Engr. Danny Pagsambugan: The Oculus was a dream and a feat

I detected the glint of pride in Danilo Pagsambugan’s eyes  as we walked toward the Oculus coming from the Westfield World Trade Center.

“You were part of this?” I asked when we reached the sprawling all-white lobby framed by ribbed ceiling.

“I was the chief of quality assurance and quality control,” said Pagsambugan, who currently works with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey assigned at the World Trade Construction Center as a civil engineer and ISO 9000 Quality Management Specialist.

“You mean, along with the construction teams and consultants,  you’re the person who made sure the Oculus worked fine with no glitches?” Danny nodded with an assured smile like he was trying to convince his guest, ‘Hey, I too have a hard time believing this.’

There is a reason why some (like this writer) may have their doubts. In the Filipino American community of New York, Danny is better known  as a beauty pageant impresario not so much as a seasoned civil engineer who was part of a global team that brought to life the design of a bird in flight by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The Oculus  is this impressive, eye-catching building, a tourist must-visit, that seemed to erase the sad and traumatic memory of what was once Ground Zero.

Danny said he sometimes pinches himself to believe how an engineering graduate of Araullo University in Cabanatuan City — now known as PHINMA Araullo University — became part of New York lore and history. “Me? From some provincial school?” he would tell friends, laughing.

He talked about his journey to New York City by way of Texas  arriving in the USA in 1987, a ‘provinciano’ from Nueva Ecija who brought with him simple hopes  for the American Dream.  He was fourth in a brood of 11 (eight boys and three girls) and wanted to help his parents to at least send his younger brothers and sisters to school.

His first job in the U.S. was as a civil inspector for a construction company. “I did all kinds of inspection for two years,” he said.

While that may have been okay even if it was a little bit boring, he was also looking for a job that was “more sustainable.”  He found a job with a general contractor for New York City Transit Authority where he was able to use his Quality Management specialization. He became well rounded and landed him the QMS title with heavy construction  background and oversaw the operations of all government agencies in NYC. It was tedious work, and he found out, “Americans don’t want to do documentation work.” Danny had found his niche.

In 2009 after giving a presentation on quality management system in Denver, he met a senior official from the Port Authority who offered him a job.

He liked this new role. “I only worked seven hours a day. I’m not stressed, and I only wore one hat,” he told The FilAm in an interview. “In the old job, I wore a lot of hats.” 

He continues to report to the Port Authority as a QMS with responsibilities over audits, training, control of materials, purchasing, inspection and other aspects of his position. His office sits on the 22nd floor of the jutting-into-the sky WTC building on Liberty Plaza overlooking the solemn Liberty Park.

Danny, on a lazy, summer day, has this habit of walking around the block after a light lunch at Eataly.  He reports to his office three times a week and the remaining two days works from his Jersey City home. The hybrid arrangement that began because of COVID-19 seems to suit him well.

He became the ‘father’

“I’m the most achiever among my siblings,” he said, not a boast but a statement of fact.

When his dad died in 1989,  Danny  became the “father.”

“Tatay ang naging role ko sa kanila. I took over the responsibilities over six of my siblings. I sent them all to school. We have a big study table and each of them had a chair. Before they could sleep I had to see their assignment was done. Or I won’t allow them to sleep,” he shared. 

He ruled like his strict father, a research assistant who worked for the Cabanatuan City Mayor’s office. It was his father who urged Danny to study engineering, which he resented then, but greatly appreciated now. His mother, a nurturing housewife, nearly gave up because having 11 children became too much to handle.

When his parents died, Danny “lost the appetite” for travel. He used to travel every year with close friends. “Iba pala yung driving force ng nanay or tatay.”

He and his late wife Naomi are blessed with one daughter. Gracielle Ann, married to a law enforcement officer, has two children Mia and Xavier.These days, Danny devotes his attention to his two grandchildren, making sure to spend quality time while they are still young and not too easily distracted by social media.

He has stayed away from the pageant circle, he said. He felt he had spent too much on it in early 2000 when his friends would seek him out for financial support or finding the right mix of “beauty and brains” to elevate and promote in events like PIDCI or  PAFCOM.

“I stayed away from the community in 2015 when my good friend Elma Santander died,” he said lost in his reflection. “She’s a good friend. She understood me totally. We traveled a lot.”

The Oculus beckoned

He said the Oculus project landed on his lap in late 2010 after he was employed with Tutor Perini, a San Francisco-based contractor known for its massive and strategic construction projects.

“I joined Tutor Perini in 2008 to 2010. That’s how I came to know the people here at Port Authority, who offered me a job.

”A lot of people didn’t know the construction of the Oculus started at 600 feet below,” he said.

As chief of quality control, he said he was guided by drawings signed by a team of engineers. He had inspectors building the fabricating steel in Roberedo & San Giorgio, Italy. “Every day, we had a meeting at 6:00 in the morning…for the steel alone,” he said.

He said no photos were allowed by Santiago Calatrava while they were on site. “We tagged along during the final presentation,” he said.

Widowed for nearly 10 years now and leading an extravagant yet quiet life, Danny said he feels blessed with “a good family, a good  job, and  good luxuries in life.”

“What else can I complain?  I have everything in my life.” —The FilAm