{{Short description|American politician}} {{redirect|Neil Levin|the Jewish music scholar|Neil W. Levin}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder |office = Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |term_start = April 2001<ref name=NJ.com>{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/lives_remembered/2011/08/neil_d_levin_47_pa_executive_d.html|title=Neil D. Levin, 47, P.A. executive director|publisher=NJ.com|date=August 15, 2011|access-date=January 6, 2021|archive-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106180313/https://www.nj.com/lives_remembered/2011/08/neil_d_levin_47_pa_executive_d.html}}</ref> |term_end = September 11, 2001 |nominator = George Pataki |predecessor = Robert E. Boyle |successor = Ronald Shiftan |office1 = Superintendent of Insurance of New York |governor1 = George Pataki |term_start1 = April 1, 1997 |term_end1 = April 5, 2001 |predecessor1 = Edward J. Muhl |successor1 = Gregory V. Serio |office2 = Superintendent of Banks of New York |governor2 = George Pataki |term_start2 = February 14, 1995 |term_end2 = April 1997 |predecessor2 = Carmine M. Tenga |successor2 = Elizabeth McCaul |image =Neil David Levin.jpg |birth_name = Neil David Levin |birth_date = {{birth date|1954|9|16}} |birth_place = New York City, U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|2001|9|11|1954|9|16}} |death_place = North Tower, World Trade Center, New York City, U.S. |death_cause = Collapse of 1 World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks |party = |spouse = Christy Ferer |children = 2 |education = Lafayette College (BA)<br />Long Island University (MBA)<br />Hofstra University (JD) }} [[File:12.6.11NeilDavidLevinPanelN-65ByLuigiNovi1.jpg|thumb|Levin's name is located on Panel N-65 of the National September 11 Memorial's North Pool.]] '''Neil David Levin''' (September 16, 1954<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://names.911memorial.org/#lang=en_US&page=person&id=3503|title = Memorial Guide | National September 11th Memorial & Museum|website=Names.911memorial.org}}</ref> – September 11, 2001) was an American businessman and political figure who was executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from April 2001 until his death during the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center later that year.<ref name=NJ.com/>
==Early life and education== Levin was born to a Jewish family and was native of Brooklyn.<ref name=NJ.com/> He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania and an MBA from Long Island University at its C. W. Post Center, followed by a law degree from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.<ref name=NYT/>
==Career== After completing his law degree, Levin became counsel to the securities subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, where he helped draft the 1984 Insider Trading Sanctions Act.<ref name=NYT/>
In 1987 he went to work for Goldman Sachs, becoming vice president in 1989 and providing investment banking to federal agencies. He was also chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board of New York for seven years and an adviser to the federal home loan programs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.<ref name=NYT/>
In February 1995, Levin was appointed by New York Governor George Pataki to serve as the state's Superintendent of Banks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/347173204/|title=15 Feb 1995, 4 - The Post-Star|website=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 27, 2022}}</ref> He took over from acting Superintendent Carmine M. Tenga.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nysl.ptfs.com/data/Library1/2032.pdf|title=Annual report of the Superintendent of the Banking Department of the State of New York|website=Nysl.ptfs.com|access-date=July 27, 2022|archive-date=June 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627113831/https://nysl.ptfs.com/data/Library1/2032.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In this role, Levin was the state's chief banking regulator, head of the Department of Banking, and Chairman of the State Banking Board. Elizabeth McCaul became acting superintendent.<ref name=appt>{{Cite web|url=http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/april1_3_97.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970624102331/http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/april1_3_97.html |archive-date=June 24, 1997 |title=Governor Pataki Appoints Neil Levin as Superintendent of State Insurance Department|date=June 24, 1997|access-date=July 27, 2022}}</ref>
In 1997, Pataki named Levin as the state Superintendent of Insurance, the state's chief insurance regulator.<ref name=appt/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.banking.state.ny.us/prfeb24.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970418022803/http://www.banking.state.ny.us/prfeb24.htm |archive-date=April 18, 1997 |title=NYS Banking Department|date=April 18, 1997|access-date=July 27, 2022}}</ref> At the same time, Pataki 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.<ref name=NYT/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/Sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=9633|title=NEIL D. LEVIN: World Trade Center: A Consensus Builder|date=June 7, 2000 |publisher=Legacy.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
