Chapter Five

0:00Speaker 1:This series is based on the real events of 9-11. However, names, incidents, locations, and dialogue have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes. This series contains strong language and profanity and scenes that some listeners could find disturbing.

0:19Speaker 2:Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, most importantly to those of you with friends and relatives unaccounted for, I'm Lieutenant Commander Frank Sturiano of the Trade Waste Commission of the NYPD. It's been a week since the attack that devastated our nation. Given conditions at the pile, subterranean fires that are still burning, toxic air, tons of debris that make it impossible to deliver food, water, and medical supplies to the injured, The hope of finding more survivors is no longer realistic.

0:59Speaker 3:No!

1:00Speaker 2:Further efforts would only risk the safety of uniformed responders. I've decided, therefore, that our operation should be reclassified from search and rescue to search and recovery.

1:16Speaker 1:No!

1:16Speaker 4:You can't just give up.

1:18Speaker 3:My son could still be alive.

1:20Speaker 5:I understand.

1:21Speaker 2:You understand?

1:22Speaker 5:I understand how all of you must feel.

1:24Speaker 6:I know he's alive.

1:25Speaker 5:But we've done what we can.

1:27Speaker 6:Is your son in there? Your daughter? Your wife?

1:30Speaker 7:Okay, that's enough.

1:31Speaker 5:No. Let her say what she wants to say.

1:36Speaker 7:Oh, God, Frankie.

1:39Speaker 5:What are your dads going through?

1:42Speaker 4:You talked to him?

1:43Speaker 8:Around two this morning.

1:46Speaker 5:I wrote him a note.

1:48Speaker 7:But there's no mail.

1:51Speaker 8:We'll take it to him.

2:09Speaker 7:Oh, Frank.

2:11Speaker 5:Nick. I did what I thought you would have.

2:16Speaker 7:It was your call, kid. And you know what? You did the job right. Listen to me.

2:23Speaker 9:If more responders died for no reason, you never would have forgiven yourself. Sir, we've got a search unit running electricity to another vault in building four. If the gold and silver's there, we've got to get those doors open.

2:38Speaker 7:Yeah.

2:38Speaker 5:I'll go down there with him, Sergeant.

2:40Speaker 7:Okay, good. I'm going, too. No, Mick.

2:43Speaker 5:I need you to stay here, just in case.

2:47Speaker 7:Whatever you need, Frank.

2:56Speaker 6:Shine that light over this way.

2:58Speaker 4:Yep, copy that.

2:59Speaker 2:Under Building 4, the fires were still spewing out poisonous fumes and melting the pulverized concrete till it was like lava.

3:09Speaker 9:Watch it, Lieutenant Siriano.

3:10Speaker 7:Step carefully, sir.

3:12Speaker 4:I'm okay.

3:18Speaker 7:Be careful, sir.

3:20Speaker 4:Walk across that girder.

3:21Speaker 9:It'll give you a solid footing.

3:28Speaker 5:The electricity hooked up?

3:29Speaker 2:Yes, sir.

3:30Speaker 5:You test the circuits.

3:31Speaker 6:The cement's still going.

3:34Speaker 7:Oh, no.

3:34Speaker 10:I don't know how long I was unconscious.

3:37Speaker 11:When I came to.

3:57Speaker 5:For a second, I thought I was blind.

3:58Speaker 7:Come on, Frank. Frank, can you open your eyes? Hey, Frankie, it's me.

4:04Speaker 6:Can you open your eyes?

4:06Speaker 2:They were covered with a paste of crushed concrete, sweat, and blood.

4:11Speaker 5:Mick, everyone all right?

4:14Speaker 7:Yeah, yeah, I think so.

4:16Speaker 9:Yeah. We're bringing in steel cutters and impact ramps to get you guys out of here.

4:23Speaker 2:Courtesy of Joe Bianchi and the Genovese family.

4:28Speaker 9:Yeah, I guess beggars really can't be choosers, can they, Frank?

4:32Speaker 7:Yeah. You're going to be okay. We're getting you out of here.

4:42Speaker 2:I'm Frank Sturiano, formerly of the New York City Police Department. Think you know the whole story of 9-11?

