story1878.xml

story1878.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-08

Subj: what I saw ....
Date: 09/23/2001 12:50:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Biffpincus
To: Plot96


Uncle Al, Here are two emails I sent out with my observations of the events of the last week, one about what I saw on September 11th, and the other about my trip to ground zero about a week later. It has been a bizarre vantage point in history we new yorkers have had, and I thought it was important to write some of my experiences down. Thank you so much for calling me this morning, I really appreciated it.

Love, David

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9/14

Hey all, I've been offline for three days now, and phone service has been basically non-existent for that entire time ... occasionally I can get past a busy signal, but I haven't spoken to my parents for a couple of days now ... I wrote this about 2:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon right after it happened but just as I sent it out, my connection to AOL went down (until just now) and I now realize the mail never went out ... I'm sitting in my apartment looking out the window which used to have a magnificent view of the World Trade Centers ... now all I see is just dark gray smoke overhanging all of lower Manhattan ... everything below 14th Street is a dead zone (I'm on 6th Street), as you all know, its a bizarre and surreal time in New York (but people have been incredible and inspiring) as I am sure it is everywhere else as well ... basically all is well though, and I thought I'd share my little eyewitness account to what you've been reading and watching on the t.v.

David
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9/11/01

Friends,

I pretty much saw this horror unfold throughout the morning with my own eyes ... I had just finished voting in the primary election we are having for Mayor, and was walking up 5th Street in the East Village when I saw the first plane screeching across the Manhattan skyline, very low and heading south. Now that was really unusual because planes never head south over Manhattan and never that low (they always head north for LaGuardia Airport) -- so I knew something was wrong and assumed that plane was going to crash somewhere, but a long ten seconds later I heard a far off "boom", but truthfully, I didn't completely associate that boom with that airplane because it wasn't all that loud, and there are plenty of construction type booms everyday here in New York City. I thought perhaps, if anything, the far off "boom" possibly meant that the plane had crashed on Staten Island. But as I headed for the subway on my way to work, on the corner of third avenue and 5th Street, I saw that huge, gaping and stunning hole in the first tower of the WTC. I stood there in disbelief talking with the large crowd which was quickly gathering. After 15 minutes or so, I walked back to my apartment (missing the second plane), turned on the t.v. and sat down at my desk which once had "a perfect view" of the World Trade Centers directly out of my bedroom window - it was then, while looking out the window, that I saw the first tower go down - it was fucking shocking! - I yelled out something in disbelief to my roommate who was in the other room watching it on his t.v. ... to see it in person and on t.v. at the same time was a very strange vantage point on history ... One bizarre note was that while I watching the tower collapse in front of me, the commentators on t.v. were talking about other things for at least a full thirty seconds before they even realized what had happened ...I started screaming at my set, "its gone", as if to get their attention ...

After that, I went up to my roof, which has an incredible panoramic view of the entire city, and I stood in shock with a group of twenty or so, holding binoculars, watching in silence as the second tower came down ... it is truly unbelievable to see something of that magnitude implode -- Hollywood has gotten it right over the years, the effect of it seeing it live was just stunning ... the notable aspect of it in my mind was that it went down in "silence" from my vantage point of 2 miles away ....

Afterwards, I went to the bank to get some cash and to go shopping for food ... We all thought we might be cut off from the outside world for god knows how long ... the grocery stores were jammed -- I made it home and finally got through on the phone to mom and dad in California ... I have been sitting here for hours now, watching out my window at the gaping hole now filled with a huge column of smoke as thousands are streaming up First Avenue, hopefully heading safely for home ....

Emotionally, it was a very powerful and vivid event to witness ... I get shaky and near tears thinking of how many good people were killed today ... the picture of that plane tearing across the sky as it headed for the World Trade Center is now seared in my mind forever ...

The streets here in NYC are packed with people, but I have not seen any panic, just grim acceptance ... even dealing with the long lines in the grocery store, people were being exceptional polite with each other which was a nice change of pace ...

And I can't tell you what a beautiful day it is here in New York City!!! -- it is just so hard to reconcile the natural brilliance which is surrounding us with the horror which just occurred ... Going through my address book for this email, I realize I know so many folks here in New York who perhaps had friends and/or family in the downtown vicinity this morning. My thoughts, best wishes and love go to you all.

David

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my first view of ground zero ...