In early 2001, Pataki and then New Jersey Governor Donald DiFrancesco named Levin as the executive director of the Port Authority,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/31/nyregion/pataki-names-state-official-as-port-authority-s-chief.html|title=Pataki Names State Official as Port Authority's Chief|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 31, 2001|last1=Smothers|first1=Ronald}}</ref> the agency that 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.<ref name=NJ.com/>
==September 11 attacks and death== Levin worked in a corner office on the 67th floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower. On September 11, 2001, Levin was at the Windows on the World restaurant on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower. When American Airlines Flight 11 was deliberately crashed into the tower between floors 93–99 at 8:46 A.M., all escape routes were cut off for anyone higher than the 91st floor, and Levin became one of roughly 800 people trapped in the upper floors of the burning skyscraper. Levin eventually perished when the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 A.M., killing all remaining survivors that were trapped above the impact zone.<ref name=Last>{{cite news |last=Dwyer |first=Jim |author2= Lipton, Eric |author3=Glanz, James |title=102 Minutes: Last Words at the Trade Center; Fighting to Live as the Towers Die |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/102-minutes-last-words-at-the-trade-center-fighting-to-live-as-the-towers-die.html |date=May 26, 2002|work=The New York Times |access-date=March 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114063928/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/nyregion/102-minutes-last-words-at-the-trade-center-fighting-to-live-as-the-towers-die.html |archive-date=November 14, 2013 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> His body was recovered in April 2002, nearly seven months after the attacks.
Before the tower was struck, Levin was speaking on the phone with his executive adviser, Karen Eastman. She later related that when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the tower, "Our reaction was 'What was that?' It hit on the opposite side so we just felt the impact and the building kept shaking and swaying for a long time."<ref name=NJ.com/>
==Personal life and legacy== Levin married Christy Ferer in 1996; they had two children from her previous marriage.<ref name = NYT>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/22/nyregion/neil-levin-executive-director-of-bistate-port-authority-46.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 22, 2001|title=Neil Levin, Executive Director Of Bistate Port Authority, 46|author=Wyatt, Edward|archive-date=August 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820034500/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/22/nyregion/neil-levin-executive-director-of-bistate-port-authority-46.html}}</ref>
At the National 9/11 Memorial, Levin is memorialized at the North Pool, on Panel N-65.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://names.911memorial.org/#lang=en_US&page=person&id=3503|title=North Pool: Panel N-65 – Neil David Levin|publisher=National September 11 Memorial & Museum|access-date=October 29, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727095710/http://names.911memorial.org/#lang=en_US&page=person&id=3503|archive-date=July 27, 2013}}</ref> He is buried at Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, New York.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
The Neil D. Levin Graduate Institute of International Relations and Commerce was established by Governor George Pataki and the State of New York in his memory, and is a part of the State University of New York.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{cite web|date=August 2, 2012|title=Suny Levin Institute|url=http://www.levin.suny.edu/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120803123412/http://www.levin.suny.edu/|archive-date=August 3, 2012}} * {{Find a Grave|5816229|Neil David Levin}}
{{s-start}} {{succession box|title=Superintendent of Banks of New York|before=Carmine M. Tenga|after=Elizabeth McCaul|years=February 14, 1995 – April 1997}}|- {{succession box|title=Superintendent of Insurance of New York|before=Edward J. Muhl|after=Gregory V. Serio|years=April 1, 1997 – April 5, 2001}} |- {{succession box|title=Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey|before=Robert Boyle|after=Joseph Seymour|years=April 2001 – September 2001}} {{s-end}} {{Casualties of the September 11 attacks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Neil David}} Category:2001 deaths Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American politicians Category:21st-century American politicians Category:Businesspeople from New York City Category:Goldman Sachs people Category:Lafayette College alumni Category:LIU Post alumni Category:Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni Category:Murdered American Jews Category:21st-century American Jews Category:New York (state) Republicans Category:People murdered in New York City Category:Politicians from New York City Category:Port Authority of New York and New Jersey people Category:State cabinet secretaries of New York (state) Category:Terrorism deaths in New York (state) Category:Victims of the September 11 attacks Category:1954 births Category:Burials at Mount Lebanon Cemetery