4:49Speaker 5:You don't.

4:51Speaker 2:This is Underground Zero. This is my story of how we took on the mob At the infirmary, medics put eight stitches in my head. At least I was in better shape than Eddie Bernstein, who was in the morgue. After I put on some fresh clothes, Mickey and I were alone.

5:19Speaker 5:We could bring Joe in for questioning.

5:22Speaker 7:We could.

5:24Speaker 5:But to what purpose?

5:27Speaker 9:As of now, Eddie's just another victim at Building 4.

5:31Speaker 7:Frank?

5:33Speaker 9:Frank, are you okay?

5:34Speaker 5:Eddie's not just another victim, Mick.

5:37Speaker 2:We both know Joe had him killed because they caught him with the wire we had him wear.

5:44Speaker 5:You're saying we ignore it?

5:46Speaker 9:For now, yeah. It's about priorities. We got fires still burning. God knows how many victims to recover so the families could get some closure. You want to divert time and manpower to a corrupt union rep who got taken out by gangsters who.

6:00Speaker 7:Were pulling his strings?

6:02Speaker 9:You're the boss, Frank. I'll play it any way you want. You want to bring Joe in, even if it's only to bust his balls, we'll bring him in.

6:17Speaker 4:Frank didn't bring me in. That's how much he relied on Mickey's opinion. And why, to us, Mickey was worth his weight in gold. What the Genovese family pulled in from debris collection, phony time cards, bogus and inflated equipment rentals already exceeded expectations. I took my boss, Dip DiPietro, for a ride to Long Island City. And we did a quick accounting.

6:49Speaker 7:Okay.

6:53Speaker 4:In just three days, we were up over $ 2 million.

6:57Speaker 9:Are we going to be able to sustain that?

6:59Speaker 4:If anything, it should go higher.

7:01Speaker 9:Even without Eddie Bernstein?

7:04Speaker 4:Look, he set the wheels in motion, Dip. We'll be okay.

7:08Speaker 9:Taking Eddie out, we don't want to come back to bite us.

7:12Speaker 4:Look, Mickey hit him in the head, then wedged him under some beams, so it looked like, you know, he got caught when the building collapsed.

7:21Speaker 7:Man, 20 years, I never thought Eddie would turn on us.

7:24Speaker 4:What are you going to do?

7:26Speaker 7:I know, I know, I just... You know, maybe we should get Eddie out of the morgue. We'll leave a connection.

7:33Speaker 4:We're going to take care of that tonight.

7:37Speaker 9:What about the gold and the silver?

7:40Speaker 7:Eddie here wasn't where we thought he was.

7:42Speaker 4:Don't worry.

7:43Speaker 7:We're still digging.

7:50Speaker 5:President George W.

7:51Speaker 2:Bush stood atop the pile of.

7:52Speaker 1:Debris that used to be the World Trade Center and through a bullhorn spoke to first responders, civilian volunteers, survivors, and those who were still waiting to learn the fate of loved ones.

8:02Speaker 12:I want you all to know.

8:05Speaker 3:That America today is on bended knee in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families here.

8:22Speaker 7:I can hear you.

8:30Speaker 12:I can hear you the rest of the world hears you and the people and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

8:47Speaker 5:It was what we wanted to hear.

8:50Speaker 2:But from what I could see, 25 years later, whoever was responsible never paid the price for murdering 3,000 Americans.

9:17Speaker 4:Any trouble getting Eddie's body out of the morgue?

9:20Speaker 9:Trust me, Joe, with all those unexpected bodies and body parts, Eddie won't be missed.

9:25Speaker 7:Okay.

9:27Speaker 4:Who's got this all?

9:31Speaker 12:Right here.

9:34Speaker 7:How do you want him?

9:35Speaker 4:So, Mickey, you gonna take care of this?

9:38Speaker 7:No, I'm good, Joe. I'll leave it to the professionals.

9:42Speaker 4:All right, in thirds, Al. Put the head and the hands in separate bags, all right?

9:52Speaker 10:Yeah.

10:01Speaker 7:Jesus Christ.

