Sekou Siby was supposed to be working the morning shift on September 11, 2001. Instead, he swapped with a young co-worker from Ecuador, taking the afternoon slot. The decision left him one of the survivors of Windows on the World, the World Trade Center’s legendary top-floor restaurant.
Now, as the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks approaches, the story of the venue and its staff is being retold through the eyes of the workers who made it run. Directed by Oscar nominees Betsy West and Julie Cohen, the new documentary short “Top of the World”, airing Monday night on CNN, offers an intimate look at the fine-dining institution that operated for 25 years, 1,300 feet above Manhattan. Getting a job at Windows on the World, the country’s highest-grossing restaurant packed with celebrities, tourists and New York power brokers, was seen as a coup among those recently arrived in the United States.
When American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower between floors 93 and 99, all escape routes below the restaurant were instantly severed. Of the nearly 3,000 lives lost across the country that day, all 170 people at the restaurant died - 79 employees and 91 guests. For the surviving staff, the legacy of Windows on the World rests not on how it ended but on the workplace culture they created for 25 years before that tragic day.
Conceived by renowned restaurateur Joe Baum to help revitalize a financially struggling New York in 1976, Windows on the World quickly became a cultural landmark. Occupying the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower, the restaurant functioned as a quarter-mile-high theater, brought to life through design work by architect Warren Platner and Milton Glaser, the revered graphic designer behind the “I Love New York” logo. Anchored by a 107th-floor bar, a glass-enclosed “Cellar in the Sky” and a menu refined by head chef Michael Lomonaco, the venue generated more revenue than any standalone restaurant in the nation.
It was glamorous.” The workers came from more than 60 countries — Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Ghana and Bangladesh, to name a few. For many, Windows on the World was their first real foothold in America. The restaurant’s 450 employees built a tight-knit community.
They picked up phrases in new languages, joined for soccer matches on days off and explained cultural traditions to one another — like why Muslim staff fasted during Ramadan. He got his start through his roommate, Abdoul Karim Troare, a fellow West African immigrant who was a banquet cook at Windows on the World. Troare helped him land a job as a prep cook, where Siby spent his early days peeling carrots, potatoes and, at times, 200 pounds of onions, until his eyes burned.
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