Port Authority dedicates Liberty Park memorial to employees killed in 1993 and 9/11 attacks

LIBERTY PARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has dedicated a new memorial in Liberty Park to honor its employees who were killed in both World Trade Center attacks. It pays tribute to the four workers killed in the February 1993 bombing and the 84 who died in the 9/11 attacks. That includes 37 members of the Port Authority Police Department, which is the largest loss of life by any police force in the U.S. in a single event. It was the day before his son's 18th birthday. "I think at the time there were stories of school children stuck in an elevator, so as a family, we were joking he was probably in an elevator entertaining the kids and got stuck," his son, Stephen Knapp, said. Knapp and three other Port Authority workers were killed in that attack, including Monica Rodriguez Smith, who was supposed to go on maternity leave the very next day.

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Scoop News Deskattacks LIBERTY PARK, New Jersey · Published Wednesday, September 9, 2026 at 12:51 AM UTCUpdated Wednesday, September 9, 2026 at 10:11 PM UTC

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Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. The memorial also has the names of agency workers who got sick or died while working on post-9/11 recovery efforts. "With the dedication of this memorial, our Port Authority colleagues, friends and family members now have a special place in our home to come and remember those who are no longer with us," said Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia. "To remember the acts of bravery and selflessness that saved countless others." On February 26, 1993, Stephen Knapp, Port Authority's chief maintenance supervisor, was in one of the buildings when terrorists set off a bomb in an underground garage.

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