10:03Speaker 4:We had barges tied up where the East River and Harlem Rivers meet. Loading them with steel girders we were going to sell to China. The idea was, once we got past the three-mile limit, Eddie would be chum in international waters.

10:23Speaker 2:That night, we opened another vault under Building 4. There were gold bars and silver ingots. Not the half billion we heard rumors about, but at least we had the satisfaction of getting some of it before Joe and the Genoveses did.

10:42Speaker 5:It was almost.

10:43Speaker 2:Midnight by the time I got back to my office. For sleep I needed, but didn't expect to get. Marie?

10:51Speaker 5:I also didn't expect to visit her. What happened to your head? It's just a bump.

10:56Speaker 11:Oh, God.

10:58Speaker 5:What are you doing here?

10:59Speaker 11:I thought you could use a hug.

11:02Speaker 4:And some lasagna.

11:04Speaker 11:Mom's recipe.

11:07Speaker 5:This is a restricted area.

11:08Speaker 4:Yeah, I know.

11:10Speaker 11:Told them I'm your sister. I act like I was in charge and they believe me. I saw you on TV. All those people yelling at you. I can't have been easy.

11:23Speaker 5:That was just about the hardest.

11:24Speaker 10:Oh.

11:33Speaker 4:When can you go home?

11:35Speaker 5:Not for a while.

11:38Speaker 11:What? Joe said he took you for a drink the other night.

11:43Speaker 5:Your husband and I went Dutch. And?

11:48Speaker 11:Maybe when this is all over.

11:53Speaker 4:We could have dinner.

11:54Speaker 5:I'll have dinner with you anytime.

11:58Speaker 11:I mean you and Connie. Me and Joe.

12:02Speaker 3:You know?

12:03Speaker 11:Like the old days.

12:05Speaker 5:Come in.

12:07Speaker 6:Sir.

12:08Speaker 2:Sergeant Mark O'Connor, my sister Marie.

12:11Speaker 7:We've met. Yeah, he let me in. Sir, something you need to know.

12:16Speaker 4:All right, yeah.

12:17Speaker 11:Um, well, I'll leave you to it, Frank.

12:19Speaker 5:Thanks for coming down.

12:21Speaker 4:Come here.

12:23Speaker 11:Mm-hmm.

12:24Speaker 7:Love you. Love you, honey.

12:29Speaker 5:What is it, Mark?

12:30Speaker 7:Eddie Bernstein, sir.

12:32Speaker 5:He's in the morgue.

12:35Speaker 9:Not anymore. Frank, I told you it's a shitshow down at the coroner's office. The overload is crazy.

12:49Speaker 7:I know.

12:49Speaker 2:They've been storing bodies in refrigerated trucks from meatpacking plants, good humor ice cream. But when they want to get him for the autopsy, he wasn't there. The Genoveses must have someone on the inside.

13:02Speaker 9:You still want to bring Joe in?

13:06Speaker 5:Before you said no.

13:07Speaker 9:Yeah, before we had a body. Now there's no corpse, no case.

13:11Speaker 5:No murder case.

13:12Speaker 2:But Joe's a sitting duck for conspiracy and fraud.

13:16Speaker 9:Frank, he's your sister's husband.

13:20Speaker 5:That was her choice.

13:23Speaker 7:Yeah.

13:30Speaker 2:If I brought Joe in, his lawyer would have him out in five minutes. So I decided to build our case in the court of public opinion.

13:42Speaker 9:So tell me about this detective in charge of the cleanup.

13:44Speaker 7:What's his name?

13:46Speaker 4:Frank Sturiano.

13:47Speaker 3:Huh.

13:49Speaker 5:Janine Harris was a reporter for the Post. Ambitious, but honest. Which you don't always see.

13:56Speaker 7:Well, of course, listen.

13:58Speaker 10:Frank, you don't buy him for any amount.

14:03Speaker 6:Hmm.

14:04Speaker 7:And where was the bug, Frank?

14:06Speaker 5:The late Eddie Bernstein's car.

14:08Speaker 6:Duly authorized?

14:09Speaker 1:Yes.

14:11Speaker 5:Mickey showed Janine the warrant. Well, there it is.

14:18Speaker 7:Okay.

14:19Speaker 1:When did Eddie become late?

