The New York Times-20080126-Woman Who Survived 9-11 Is Killed by a Car in the City
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Woman Who Survived 9/11 Is Killed by a Car in the City
It was a beautiful morning on Sept. 11, 2001, so Florence Cioffi made a decision that helped save her life: She left her office in the World Trade Center for a coffee break and was able to flee the devastation of the terrorist attack.
Ms. Cioffi remained with the same company when it moved to Jersey City after 9/11, commuting from her home in Brooklyn. On Thursday, Ms. Cioffi, days from her 60th birthday, was again in Lower Manhattan, having dinner with friends in the city she loved.
Ms. Cioffi was crossing Water Street on her way home when she was hit by a black Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle, the police said. She was pronounced dead about half an hour later.
The driver of the car, identified as George W. Anderson, was traveling north on Water Street when he ran over Ms. Cioffi shortly before 11 p.m. between Hanover Square and Old Slip, the police said. He kept driving, the police said, but returned to the scene a short time later.
Mr. Anderson, who is the founder and chief executive of Enterprise Engineering Inc., a computer software and services company that works with financial services firms, refused a police request to take a Breathalyzer test, the police said. He was charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. The results of a blood-alcohol test administered to him later have not been announced.
Mr. Anderson was arraigned on Friday night in front of Judge Abraham Clott in Manhattan Criminal Court and later released on $250,000 bond.
An assistant district attorney, Erin LaFarge, told the judge that Mr. Anderson had been driving at 60 miles per hour when he allegedly hit Ms. Cioffi.
The woman flew into the air and was killed, Ms. LaFarge said. She said that according to the police officers, Mr. Anderson smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Mr. Anderson's lawyer, Jan D. Goldman, said his client was not guilty and that the accident took place while his client had a green light.
It looks like an absolute accident, Mr. Goldman said.
News of Ms. Cioffi's death reached her longtime fiance, William Mosca, shortly before dawn, when detectives knocked on the door of the house in Gerritsen Beach that the couple had shared for 16 years.
Mr. Mosca recalled how on 9/11, he and Ms. Cioffi fled the chaotic and smoke-shrouded streets of Lower Manhattan and across the Brooklyn Bridge.
She survived the trade center, and she was run down like a dog in the street, said Mr. Mosca, speaking on the front path of their home on Gerritsen Avenue.
At the offices of Enterprise Engineering in Lower Broadway, an executive, William V. Trapani, acting as a spokesman, told reporters: It was a tragic accident. We feel very sorry for the family.
At Mr. Anderson's home on Norgate Road in Brookville, on Long Island, a woman who answered the door said she would not comment.
Mr. Anderson has been the chief executive of Enterprise Engineering, whose clients include Fortune 500 companies, since its formation in April 1995.
Mr. Anderson moved to Brookville with his wife, Elvira, and three children from a beachfront house in Westhampton, which they sold in May for more than $6 million, according to real estate agents.
The family had moved to Brookville so Mr. Anderson could spend more time with the children, said a friend of the family who did not want to be identified.
Their new home is in a neighborhood with a horse farm and a golf course, and the streets are lined with towering trees framing relatively new and expensive homes.
Ms. Cioffi's neighborhood in Brooklyn is an established and densely populated seaside colony tucked between Sheepshead Bay and Marine Park.
Ms. Cioffi, nicknamed Flo, had worked for Frenkel & Co., an insurance company, for 27 years, most recently as a private asset manager. She was an extremely loved and cherished employee, said the company's chief executive, John F. Kelly, 53.
Ms. Cioffi started her day on Thursday as she usually did, catching an express bus to a PATH station in Manhattan, where she would take the train to Jersey City. But after leaving the house, she turned around and went back.
She came back in to kiss him and say goodbye, said Nicole Kralick, Mr. Mosca's daughter.
Ms. Cioffi and Mr. Mosca met about 19 years ago, through a mutual friend. They had both been married before and were divorced. Mr. Mosca had two children; Ms. Cioffi had none. They moved in together at the Gerritsen Beach house about three years after they met, and they were planning to marry, Ms. Kralick said.
Mr. Mosca is retired, Ms. Kralick said. He knew that Ms. Cioffi had made plans on Thursday evening with friends.
Mr. Mosca broke down several times as he talked to reporters. He said the two had been trying to plan what to do for her 60th birthday on Feb. 2. She said, 'I can't make up my mind,' Mr. Mosca said. I said, 'Don't worry. We still have time.'
[Illustration]PHOTOS: Florence Cioffi (pg. B1); William Mosca, left, in Brooklyn after his fiancee's death. With him were Chris and Nicole Kralick, his son-in-law and daughter.(PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT STOLARIK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. B3)