An NYSE trader who narrowly escaped the attack on the Twin Towers, says "it's by the grace of God" that he left his office moments before the attacks. Kenny Polcari, Director at O'Neil Securities, had an office on the 55th floor of one of the towers.

"That second plane went right through my office," he says. "I always ask myself again and again, why was I lucky that day? What caused me to leave the building 10 minutes before the strike of that plane?" Polcari says 9/11 remains an emotional day for him each year, and he remembers the many acquaintances he never saw again following the attacks.

Polcari said for months working in lower Manhattan was difficult, and he recalls the terrible odor that permeated the financial district. "That smell, that odor, I can only describe it as the odor of death," he recalled. In the years since the attacks, Polcari found comfort as lower Manhattan was rebuilt.

"That whole plot of land really has been reborn," he explained. "It is peaceful there now. It is a rebirth. It doesn't feel to me anymore that the skyline is empty. It did for a lot of years."

Originally published: September 10, 2016.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.