Broker marks 25-year resilience milestone at One World Trade Center
Gregory Carafello’s New York Metro brokerage is spotlighting his return to the trade center site, family leadership and 9/11 museum service.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
First Choice Business Brokers New York Metro is marking a 25-year resilience milestone centered on Gregory Carafello’s return to One World Trade Center after losing his printing and graphics business in the Sept. 11 attacks. The anniversary gives the brokerage a story that links lower Manhattan’s rebuilding with small-business ownership, franchising and family-run entrepreneurship.
Carafello, principal broker of the New York Metro office, now works from the 85th floor of One World Trade Center. According to the brokerage, his former $4 million printing and graphics company operated entirely inside the World Trade Center before it was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.
The firm says Carafello is the only business owner from the 407 companies that operated in the Twin Towers to come back to the site. He moved into One World Trade Center on May 1, 2015, and has built his current work around business brokerage and franchise development.
Business brokers sit between owners looking to sell and buyers seeking operating companies, a role that often overlaps with succession planning for local entrepreneurs. Carafello’s office operates in that lane while also drawing on his franchise background.
His current roles include Master Franchisee for Cartridge World across eight states and Area Representative for FastSigns International in New York City. The company presents that mix as part of a broader family-business model, with Carafello’s daughter Juliet working with him at First Choice Business Brokers and his son Paul maintaining a presence in the building as a Cartridge World franchisee.
The family uses the motto “Let a family business help other family businesses,” according to the brokerage. That positioning fits a New York market where many owners of closely held companies need help valuing, preparing and transferring businesses after years of work.
Carafello’s return to the site was also shaped by family. The company says a conversation with his son, Gregory Jr., helped draw him back to New York and renewed his interest in working in the city.
The milestone also includes Carafello’s volunteer work at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Since 2012, he has served as a docent there, spending nearly 20 hours a month helping visitors understand the events and significance of Sept. 11.
His service has been recognized with a nomination for the Points of Light International award. Sheelagh McClelland, managing editor at MyPortal Marketing Inc., described Carafello’s return to One World Trade Center as a personal recovery story and a sign of renewal.
The company is tying the anniversary to interviews on resilience, entrepreneurship, business rebuilding and Carafello’s continuing museum work. For readers following local ownership transitions, the story also places business brokerage in New York City within a larger account of post-9/11 rebuilding and family-led franchise leadership.