by john tosAstoria Born And Bred Police Official Has Top Role In WTC Recoverycano

John Odermatt

As was the case for millions of other New Yorkers, September 11 started out as an ordinary work day for John Odermatt, an inspector at that time in the New York City Police Department and a resident of Astoria since he was born 40 years ago.

Early that morning, Odermatt had driven from his Astoria home to his job as first deputy director in the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. The office served as the OEM command center.

Before Odermatt and some 36 other OEM staffers could finish their first cup of coffee, they heard a thunderous, stunning crash as suicide-bent terrorists drove a hijacked commercial passenger airplane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Although as shocked and confused as the rest of the world, Odermatt and the others in the office fled 7 WTC, which was adjacent to the North Tower and would eventually crumble as Towers one and two did.

"We evacuated and headed for the OEM’s other office nearby on West Street," Odermatt explained. As they ran, he said, they had to dodge falling debris from the 110-story building, not always successfully avoiding hits from the falling cement and steel fragments.

Eventually, Odermatt would meet up with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, OEM Director Richard Sheirer, Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, Fire Commissioner Thomas von Essen and others who all had harrowing experiences escaping the devastation and chaos that followed the collapse of the two towers that morning. The mayor and Kerik were among those who had narrow escapes.

Within hours of the crashes, the decision was made to set up the OEM command post on a west side pier in midtown to direct the immediate rescue effort and the current recovery effort.

Odermatt, as first deputy director, set up the command post and was thrust immediately into the key role of being the top, hands-on official to coordinate the work of some 200 agencies, later reduced to about 100.

Odermatt, a pleasant, soft-spoken man, modestly explained his role in directing the unprecedented and sensitive effort to rescue survivors, extricate the dead and feed, clothe and provide tools and equipment for an army of emergency workers and volunteers, all the while ensuring that order was preserved.

"Mayor Giuliani and Mr. Sheirer, our director, really set the direction for this, giving leadership for the recovery operation," Odermatt explained. "The mayor did an incredible job, never flinching. His leadership made everybody’s job a lot easier."

It was Odermatt’s job to coordinate the work of every agency in the city and dovetail this with other state and federal operations.

His job was to direct a staff of 64 OEM workers, whom he described as "an unbelievably talented group of individuals from diverse backgrounds." At the start of the disaster, they were working 24-hour days, as was Odermatt, who remembers, "I made it home two or three times for the first six weeks, and currently the workdays are still long."

Everything at Ground Zero, from feeding and equipping the army of recovery workers to tending to the injured and supervising the collection and transport of tons of debris, was handled through Odermatt’s small army of OEM workers.

In recognition of the enormity of Odermatt’s job and how effectively he pulled it off, on September 20 he was promoted from inspector to the rank of assistant chief in the New York Police Department.

Assessing the recovery effort, Odermatt says, "We’re making a lot of progress at the site, but we can’t estimate when there’ll be an end to it. But one thing is for certain—as long as there are victims in there, we’re going to go on operating just as we have been."

How Odermatt got to being entrusted with one of the greatest challenges in the city’s history is an equally interesting story.

Odermatt is the youngest of five brothers, all of whom were born and raised in Astoria. Two of his brothers, Dave and Joseph, are also in the Police Department, serving as detectives. His oldest brother, Ralph, is a sergeant in the army, and the fourth, Robert, is a student at LaGuardia Community College. He does not plan on becoming a cop.

Odermatt attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church parochial school on Newtown Avenues, graduating in 1975, and four years later graduated from Long Island City H.S. and enrolled at St. Joseph’s College in downtown Brooklyn.

During the next 15 years, he received a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s and a masters in management sciences from New York University.

Also in that decade and a half, he joined the Housing Authority Police Department in 1982. By the time he got his masters in 1996 he had risen to the rank of deputy inspector in the New York City Police Department.

The ambitious Odermatt also got married during that period. He and his wife, Noelle, have two children.

Looking back at that period, Odermatt explained how he completed his education while at the same time working at his Police Department career.

