After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the family owners of Raia Properties Corp.âheadquartered in Ramsey, N.J., about a half-hour from Manhattan's Upper West Sideâsearched for a way to turn their emotions into actions. Samuel A. Raia, 39, a managing director of the firm, lost his friend and college roommate, Patrick Aranyos, who had been in the World Trade Center's South Tower.
“We both were affected quite a bit” by the 9/11 tragedy, says Samuel's cousin Lawrence C. Raia, also a managing director at the third-generation real estate investment management and development firm.