Special Agent Patrick J. Freaney, a 9/11 hero and director of the Secret Service New York Field Office, is set to retire after nearly three decades in law enforcement.
In May, the 48-year-old Freany oversaw a massive operation to take down scammers stealing money from EBT cardholders — some of the Big Apple’s most vulnerable — in an operation amNewYork covered. This was but the latest in the special agent’s long history of helping others in the Secret Service, from the recovery efforts following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to preventing holiday-related scams. Yet all of it almost never happened.
Growing up in Long Beach, LI as a son of an FDNY Captain and a NYC school teacher, Freany joined the New York State Police in 1998. He had dreams of joining the Secret Service but the promising career he would eventually lead was not apparent at first when he was initially rejected — something Freaney himself called humbling.
“It was humbling, but it was also a really good lesson early in life that things will not always go your way. It also taught me about resolve and it obviously worked out when I re-applied,” Freaney said.
Freaney finally got the Secret Service job on July 31, 2000, and worked out of the New York Field Office, then located at 7 World Trade Center. The following year, that office would become ground zero when two hijacked planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. During the attack, he took part in the subsequent evacuation and recovery efforts.
As his career wore on, he was assigned to the Presidential Protective Division, where he first served on President George W. Bush’s protection detail, followed by President Barack Obama. This was followed by a slew of tasks over the years until, in 2018, he was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge, returning to the New York Field Office and tasked with managing, among other things, the Electronic Crimes Task Force and its investigative mission.
After experiencing the worst terrorist attack on American soil, and being promoted to the top boss of the Secret Service New York Field Office in 2021, Freaney had a full circle moment overseeing the opening of their newest headquarters.
“After our office was destroyed on 9/11, we moved to the space we currently occupy in downtown Brooklyn. It was previously an insurance company, and we took it ‘as-is.’ For the next two decades, it remained largely unchanged,” Freaney said. “A little more than a year ago, we got the go-ahead for a full overhaul of the facility. Everything was updated, from workstations and the lab, to our training facilities and our now-state-of-the-art command center.”
“The facility has been fully modernized and is befitting of the flagship office,” he added. “It reflects the totality of the Secret Service’s mission, from protection to investigations, and more. Seeing it fully operational is particularly special to me, knowing how we arrived here and how far we have come.”
Freaney will end his career on July 31, 25 years after he began it. He will join BNY as a Senior Director on the Global Corporate Security Team. His successor has yet to be determined but is expected to be announced in the coming days.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve my nation as an agent in the United States Secret Service,” Freaney said. “When you have done something for 25 years, I don’t imagine you just shut it off on your last day and walk out the door. A part of me will always be with the Service. I’ll just be on the other side of the barrier, going about my day.”