"I was already working and going to college when I joined the Housing Police, so I decided to stay in the job and save money to complete my education," he explained, "then all of a sudden, 15 or 20 years later, I had completed college and already was into my police career without ever realizing it."

While his personal and professional lives moved steadily forward, Odermatt continued living in Astoria, never giving a thought to moving out.

"Why would I?" I love Astoria," he said.

As a youth, he recalled, "everybody in my family and all of my friends went to the Variety Boys Club and hung out. We also spent time in the 14th Street Park and I played on the Hank’s deli softball team in the YMCA League and we always won the league title."

Odermatt tried his hand at wrestling while attending Long Island City HS, then located on 41st Avenue. "I made the team but I never won anything," he admitted. As a young teenager he also worked out at the Variety Boys Club weight-lifting room.

He repeated, "I love Astoria. I may move eventually, but not right now. We’re not even looking."

Odermatt says his family’s roots on both sides go back 90 years in Astoria. He pointed out that his maternal grandfather, Arthur Lombardi, worked in the original Astoria Studios "when they were making movies here, building sets."

His mother, the former Lucille Lombardi, now about 70, grew up on 36th Avenue. His father, Ralph, died some years ago.

Odermatt noted, "I still have lots of friends here and we go to local restaurants and shop in local supermarkets and other stores. I won’t mention any by name because I’m sure I’ll leave one out and get somebody mad at me."

But he broke that rule when it came to Sac’s Pizza at Broadway and 29th Street. Odermatt, who readily admitted pizza was his favorite—"I’m always eating it"—declared, "Sac’s is the best pizza store in Astoria. I’ve been going there since the day they opened the door."

A famous Astorian, Academy Award winning actor Christopher Walken, used to work in the Walken Bakery just down the street from Sac’s. Odermatt recalled that one of his brothers was a friend of the actor as a boy and his mother "used to buy rolls and buns there every Sunday morning."

Along with having no plans to move out of his beloved Astoria, Odermatt also has no plans to retire in the immediate future.

"Its always flattering to be asked and sometimes offered jobs," he says, "but I want to accomplish the goals set by OEM for a full and successful recovery at Ground Zero."

At 40, Odermatt appears young to be thinking of retirement, especially with the growing importance of the Police Department as threats of terrorism hang over the city and nation.

Odermatt, with his background and experience, could continue to play a major role at this particular time in New York City’s history.

He started his climb in policing very quickly, making sergeant and lieutenant within seven years of entering the Housing Police in 1982. By 1994, he had achieved the rank of captain and was made chief of staff to the chief of the housing PD.

When the Housing Police Department joined with the NYPD in 1995, Odermatt was given the responsibility of strategically reorganizing administrative operations to prepare for the historic merger.

Shortly after the merger was completed, he was promoted to deputy inspector at the end of 1996 and was designated as commanding officer, Housing Bureau Special Projects Unit. In this capacity he testified at public hearings before the City Council representing the Police Commissioner.

Just about a year later, he was designated the executive officer of the department’s Intelligence Division, with 350 uniformed personnel under his command. As such, in coordination with the United States Secret Service, he supervised the security for then President Bill Clinton and other world leaders when they visited New York City.

During 2000, he successfully directed a major undertaking, coordinating the Intelligence Division’s assignment at the largest gathering of world leaders in history, at the 55th General Assembly meeting of the United Nations.

Odermatt became involved with OEM for the first time after he was promoted to Inspector in July 2000 and was named the first deputy director of the Office of Emergency Management. The office is responsible for coordinating interagency and intergovernmental responses to public health, infrastructure and security emergencies, representing the mayor’s office.

Currently, beside coordinating the World Trade Center recovery and rescue effort, the OEM also coordinated the response to the Flight 587 disaster in Belle Harbor in the Rockaways on November 12.

Slightly weary but determined, Odermatt declared, "I hope we never have a bigger challenge than this, but we’ll be prepared for anything."