nmah5290.xml

nmah5290.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-11-20

I was attending a breakfast in the grand ballroom of the Marriott World Trade Center when the first plane hit. There was a tinkling in the chandelier crystals, than a terrific muffled boom and everybody ran into the lobby. We could see debris raining down and waited about five minutes until security evacuated us out to the south. We crossed West Street, looked up, and saw Tower 1 was burning.

After people began jumping from the upper floors, I began walking north and was about a half-mile away when the first tower fell. It was hard to know or understand what was happening -- it felt like the end of the world.

I spent the rest of that day in Greenwich Village near St. Vincent's Hospital. Very few casualties arrived. I kept looking down Seventh Avenue at the huge plume of smoke. It was impossible to believe the Towers were gone.