14:22Speaker 9:Yeah, within the last 48 hours, we think. It's approximate.

14:25Speaker 7:Mm-hmm.

14:26Speaker 9:His body disappeared before the autopsy.

14:29Speaker 5:That's too bad.

14:30Speaker 7:Murder sells papers. Eddie, how's this going to work?

14:36Speaker 10:Yeah, it's working already. SISO sheets. Sign in, sign out. The crews sign in, each guy with multiple names. Today, they sign for ten hours, but they work eight. By Friday, the crews exist only on paper, but the city's still paying full salaries plus fringes, and as far as the union's concerned, it's all kosher.

14:59Speaker 7:Okay.

15:01Speaker 1:I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds to me like fraud and conspiracy.

15:06Speaker 2:All we'll need to convict is a jury that speaks English and hasn't been bought off.

15:10Speaker 5:It's a front page story, Janine.

15:13Speaker 4:Well, I could use the byline.

15:16Speaker 5:My contract's up soon. The Post will give you an extension.

15:19Speaker 6:The Post?

15:20Speaker 11:Nah.

15:21Speaker 4:I'm bugging for the Times.

15:25Speaker 6:Page fucking one in the Post. By, uh, Janine, what the fuck is that name? Read it, read it, Joe.

15:34Speaker 4:Where the Twin Towers once stood is now a scene of devastation. But to the mob... It may be a well-oiled cash register.

15:42Speaker 9:The fuck are we paying you for, Mickey? You're supposed to keep shit like this.

15:47Speaker 7:Out of the papers.

15:48Speaker 9:Dip, it's pure speculation.

15:50Speaker 6:Speculation, my ass. It's here in black or fucking white.

15:53Speaker 4:Now listen to this. Mob-connected truckers stealing tons of scrap metal for sale instead of transporting them to city-owned landfills where they might yield evidence including human remains.

16:06Speaker 5:And here, here, here, here.

16:07Speaker 4:Look, Frank Sturiano saying Eddie Bernstein's body's gone.

16:11Speaker 9:Missing from the morgue.

16:14Speaker 7:Mickey. Mickey, that's all we fucking need, sweetheart.

16:19Speaker 6:That's all we fucking need!

16:25Speaker 4:Only one of the time I heard Dip raise his voice like that. Yeah?

16:30Speaker 9:About what?

16:31Speaker 4:Doesn't matter. What matters is guys wound up in the weeds. The problem is Frank. Don't go there, Joe. Once the son of a bitch gets his teeth into something.

16:42Speaker 7:I took Eddie out so Frank would be kept safe.

16:47Speaker 4:No one expected us to be reading about ourselves in the goddamn post. What's Frank care about more than anything else?

16:56Speaker 7:The job.

16:58Speaker 4:More than his wife and kid?

16:59Speaker 11:Yeah.

17:01Speaker 7:I'd say it's neck and neck.

17:03Speaker 4:Yeah, well, make it closer than that, Mickey.

17:15Speaker 5:That night our house caught on fire.

17:18Speaker 2:Because the FDNY was stretched so thin, our neighbors used their own garden roses. When I got there, smoke was pouring from the upstairs windows, and for a second I felt like everyone who watched the towers burn and fall, not knowing whether their people were.

17:38Speaker 5:Dead or alive.

17:38Speaker 1:Frank!

17:40Speaker 10:Over here!

17:41Speaker 5:It was my sister, Marie. Where's Connie and Frankie?

17:44Speaker 2:She took care of my wife and son. They were okay. I took them to a motel a few blocks away. I went to say goodnight to Frankie.

17:58Speaker 5:You okay, kiddo?

18:00Speaker 4:Yeah.

18:03Speaker 7:What's this? I, um.

18:06Speaker 4:I wrote you a letter.

18:08Speaker 9:Here.

18:10Speaker 5:I started reading... But I didn't get far. Here, son. You finish it.

18:19Speaker 6:I'm proud of you, Dad.

18:22Speaker 9:You're my hero.

18:24Speaker 5:And you always will be.

18:28Speaker 7:Love, Frankie.

18:32Speaker 5:Get some sleep, buddy.

