lc_story237.xml

lc_story237.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-01-10

My wife and I were in Manhattan on a sightseeing holiday. We had just finished breakfast at the Metropolitan Hotel, on Lexington Ave. We turned on our TV not knowing what was unfolding. It was about 8.40 and we had intended visiting the Stock Exchange Visitors Centre. We were just in time to see the 2nd plane strike. I couldn't believe it. We stood glued to the TV for the next fifteen minutes. Then we walked over to ST Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue and could see right down to where the towers were on fire.

Walking down the middle of Fifth Avenue in a daze. It was most odd to see this great street pedestrianised. We passed The Empire State and people were being evacuated. It could have been another target. At that time anything was possible. I remember meeting people who were making their way from Lower Manhattan to Grand Central to try to catch a train out of the city. Many of them were covered in black soot and had temporary bandages. I had hoped that the damage might be limited to those floors above where the planes had been hit but later in the morning I overheard a security guard say to a woman who enquired "Haven't you heard? The Towers have collapsed". This was unbelievable. That these structures couldn't survive in some form to allow people to escape. I remember looking for a TV Shop to try and find out what was happening. I couldn't understand why there were no shops with TVs on. We went back to the Hotel. We kept seeing the image over and over again of the two plane strikes. It was the most sickening feeling I have ever experienced. We attended the rememberance mass given by Cardinal O'Connor in St Patrick's that evening.

It has unfortunately meant that America's insulation from terrorism was at an end. The idea that anything was now possible and could happen. It will make the most open country in the World be more hesitant and less welcoming than in the past.This is a terrible outcome.