Xavier Magazine: Fall 2015

Al Durrell ’80

Assistant Chief, Collection and Recycling Operations, New York City Department of Sanitation During his 26 years as a public servant in the City of New York, Al Durrell ’80 has seen his fair share of media attention. All eyes were on him during the years he oversaw the Department of Sanitation’s special events efforts, including the 2008 New York Giants ticker-tape parade. CNN’s Susan Candiotti interviewed him live during the 2010 snowstorm that preceded the city’s annual New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The press conferences he led when Naomi Campbell and Boy George performed court-ordered community service through his department earned him press hits worldwide. But he has never allowed himself to be distracted from the goal that’s driven him since he was a young sanitation worker—keeping the city safe for all eight million of its residents.

He lived that goal just weeks after Mayor Rudy Giuliani swore him in as Deputy Chief of the department in August 2001. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks—which took the lives of 10 Sons of Xavier—he helped lead the Sanitation Department’s charge to clean up Ground Zero. Today, he wears a 9/11 patch on his dress uniform, a quiet reminder of his brave service to a shaken city.

He is justifiably proud of the many Department of Sanitation services that are vital throughout the five boroughs, including sanitation workers’ tireless labor during winter weather. “Snowstorms are like a battle. We become an emergency service,” Mr. Durrell said. “Everyone works split shifts to keep the streets salted and plowed. We’re out there saving people’s lives, clearing the streets so ambulances and fire trucks can get through.”

His career has been marked by the hectic, momentous pace New York City demands of its public servants. And while he looks forward to retiring at the end of this year, he has no plans to slow down. He rededicated himself to Xavier when he became a class chair a year and a half ago, spearheading the Class of 1980’s 35th reunion efforts and rallying support from his classmates with the same relentless determination that drove him up the Department of Sanitation’s ranks.

“I made a lot of great friends at Xavier,” he said.

“There’s something about this school that makes you want to give back.”