In the recent waking of the ten year anniversary of September 11th, 2001, Ferro Productions took time to reflect back on that horrifying day. The events that transpired on 9/11 will forever be engraved in the history books of this country and although all Americans were affected by the terrorist attacks, people living in the New York and D.C. metro areas were undoubtably hit the hardest.

September 11th began like any other Tuesday. The Ferro crew had a 9 AM call time at Giants Stadium. Joe Scacciaferro, Ferro’s Executive Producer, recalls pulling up to the stadium in the morning and seeing a hint of smoke around the skyline. As he stood outside talking to a security guard, wondering what the cause of the smoke was, Joe witnessed the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. The mayhem had begun.

Roughly six miles west of Midtown Manhattan, Scacciaferro instructed his camera crew to capture footage of the New York City skyline as it stood in shambles. The footage shows downtown Manhattan completely engulfed in a cloud of smoke. ” I didn’t know if we were at war, or what. All I knew was that this was going to be big, and we needed to capture it on tape.” The

crew captured hours of footage.

Skyline From Giants Stadium

Joe started receiving calls from local news stations, informing him that his studio was going to be used to output news coverage of the event because the studio’s in the Manhattan were all being evacuated. The news camera men were in the city gathering footage, and then ferrying across the river to Giants stadium and using Ferro’s control room to release some of the most historical news coverage in history.

The very next day, on 9/12/01, the New York Giants participated in a relief effort in Jersey City. Wellington Mara requested for Ferro to be on location covering the event. The day started at Giants Stadium with players loading up trucks with food and supplies. Once the trucks were loaded, the team took a caravan to the water front in Jersey City, just across the river from Manhattan’s financial district. With smoke still lingering and police boats patrolling the Hudson, the harsh realities began to set in for Ferro’s crew and the Giants. Giants players, police officers, and volunteers all worked as one in an assembly line fashion as they unloaded supplies off the trucks and onto boats. The boats then took all the supplies across the Hudson to downtown Manhattan.

NY Giants players work together unloading supplies

Scacciaferro was on one of those boats that went across the Hudson to Ground Zero. Although there were no cameras allowed, Joe says he will never forget the images of the pit that was the World Trade Center. “Everything was black and white. It was like I was on the set of an old 1960’s movie. Everything was covered in ash. I truly felt like I had entered hell.”

On the eighteenth of September the Giants organization visited NYFD Ladders in the downtown area. Players, coaches, and Giants

owner Wellington Mara were in attendance to show support and give thanks to the hero’s. Once again, Ferro was on location covering the event. It is hard to describe with words the emotions that were felt that day but video footage shows it all. Giants players and firefighters crying and hugging each other. New Yorkers covering fire stations with thousands of “thank you” cards. One poster on the wall outside of the Ladder may best describe the attitude and strong will of Americans after the attacks. “Beloved Saviors- We weep with you; there are no worries.”

No one will ever forget the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Ferro Productions was selected by fate to be on the front lines of this historical tragedy. It was by professional courage and commitment to their craft that propelled them to respond . “It’s very hard for me to look back at that footage because it brings me back into the nightmare. I’m just glad we were able to capture a glimpse of the heroism of so many and lay to rest the myth about the pampered self involved pro athletes .”

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