Join us for a special event looking at how Paris and New York City work together to combat threats of terrorism.

Along with their unparalleled culture and energy, New York City and Paris have also become high-profile targets. For more than two decades, police departments in both cities have been developing a model for international cooperation, and they have become even closer over the past eight years through an exchange program that sends liaison officers to work with the other department.

On March 18, hear first-hand accounts from Grégory, one of the hostages held at the Bataclan during the November 13 attack, alongside a representative from Paris’s BRI (Brigade de Recherche et d’Intervention) who launched the effort to free him. They will be joined by a member of the NYPD’s counterterrorism unit who will discuss how the two police forces share information and strategies; Joseph Pfeifer, the former New York City Fire Department Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness, who was the first Chief to respond to the World Trade Center north tower; and the French documentary filmmaker Jules Naudet, who captured Pfeifer’s heroics on 9/11.

The evening will begin with a screening of the final episode of the acclaimed Netflix documentary, November 13: Attack on Paris, directed by Jules and Gédéon Naudet, who will introduce the film. The series allowed the world to witness the valor of emergency responders as well as the solidarity and support between survivors 17 years after their film, 9/11. Screening will be in French with English subtitles.

The discussion in English will be moderated by Matt Katz, WNYC Immigration and National Security Reporter.

Recommended for ages 15+.

• About the Panelists

  • Grégory
    The 37 year old Grégory was one of the hostages held at the Bataclan during the November 13 attack in Paris. Born in France, he has worked as a computer engineer since 2006, working both in the oil and aeronautic industries. Grégory is passionate about music, specifically rock music, which is why he was at the Bataclan on Friday, November 13, 2015.

    Jules and Gédéon Naudet
    Brothers and filmmakers, the Naudets shot, produced and directed the iconic documentary 9/11, which has been compared, for its historical significance, to the Zapruder film of JFK’s assassination. Airing on CBS, 9/11 was highly honored in television, receiving Emmy, Peabody and DuPont awards. The Naudets produced and directed for CBS, In God’s Name: an intimate look at the lives of the world’s great religious leaders. The Naudets produced and directed The Presidents’ Gatekeepers for Discovery Channel, a riveting account of five decades of presidential history seen through the eyes of all twenty living White House chiefs of staff. Most recently, they produced and directed The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs, a documentary film airing on Showtime and CBS featuring all twelve living CIA directors.

    Joseph Pfeifer
    Pfeifer is a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School  where he teaches several Executive Education Programs on crisis leadership and leads research teams to examine international preparedness of major cities and their response to extreme events. He is also the Director for Crisis Leadership at Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), a senior fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and a visiting instructor at the Naval Postgraduate School. He has taught senior leaders from around the world about crisis leadership, disaster management, critical decision-making, cross-sector information sharing and organizational resiliency. Pfeifer retired from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) as an Assistant Chief and the founding director of FDNY’s Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness. He was the first Chief at the World Trade Center attack on 9/11, played a major command role during Hurricane Sandy and helped manage NYC’s Ebola Response efforts. While at FDNY, he served as the Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness and developed the FDNY’s first Strategic Plan, Terrorism Preparedness Strategy, and Continuity of Operations Plan. He earned Master’s Degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School, Naval Postgraduate School, and Immaculate Conception. He has written widely in professional journals and books, and has appeared in major news media interviews.

    Matt Katz
    Matt Katz reports on air at WNYC about immigration, refugees and national security. He covered New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for more than five years, first for The Philadelphia Inquirer and then for WNYC and New Jersey Public Radio, appearing weekly on WNYC Studios’ Christie Tracker Podcast. In 2015 Matt and a team from WNYC won a Peabody Award for their coverage of Christie and the Bridgegate scandal. The series—Chris Christie, White House Ambitions and the Abuse of Power—was WNYC’s first Peabody for news coverage since 1944. In 2016, Katz’s biography of Christie—American Governor: Chris Christie’s Bridge to Redemption— was published by Simon & Schuster’s Threshold Editions. Katz’s experience covering Christie also shaped his 2016 TedX talk, Political Deceit in a Social Media Age. Matt has written about politics for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Republic, and Politico. Before covering the Statehouse in Trenton he spent time in Afghanistan, writing a series on reconstruction efforts for The Philadelphia Inquirer that won the Livingston Award for International Reporting for journalists under the age of 35. In 2009, his four-part investigation about Camden set the stage for an end to the state’s takeover of city government. Prior to that, he was an award-winning reporter and syndicated dating columnist at The Courier-Post in New Jersey. He started his career covering local school board, zoning and council meetings for The Daily Record in New Jersey.