Brooklyn's Progress
November 2001

To assist companies in downtown Manhattan that have been displaced following the World Trade Center disaster, American Document Security is offering a new service-securely moving documents to new locations. "Our core business is shredding confidential documents in a secure environment," said Joseph J. Manzella, Jr., president of American Document Security. "However, we recognize that some companies have been forced to move to temporary locations, in fact maybe several temporary locations before finding permanent space, and that they want their files moved safely and securely." While most of the companies downtown have found new locations where they are continuing their business, they still have proprietary documents left in their old offices that have to be either moved or, if not needed anymore, securely destroyed. Manzella points out that although the companies may have successfully recovered the electronic part of their information, they left behind the same information printed on paper. With permission from the company, he said American Document Security personnel will enter damaged buildings and pick up the files. American Document Security's drivers are bonded and insured and its trucks are alarmed and triple locked. Therefore, the company is able to guarantee that the confidential documents of companies displaced by the tragedy at the World Trade Center will be handled properly. Manzella said he understands the plight of the businesses that are rebuilding or were displaced due to the atrocities of September 11. He and his staff evacuated the company's headquarters at Liberty Street and Broadway in downtown Manhattan that morning, boarded a ferry to New Jersey as the first tower was falling, set up an operation from a New Jersey hotel the following day, and have since moved their headquarters to the company's operations plant in the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Since the disaster, American Document Security has continued to pick up documents from customers that haven't been displaced. Manzella acknowledges, however, that the collection process is slower because its trucks are inspected and drivers are required to present letters from customers authorizing them to drive to the businesses to pick up containers of confidential files. American Document Security is the only company in the New York metropolitan area that offers off-site shredding in a totally secure environment-the Brooklyn Army Terminal, a facility with 24-hour security guards and gated access. Drivers pick up custom-made locked containers from customers and take them to the plant and once the trucks are inside the plant the containers are unlocked under the watchful eye of 18 security cameras set up throughout the processing facility and the documents are shredded. The company's customers include hospitals, HMOs, commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, law firms, tax preparers, and other businesses. For more information on the services offered by American Document Security, please call 718-492-3319.