Former Mayor Rudolph Guiliani commended Aon for having the "strength of character" to return to Lower Manhattan. The new location is near the East River about a dozen blocks away from the Trade Center site that overlooked the Hudson River.

"It's an emotional experience to see Aon back in Lower Manhattan," Mr. Guiliani said. "It's hard to believe people can go through an experience like this and then want to come back."

He continued, "That gives you a sense of the character of Aon and the kind of people who work here, and it gives you a sense of the strength we have in our private sector."

Mr. Guiliani said that after the attack he commented he wanted the city to come back "even better than it was," and that the city has done that. He also commented on the compassion Aon has shown to the families of employees who were lost.

Patrick G. Ryan, Aon chairman and chief executive officer of the brokerage firm, told National Underwriter that "New York is our single biggest office in the U.S." and the flagship office for its global business.

"It's a huge statement of commitment that Aon has made to New York," he said. "Obviously we could have moved out, people did, but we felt that this being our flagship office, it ought to be in New York."

He said Aon has split locations between it's office at 55 E. 52^nd and Water Street. He noted that the company has grown since Sept. 11. The Lower Manhattan location is the brokering office that handles the Northeast, while the Midtown office is both brokering and consulting.

"We've attracted very high quality people," he said. "We had to replace, obviously, the people we lost, and additionally we have grown so we've added people."

He said Aon worked closely with the city in its recommitment to New York. "We never considered leaving New York," he remarked.

Previously, about half of Aon's New York employees displaced from the World Trade Center had been temporarily working at 685 Third Ave. in Midtown and the Regus Business Center at 245 Park Ave., according to the company. Others were located throughout the tri-state area.

Aon reached an agreement in August 2002 with Resnick Seaport, LLC to lease 165,000 square feet of space at 199 Water St. Aon occupies floors 8-12 in the 35-story building, which looks out at New York Harbor and the South St. Seaport Museum.