayed. They slept on floors Power has since been restored Manhattan and used to have a lei­ and scrounged around the office to the headquarters, but the situa­ surely ferry ride into the city. for food. tion in Ihe area remains so chaotic "There Tire thousands of people Multex, with 500 employees, that Draper isn’t giving up the doing it now, and there used to be normally supplies financial infor­ generator for a while. .hundreds," he said. “They’re hav­ mation to professional investors Police captains were more wor­ ing a hard time just getting the and other clients via electronic ried about moving fire and rescue crowds organized and get ting the networks, but Draper and D’Am­ workers into the stricken zone boats into the slips. We’re in an brosio were forced to shut their than accommodating a small com old, reconditioned boat that leans ’ systems down when power and pany like Multex, but they eventu­ to the left a lot of the time.’ phones went off. They began plan­ ally cooperated. “Secondary on The disruption to business in ning a recovery their minds," Draper said, “was New York extends well beyond the They realized that their main that we don’t want the terrorists- World Trade Center area. Thou­ eoraputer center, at 75 Park Place, to succeed in any more ways that sands of nearby businesses, large would likely be out of service fur a we can help it.' and small, are without some es­ long time. But they were able to sential service such as phones, retrieve some equipment from Staff writer Carol Vinzant power or sanitation. New York there and add it to backup equip- contributed to this report.

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NYC-WTC_000230591