18:34Speaker 7:Good night, Dad. Good night.

18:48Speaker 8:I think we need these.

18:53Speaker 4:You all right?

18:55Speaker 8:My house just got torched by my brother-in-law.

18:59Speaker 5:Other than that. I'm sorry, Connie.

19:02Speaker 6:Take your drink.

19:05Speaker 5:I can't.

19:06Speaker 9:I gotta get back.

19:08Speaker 8:You can't be serious.

19:10Speaker 5:They need me.

19:11Speaker 6:We need you, Frank.

19:14Speaker 5:There are officers outside to protect you.

19:17Speaker 8:This wasn't a fire.

19:20Speaker 6:It was a message.

19:22Speaker 12:Who is it?

19:24Speaker 9:Mickey.

19:25Speaker 7:You guys okay?

19:27Speaker 5:One second. Connie, I have to do this.

19:33Speaker 6:Then go.

19:34Speaker 2:When it's over, we can start again.

19:39Speaker 4:When it's over?

19:42Speaker 5:Don't expect us to be here. Frankie said he was proud of me.

19:54Speaker 7:Well, that's everything.

19:57Speaker 2:Connie said she'd take Frankie and leave.

20:05Speaker 5:What would you do, Mick?

20:08Speaker 7:I had the choice once.

20:11Speaker 5:And?

20:13Speaker 9:There were so many people who relied on me, and a few who loved me.

20:18Speaker 7:I chose the few.

20:21Speaker 5:You glad you did?

20:21Speaker 9:Elaine and the kids, well, we're all still together.

20:31Speaker 7:Frank, maybe you should get out.

20:33Speaker 5:And let Joe win?

20:35Speaker 9:You've given the job everything you got. No one would blame you if you quit, Frank.

20:40Speaker 5:I can think of someone.

20:53Speaker 4:The bar was pretty empty. Mickey was in a booth by himself. So?

21:03Speaker 7:I thought it would work. I thought if Connie threatened to leave.

21:06Speaker 4:You know what has to happen now.

21:11Speaker 7:Get someone else, Joe.

21:12Speaker 4:Anyone else, he'll see you coming.

21:15Speaker 7:I can't.

21:16Speaker 4:Frank's a cop, for Christ's sake. That's what he's been trained for. He trusts you. There's your opening.

21:22Speaker 7:Joe.

21:23Speaker 9:We had an understanding that Frank stays alive.

21:26Speaker 4:Yeah, well, it's above me now. It's you and yours or him and his. You're both lucky it's taken this long.

21:40Speaker 5:Hello?

21:41Speaker 7:Hey, Frank.

21:42Speaker 2:When Mickey called, he said he was in the tunnel outside the vault. That they found a big stash of gold and he wanted me to be there with him when the press showed up. But no one was there. Until he stepped out of the shadow. I saw the glint in his hand. If he saw my gun, he didn't let on.

22:09Speaker 5:Remember when I was a rookie?

22:11Speaker 2:What you told me that first week?

22:15Speaker 9:No.

22:17Speaker 5:Don't ever meet a C.I. alone.

22:21Speaker 2:You don't control the variables, you don't walk in.

22:25Speaker 7:I'm not a C.I., Frank.

22:27Speaker 5:No, you're not, Mick.

22:30Speaker 7:So what am I, then?

22:32Speaker 5:You're dirty. You're with Joe and the Genoveses. You killed Eddie.

22:39Speaker 7:How long have you known?

22:41Speaker 5:Since you said he was just another victim in Building 4.

22:49Speaker 9:Isn't this how it's supposed to end?

22:52Speaker 7:For guys like us?

22:54Speaker 5:I once talked about that with Joe. Never thought I'd have the same talk with you.

23:00Speaker 9:Yet here we are.

23:03Speaker 5:Do the job right. That's what you always said. Was any of it real?

23:12Speaker 7:More than you know.

23:16Speaker 5:I think you might even believe that.

23:20Speaker 2:How'd they put it when they told you to take me out?

23:26Speaker 7:In very few words.

23:29Speaker 5:And you said yes.

23:30Speaker 7:And even fewer. Frankie. Frankie, I have no choice.

