After September 11, 2001, thousands of men and women came to New York to aid in the recovery effort. As a construction project manager with the city agency in charge of the cleanup, John Romanowich, arrived at the World Trade Center site just days after the attack.

John came to StoryCorps to remember those working long hours—sometimes till midnight—at Ground Zero.

Originally aired September 10, 2010 on NPR’s Morning Edition.