NY POST

WINDOWS ON WORLD STAFF OPENING NEW RESTAURANT

By GERSH KUNTZMAN

September 6, 2004 -- A group of former waiters, cooks, busboys and dishwashers from Windows on the World — the celebrated restaurant that had been atop the north tower of the World Trade Center — have reportedly signed a lease to open an eatery a half-mile from Ground Zero.

The 50 workers — hailing from dozens of countries — have signed a lease to open an employee-owned restaurant at 407 Greenwich St., according to Crain's New York Business.

The site is currently the home of Shamballa.

The employees said they have been trying for almost three years to open a restaurant, not only as a tribute to the 79 Windows staffers who were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, but as a chance to find lasting work in their field.

"We've had nothing permanent since 9/11," said Monzur Ahmed, a former Windows banquet worker whose job at Noche in Times Square ended abruptly last week when the restaurant closed.

"It was a great job, but it's nothing like owning a piece of your own place," he said.

The cooperative venture will become the only employee-owned restaurant in the city.

Another planned restaurant, set to be named Windows on TriBeCa, was supposed to open this spring, but that deal fell through.

Supporters of that project included chefs Waldy Malouf and Steven Hill, as well as Don Pintabona, founding chef of Robert De Niro's Tribeca Grill.

Here's a picture of the restaurant when it was atop the North Tower:

http://www.adabyron.net/images/wtc-wow-big.jpg

I proposed to my now wife at Windows On The World. Very sad.

I proposed to my now wife at Windows On The World. Very sad.

What a perfect place to do it. I hear of alot of stories where people proposed up there.

You were very fortunate enough to get up there, I heard it was literally months wait to make a reservation, which included a very strict dress code. Not only that, but the prices were through the roof!

Here's a link to the menu:

http://www.studyworld.com/culinary/Windows-on-the-World.htm

I believe they asked Windows On The World to go back into the new WTC but they refused.

I did reserve months in advance. And it was pricey but was worth it. They did have a dress code which included jacket and tie. Since it was a surprise I didn't bring either as my wife would have known something was up. Boy was she shocked when Windows gave me a tie and jacket to wear. And the rest is history.

*sigh*

What a beautiful view. It's heart wrenching to know we'll never be that high up again in NYC, Resteraunt or observation...too sad to bear really. :cry:


http://www.adabyron.net/images/wtc-wow-big.jpg

I did reserve months in advance. And it was pricey but was worth it. They did have a dress code which included jacket and tie. Since it was a surprise I didn't bring either as my wife would have known something was up. Boy was she shocked when Windows gave me a tie and jacket to wear. And the rest is history.

Cool, they supplied you with one..:eek:

Towards which direction was your table facing btw? :D

Most high end places will supply them as they know there are many uncultured clients like me :).

Faced east and was there as the sun went down and the city lights went up.

WNBC

Surviving Windows On The World Workers Start New Restaurant

POSTED: 7:36 pm EST January 18, 2005

NEW YORK -- Three and a half years after the terrorist attack that killed 73 restaurant workers at Windows on the World, a group of survivors announced Tuesday that they've signed a lease for the city's first employee-run restaurant -- a walk from ground zero.

The surviving workers -- 34 immigrants and one U.S.-born partner -- call their new restaurant Colors, set to open in Greenwich Village "as soon as possible," said Mamdouh Fekkak, a Moroccan-born waiter.

"The architect is working day and night. We're so happy!" he added.

Famed for its spectacular views atop the 106th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower, Windows on the World was decimated on Sept. 11, 2001.

"It's been so hard after 9/11, with some people still depressed after years of trying to find work -- odd jobs or a shift in a restaurant here and there," said Fekkak, 43, who supports two young children while running a catering cooperative that is raising money for the new venture.

The surviving Windows workers -- from waiters, cooks and food runners to busboys and dishwashers -- have been meeting in the tiny Manhattan office of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC), the nonprofit cooperative born of the need to rebuild lives.

Each worker will share profits at Colors, whose menu will feature American cuisine, with changing specials from each of the 20 countries its owners represent. Fekkak said he was dreaming of couscous "or maybe a good tagine," a slow-cooked, spicy Moroccan stew including meat, vegetables, olives and lemons.

The Windows workers also have been fighting for others' rights.

Colors is to open on the site of a defunct bar-restaurant where ROC members staged a protest two years ago on behalf of a worker who was owed $1,100 in wages.

"The owner came out with a check for the full amount. This space is the site of our first victory -- of Windows workers coming together to make it through anything and to succeed," said Saru Jayaraman, a young attorney who is ROC's executive director. "We want to show the industry that when workers are paid well, when they're invested, they work better. Dishwashers in New York make between $1 and $6 an hour. Our dishwashers will not make less than $10."

The cooperative has raised almost $400,000 for Colors, while drawing a major Italian investor -- a consortium of Bologna-based food industry cooperatives that contributed $375,000. The Good Italian Food consortium plans to add another $150,000 when the New York group reaches its own half-million -- hopefully from a Jan. 25 Manhattan fund-raiser.

It'll take at least $1 million to start the restaurant, with another $1 million coming from bank loans.

The cooperative is paying $21,500 a month for the space at 417 Lafayette St., about a 20-minute walk from the trade center site.

"We will never forget our 73 brothers and sisters, but we don't want people to come and eat at our restaurant because of 9/11," Fekkak said. "People come for pity one time, but they won't come back. We want them to come to Colors because of the food and great atmosphere."

There will be no visible sign of the terrorist attack that killed more than 2,700 people at the World Trade Center -- except for the restaurant staff.

It includes Mary Assanful, a Windows housekeeper in her 50s from Ghana who lost one of her best friends in the towers.

Another partner, Ataur Rahman, 49, is a Bangladesh-born banquet waiter whose Windows wages approached six figures. Now, he's starting from scratch to support his wife and three children, including a girl born last year.

"All of us have the story inside us," Fekkak said. "So don't pinch me! If you pinch me, you'll get the story. Thank God, we have some hope now. ... Good things happen from bad things."