Rye 9/11 Survivor Helps Others
Rye resident and SPRYE founder Gil Weinstein, 85, was profiled in LoHud.com as a 9/11 survivor who gives back to others:
"Gil Weinstein and a co-worker used their bare hands to extinguish a fireball that engulfed a woman on the 88th floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower moments after terrorists attacked the building on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Neither one of us got burned, amazingly,” he recalled recently.
Twelve years later, at the age of 85, the Rye resident volunteers one day a week at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut, performing Healing Touch therapy on patients.
Weinstein, who helped the burned secretary down a stairway to safety after the attacks, believes he survived partly so he could serve others. He’s also a survivor of the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.
“I felt very strongly that I survived two major bombings for a reason,” he said. “I decided when I was able to, I would do volunteer work, work that was meaningful.”…
When the World Trade Center collapsed in 2001, Weinstein was working for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He stayed with the agency until 2008, when he retired at the age of 80. It was actually his second retirement following an earlier career at the New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Weinstein’s executive know-how led him 3 ½ years ago to help organize a group called SPRY — Staying Put in Rye and Environs — that helps senior citizens to remain in their homes. Its services include transportation to doctor appointments and “friendly visits” to help to fight loneliness. For those with transportation, there are regular breakfast get-togethers at a local diner with occasional speakers."
