Amid the Smoke, Repacking Wall Street's Data Pipe

In the haze of Sept. 11, 7 World Trade Center seemed little more than a footnote.

On a day when thousands of innocent mothers, fathers, sons and daughters had already died in the Twin Towers, there were no casualities when this 47-story neighbor finally succumbed to fire several hours later. But it was this less-noticed event that almost took down the New York Stock Exchange.

And though it was Big Board Chairman Richard Grasso who became the hero of Wall Street's recovery effort, none of it would have been possible if not for the efforts of 51-year-old Carl Russo, Verizon's (VZ Quote) head of Lower Manhattan operations. ...