Name Neil Levin | Role Executive | |
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Died September 11, 2001, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States Education Hofstra University, Lafayette College | ||
Neil David Levin (September 16, 1954 – September 11, 2001) was the Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He was killed during the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, five days before his 47th birthday.
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Career
Levin was a businessman and political leader in New York State. He was an aide to former U.S. Sen. Al D'Amato and to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in Washington in the 1980s. He later moved back to New York to become a vice president at Goldman Sachs. He held a bachelor's degree from Lafayette College, a master's degree from Long Island University and a law degree from Hofstra University.
He spent seven years as the Chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Farmer Mac and a member of the Freddie Mac Advisory Committee. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Trustee of Hofstra University.
In 1995, Levin was appointed by New York Gov. George Pataki to serve as the state's Superintendent of Banks. In this role, Levin was the state's chief banking regulator, head of the Department of Banking, and Chairman of the State Banking Board. In 1997, Pataki named Levin as the state Superintendent of Insurance, which made him the state's chief insurance regulator. Pataki also named him the Chairman of the Commission on the Recovery of Holocaust Victims' Assets, which arranged for the return of assets to families in New York.
In early 2001, Pataki and then New Jersey Gov. Donald DiFrancesco named Levin as the Executive Director of the Port Authority. In this role he was the chief executive officer of the agency which runs the World Trade Center, various bridges and tunnels around New York City, the three airports in the New York City area, the seaports in New York and New Jersey, and various international trade programs. Levin was executive director for five months before his death.
Personal life and legacy
Levin was married to broadcast journalist Christy Ferer. Ferer has become New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's liaison to 9/11 families and has been named by Pataki to the Port Authority Board of Commissioners.
Pataki announced that the 65th institution in the State University of New York system has been named the Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce.
At the National 9/11 Memorial, Levin is memorialized at the North Pool, on Panel N-65.