23:39Speaker 5:There's always a choice.

23:41Speaker 7:You don't understand.

23:42Speaker 5:Make me understand.

23:43Speaker 6:If I don't do this, I'm dead. Frankie, you're dead.

23:54Speaker 5:So that's it. You just get ahead of it.

23:59Speaker 7:I contain it, Frank.

24:01Speaker 5:By killing me?

24:02Speaker 7:By ending it here.

24:04Speaker 5:Then do it.

24:06Speaker 2:But don't dress it up like it's anything else.

24:08Speaker 5:You're choosing them.

24:10Speaker 7:I'm choosing to stay alive.

24:12Speaker 5:Same thing. Was I ever just a job to you? No. Then don't do it.

24:24Speaker 7:Don't make this harder than it has to be.

24:27Speaker 5:I'm not the one doing that. If you're going to do it, do it.

24:33Speaker 4:As you.

24:37Speaker 5:Frankie.

24:39Speaker 7:Frankie. I love you. And I loved you.

25:14Speaker 6:God, he was.

25:18Speaker 5:Mickey was here. He wasn't. Honey, he's dead.

25:24Speaker 4:Look at me.

25:25Speaker 8:He was only here in the dream.

25:28Speaker 6:Okay?

25:29Speaker 4:Connie.

25:31Speaker 5:Hold me. Hold me.

25:35Speaker 4:I got you.

25:38Speaker 5:Please.

25:39Speaker 4:It's okay, honey.

25:41Speaker 5:Hold me.

25:42Speaker 7:You're all right.

25:50Speaker 2:When I spoke at Mickey's memorial, I wanted people to remember him the way I wanted to, but no longer could. I wanted his wife and kids to get his pension... So I lied when I said he gave his life as part of the rescue operation.

26:05Speaker 5:Do the job right. Maybe it was truer than I thought.

26:09Speaker 2:If there's one thing I learned from Mickey, that's it. If there's one thing my son learns from me, I hope that's it too.

26:20Speaker 8:After 25 years and two separations, Frank and I are still together. Surviving may not be the same as healing, but at least he's home every night. Frank Jr. has a family of his own now. His letter is still framed on the wall of Frank's old office at the NYPD.

26:43Speaker 2:Because of our case against the Genoveses, legislation was passed to stop organized crime from defrauding the city. It didn't, but it slowed him down. Joe Bianchi served six years. It would have been more, but he got 9-11-related lung cancer and died in prison. My sister and I haven't talked since. I've got cancer too, but I'm hanging in. There are 2,983 names inscribed around the reflecting pools where the Twin Towers stood.

27:18Speaker 5:I go there every now and then.

27:21Speaker 2:Almost 3,000 people I'll never meet, but who will be part of my life forever.

27:42Speaker 1:Original music is by Sasha Putnam. Editing and sound design by Adam Woodhams and Andrina Gomez-Casanova. The series producer is Emma Hearn. The executive producers are Michael Imperioli, Jeremy Fox, John Scott Dryden, Howard Stringer, and Jason English. In Underground Zero, Frank Sturiano is played by Michael Imperioli, Joe Bianchi by Steve Schrippa, Mickey Cronin, Ray Abruzzo, Dip DiPietro, Arthur J. Nascarella, Connie Sturiano, Tanya Cornelisi, Marie Bianchi, Julie Cerda Eddie Bernstein Roberto David TV Anchorman Donald Sage McKay Frank Jr. Luca Silva Mayor Rudy Giuliani Eric Myers North Tower Caller and Catholic Priest Wallace Hamond Janine Harris Jennifer Armour TV Anchorwoman Victoria Seta Sergeant O'Connor Alexander Patsos Carol Nettie Chickering South Tower Caller, Lily Lefkoe. First Response Tommy and FDNY Chaplain, Nicolas DiPiero. Mob Soldier, Alessandro Corona. All other parts were played by the cast. Script supervision by Flynn Holman. The studio engineers are Paul Clark, Diana David, Mac Conklin, Adam Primack, and Mia Perforetti. The trailer's producer is Jack Sober. Underground

29:42Speaker 1:Zero is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

29:59Speaker 11:Thank you.