Metro

Head of WTC security forced out after embarrassing breaches

The head of security at 1 World Trade Center was forced out of the job Friday amid a series of embarrassing security breaches, The Post has learned.

David Velazquez — ex-director of the Newark FBI field office — joined The Durst Organization in August.

A month later, BASE jumpers parachuted from the roof. And two weeks ago, a teen from New Jersey also beat security by sneaking up to the antenna. Velazquez is also responsible for the half-blind security guard who was caught sleeping in the lobby in a photo obtained exclusively by The Post.

But a Durst spokesman insisted that, while Velazquez was put in charge in August, his company didn’t have control of the building until January.

Guard Abdul Basher, called “2013 Security Officer of the Year,” slumbers on the job at 1 WTC.

Velazquez resigned from his position as assistant security director for Durst under pressure from bosses, sources said. Asked whether Velazquez was fired, the spokesman, Jordan Barowitz, said, “He submitted his resignation and it was accepted.”

Velazquez, a graduate of Columbia University, spent 31 years at the FBI before joining the company.

The next month, three daredevils — including a Freedom Tower ironworker — parachuted from the 104th floor with the help of a lookout on the ground. They were busted six months later.

Justin Alexander Casquejo allegedly slipped past four layers of WTC security.Facebook

Two weeks ago, Justin Casquejo, 16, slipped through a fence and made it all the way to the roof — sneaking past a sleeping guard on the 104th floor. That breach was first reported by The Post. Casquejo spent two hours snapping pictures before getting caught.

Just six days later, the aging, half-blind security guard, Abdul Basher, 65, was sleeping in the south lobby, where he was the only guard on duty.

Velazquez could not be reached for comment.

A Port Authority official said Velazquez “wasn’t a hands-on person who would address issues. He was . . . a nervous presence, [perhaps] because of management’s reluctance to act on certain deficiencies he recognized.”