John Bligh
- Retired supervisor of school security
- Data Integrity at School Safety Division headquarters
Steve Littenberg was “extremely competent at what he did and extremely versatile,” said friend and former colleague Douglas Cahill. Their work relationship spanned nearly 20 years, with Steve supervising Cahill at the outset. “He was always respectful of everybody and treated his subordinates very respectfully,” Cahill said.
During more than 40 years in the School Safety Division, Steve “gave of himself to the job,” said Calvin Lloyd, his former chapter leader. Steve was a UFT member for 27 years.
Steve, 66, died of coronavirus on April 3.
He started his career in 1981 and worked as a school safety agent in various schools in Queens. In 1991, he was promoted to supervisor of school security, working in various commands. Steve’s last assignment was in Data Integrity at the School Safety Division’s headquarters, where he worked until his retirement in 2017.
On 9/11, Cahill’s daughter was a student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in downtown Manhattan and he was unable to reach her by phone. “She was lost. I said, ‘I gotta go find my kid,’” Cahill recalled. Steve asked a distraught Cahill to hand over his car keys and told him, “I’ll warm up your car as you get ready.’ When I was ready, he said, ‘Go up to the roof. You’re on roof patrol,’” Cahill said. Steve had stopped him from risking his life by traveling into the maelstrom downtown. “He kept me calm and sane until my daughter was found,” Cahill said.
Steve took the time to explain things to people, his colleague said. “He was a very good mentor. He really cared about his job, and he did it well,” said Cahill. “We have a multi-faceted job. Like a teacher, we have to be a counselor and a social worker, and he was good at talking to kids. He didn’t talk at them, he talked with them,” Cahill explained. “He was able to talk to a lot of the kids about what they were doing and how it would affect them.”
Steve enjoyed food, and BBQ was his favorite. He was also a decent cook, Cahill said. And he was a voracious reader. When he moved, he asked Cahill to help him. The boxes were very heavy. “I said, ‘Dude, what you got in here?’” Cahill recounted. “It was 10 boxes of books.” Steve’s favorite subjects to read about were science fiction, history and alternate history.
Steve has no known survivors.
