Thursday, October 1, 2026
Port Authority police officer Walwyn Stuart of Valley Stream saved hundreds of passengers from the World Trade Center PATH train station on Sept. 11, 2001. Twenty-five years later, he is being honored at a new memorial at Ground Zero.
The eight-foot tall monument lists Stuart and 83 other Port Authority employees who died during the 9/11 attacks, including 37 Port Authority police officers, and the six people who died during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It’s outside 4 World Trade Center, the headquarters of the Port Authority.
The “Port Authority Employee Memorial” is in Liberty Park. It is a facsimile recreation of the Twin Towers with a granite plaque at the bottom, listing the names.
“This memorial is a fitting tribute and will provide loved ones and Port Authority colleagues a space of remembrance and reflection," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release.
According to Port Authority Police records, Stuart was stationed at the PATH train station when the attack happened. He helped load hundreds of people onto the first train back to New Jersey. Afterwards, he evacuated the station and ran to the North Tower to help rescue people. He was 28 years old.
He left behind his wife, Thelma, and infant daughter Amanda, who had been building a life together in Valley Stream. He passed away before Amanda celebrated her first birthday.
Thelma also worked downtown at the time and watched the North Tower fall from her office building on William Street.
“As the anniversary years tick up, the number of our colleagues who survived both the 1993 and 2001 attacks are starting to dwindle, so we must work harder to keep those memories of our Port Authority family from fading with time,” Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia said in the release.
Stuart was previously part of the New York Police Department before taking the job at Port Authority, under the impression that it would be safer. He took the job after the birth of his daughter.
The WTC Memorial Fund built the monument with donations generated by the organization’s annual golf outing in New Jersey. This was an important endeavor for Paul Iannacone, president of the group.
““For those of us who worked at the World Trade Center and throughout the authority, it was more than a workplace — it was our home,” Iannacone said in the release.