9/20

Tonight, after work, my friend Barbara and I, went out for our monthly drink(s) after work thing ... There was too much to discuss, terrorism, war, our friend's recent wedding, office politics and the time and drinks just flew by ... After three glasses of red wine apiece, we decided to head down to Union Square on 14th Street where an impromptu resurrection of the Hippie movement has been in full flower for the last week or so commemorating the recent troubles (The park has been turned into an incredible site, where every night thousands of people have been gathering for music, peace, candles, and remembrance)... but as we were approaching the 14th Street Station, we changed our minds and decided we needed to head further south and take a look at "ground zero" for the first time ...

We weren't sure what we would be able to see once there, if the authorities would let us see "it", how close we could get to "it" and how, whatever we saw, would make us feel.

We were full of anticipation though, and also nervous about what it would be like ... We definitely had a feeling of excitement about our little world terrorism adventure coming up - so when the subway pulled up to the Fulton Street station, and the doors opened, we were unexpectedly surprised and shocked by what hit us - the stench of human death ...

It was shocking and ugly smell and whatever excitement we had immediately dissapeared ... To actually smell dead people was an unfortunate first for me ... it was such an unexpected physical sense that within moments, we were not sure if we could stand the sensation of it longer than a few moments ... so we dashed out of the station and finally found our way, after a series of cordoned off stairwells, to an exit that brought us directly up to Maiden Lane and Broadway. Thank God we got to open air because as soon as we did, that horribly sweet smell basically went away.

Again, we had no idea what we would be able see from street level, or how much of the scene would be cut off by the surrounding buildings or the police lines, but incredibly, once we were out on the street, we could basically see it all ...

Immediately, on that first corner, we were confronted with what was left of two of the smaller World Trade Center buildings, 5 and 7. Their twisted but still rectangular shapes were still quite recognizable, but their contorted intestines were hanging out of them at bizarre and impossible angles ... In the dark of night, with the stark illumination of the intense work lights, and the smoke still pouring out of the base of all the rubble, it was an extraordinary sight to see ...

We eventually moved down one block south, where the remains of the skeletal facade of the South Tower was still standing like a honeycombed gravestone piercing the ground ...In the background, through the dense cloud which occasionally turned surprisingly visible as the wind blew across the site, the illuminated towers of the basically untouched American Express Building stood in contrast to the "science fiction" exterior we were facing ...

Another block down Broadway, we were faced with an even taller tower of rubble -- constantly I was awed by what man had built as a crowning achievement to human glory and ingenuity; and what man had then destroyed as a symbol of his hatred and intolerance … There was a large crane rising several stories above the scene which was spraying a strong thrust of water over the smoldering metal and compressed pit of twisted rubble ... Again, it seemed like a huge alien sculpture set down in the middle of post-apocalyptic modern America ...

The single most vivid emotional truth that came out of the trip downtown for me was this … It was an absolute MIRACLE that so many other people were spared from certain death … In no way am I being facetious by saying this, but "Allah" was being very kind to America when he/she allowed this horror to happen the way it did … The scene of destruction was so absolute, complete and horrific that it seemed impossible that the entire financial district wasn't destroyed as well ... but when you are right there, I had this incredible sense that tens of thousands of other people had been protected by some power from almost certain destruction.

Standing right next to and encircling the complete and utter destruction of the WTC were dozens of modern skyscrapers and smaller scaled buildings dating from the 40's (before and after) which were nestled together; and all of them were without any obvious scratches on them ... their windows were almost all intact, with just a thick coating of dust on the walls and store fronts (on which people had scrawled words and messages of love and hope) ...

The damage was all so cleanly contained, that it is hard to comprehend the complete obliteration evident which was laid out before our eyes -- ESPECIALLY when you turned your head to the other side of Broadway and saw white twinkling lights set on a grouping of trees in a small public park swaying in the still summer-like breeze one block away from ground zero ...

It was an odd combination of experiences to piece together, but I have to admit, the feeling I left "ground zero" with was a positive one ... The scene itself is frightening but it was also made so human by the obvious care of the rescue workers and the quiet and solemn crowds that were gathered there ....

I felt much more strongly than before I came downtown, that the WTC must be eventually rebuilt in some form … Just placing a park or a memorial in its place would be a poor substitute for what I think needs to be which is something that should house important businesses and vibrant people. Perhaps, it will be a much safer world, by the time they build it ...

Bin Laden did his best to destroy a symbol and all he got was a building ... My humble little opinion is that America has caused far more good in the world than bad, and that Osama's perversion of his religion, is marred by a fatal flaw of arrogance and superiority that I trust and hope has been fatally misplaced on his part ...

Afterwards, we made our way up to Union Square on 14th Street (the beautiful experience of that place definitely needs another email to itself), but the impromptu humaness and energy that was gathered there was a powerful testament to the unity and love that this piece of history has brought to New York City and America ...

We're going to need all of it that we can get ...

Love, David