Zobe Pedevillano (far right) and NYPD officers in 2001. Photo courtesy of Zobe Pedevillano
The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Photo courtesy of Zobe Pedevillano
The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Photo courtesy of Zobe Pedevillano
The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Photo courtesy of Zobe Pedevillano
The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Photo courtesy of Zobe Pedevillano
Marc Pedevillano joined the Ormond Beach Police Department in 2021. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Officer Marc Pedevillano points at some of the photos his wife Zobe took in the days after 9/11. The photos are displayed in a bulletin board inside OBPD. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Zobe and Marc Pedevillano. Photo by Jarleene Almenas
Sept. 11, 2001, was a day off for Marc Pedevillano.
He'd been with the New York Police Department for six years at that point and lived about 30 miles north of the city in Rockland County. That morning, he got up and went to his local bagel store for breakfast.
As he was driving back, he heard the news on the radio: American Airlines Flight 11 had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Pedevillano remembers thinking it had to be an accident. Still, he knew he would get called into work because he was part of the Manhattan North Task Force of the NYPD at the time, which responded to large mobilizations and gatherings.
As he's on his way home to pack a bag for work, United Airlines Flight 175 hits the south tower of the World Trade Center.
"I went numb," Pedevillano recalled. "All I remember is thinking, 'Oh my God, this is not an accident. This is something really serious. This is real. This was intentional.' It was really hard to process immediately, but I knew I had to go to work. I had to get into the city."
He packed his bag with a few days' worth of uniforms and headed out, listening to news unfold. As he approached the George Washington Bridge, everything was shut down. Pedevillano showed an officer his badge. He was let through and ordered to follow another officer in his car.
They were the only two cars on the bridge as Pedevillano glanced south to lower Manhattan. All he could see was smoke and flames shooting into the sky.
"Everyone is probably looking to run away from this and I'm going to it," Pedevillano recalled. "I'm like, this is what we do. This is what I signed up to do and I never really thought about it like that before."
Pedevillano joined the NYPD in 1995.
He'd always wanted to be a police officer. He grew up in New Jersey, but the NYPD was the department he wanted to work for, with its 78 precincts and 40,000-officer force.
"I thought it was like the front row ticket to the greatest show on earth," Pedevillano said. "It really was — a lot of camaraderie. I felt like we had pretty good support from different communities and neighborhoods that we worked in. I saw it as a really good time to be in law enforcement."
On Sept. 11, 2001, he witnessed that tenfold.
Once he reported to his base, his fellow officers with the Manhattan North Task Force were either already there or on their way. Officers were being deployed to Ground Zero, but Pedevillano was deployed to the same bridge he'd just crossed, the George Washington Bridge, to ensure it wouldn't be targeted in an attack.
That day, Pedevillano explained, the NYPD believed other attacks on infrastructure could take place and increased security on ports of entry into the city.
After a few hours, Pedevillano was sent to Ground Zero. It was "pure chaos" there, he recalled, as families were looking for loved ones and all officers could do is direct them to a dedicated reunification area.
"Just looking at what was around us, in my mind, if they were in here ... especially if they were up higher, they're probably not coming out," Pedevillano recalled. "But of course, you can't say that — you're trying to be hopeful."
A total of 2,977 people died during the Sept. 11 attacks, including victims at the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 13.
In the days, weeks and months that followed, the city felt unified, Pedevillano said.
Pedevillano's partner volunteered to help look for remains in Ground Zero. Though he hadn't met her yet, Pedevillano's wife, Zobe, who also worked for the NYPD, was doing similar work in nearby buildings.
The NYPD performed security on Ground Zero for almost a year as cleanup efforts ensued.
I just want people to really understand what happened that day. Understand the sacrifices that people made, and also understand that even at probably one of our very worst times, I just saw so much humanity." — Marc Pedevillano, Ormond Beach Police Community Outreach Officer
People came out to help from all walks of life. Pedevillano remembers New Jersey state troopers driving around the city one cold October night as he was working perimeter security at Ground Zero. They were handing out hot soup and hot chocolate to the officers. He recalls a group from New Orleans who cooked jambalaya for first responders to make sure they were fed. How McDonald's remained open 24/7.
"They couldn't perform security at the site," Pedevillano said. "They couldn't go out and dig in the piles, but this is what they could do. This was their contribution, and as small as they might have thought it was, it meant everything to me."
Sept. 11, 2001, changed how Pedevillano viewed police work.
"I just I realized how important it was what we were doing and what other people were doing too — just being there to help and assist people and work through the worst thing I've seen in my lifetime," Pedevillano said. "It made me appreciate my job more. It made me appreciate the importance of what I did and what my brother and sister officers did, and all the agencies that showed up there and that helped and volunteered their time. It made me really appreciate and not take for granted what we did, the services that we offered, and our purpose."
Pedevillano retired from the NYPD in 2015. He moved to Ormond Beach in late 2019, and didn't plan to go back to work in law enforcement. Not until a Volusia County Sheriff's Office deputy spotted him at the gym and told him he was "too young to be retired."
He was hired by OBPD in 2021. Today, he's the department's community outreach officer.
The 9/11 attacks don't feel like something that happened 25 years ago, Pedevillano said. But as time has passed, he worries some people have forgotten the events of 9/11 and their impact on the country.
Impacts that continued to be felt in the first responder community, as officers and firefighters battled 9/11-related illnesses and cancers.
"I just want people to really understand what happened that day," Pedevillano said. "Understand the sacrifices that people made, and also understand that even at probably one of our very worst times, I just saw so much humanity."
