nmah5594.xml

nmah5594.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-08-14

On Sept. 11 I was working on an upper floor of an office building located on 17th St between 7th and 8th avenues in New York City. As the crow flies we were about 2.5 miles away from the WTC. The office had a fine view of the WTC and we could even spot the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

At a few minutes to 9am my magazine's publisher came out of her office, which had the southerly view, and said in a rather calm voice, that one of the towers was on fire. I worked in a cubicle toward the center of the floor so I walked down to her end of the office with the rest of my co-workers to see what was happening.

The fire was very widespread at this point with smoke pouring out of the upper third of the north tower. We immediately began speculating about what could have caused it and wondered how it would be put out. There was a large slash in the side of the building and some people did think a plane hit, but nobody was sure. We could clearly see flames licking up from some windows. However, overall it looked like a "normal" fire. Terrible but nothing that indicated terrorism.

After after a few minutes a co-worker came out of the elevator and said he had seen an airliner scream down over Sixth Ave. about 500 feet up. We pointed the burning tower out to him and we all figured out at that time what had caused the fire. A plane strike.

Our thoughts then turned to how could any pilot be so bad as to hit the tower in broad daylight on perfectly clear and beautiful day. Within a few minutes of expressing this thought one co-worker said, "Hey look. A military plane is circling the towers." I thought that odd since the emergency had just happened and I knew there were no Air Force or Naval bases within several hundred miles.

We watched the plane bank in from the south, New Jersey side of the harbor and slam into the south tower. Everyone screamed and a few people started to cry.

Being a bunch of journalists we had a digital camera on hand and got an amazing shot of the flame and debris flying out of the north face of the tower.

We all now knew that we were under attack.

During this period I tried to call my wife at home, but all the cell phone and landlines were filled and I could not get through. I felt bad because I knew she was worried for me. I sent her an email and Instant Messaged my niece in college up in Connecticut.

As we settled down after the second impact we began speculating on how many people were trapped and how the fire would be extinguished. We figured about 30,000 people were in the towers.

At one point I was in my publisher's office talking with my editor over how in the world they were going to repair the damage. This was probably about 30 minutes after the attacks started. Neither of us mentioned that the towers could actually fall down. The thought never entered our minds.

I then left my floor and went to another where I knew a TV was located. There I heard that the Pentagon had been attacked and there was a rumor that the State Department building was attacked. Another rumor was floating about another plane that was heading into Washington, DC.

(Many rumors floated around that day. Looking back these were identical to the rumors that took place right after Pearl Harbor. That Japanese bombers were over Los Angeles, had landed troops on Ohau, etc. I always thought these had happened because communications at the time were pretty rudimentary compared to today, but despite TV coverage we were repeating history.)

I brought the news up to my floor then tried to call my wife on a nearby phone. I was finally able to get through and was talking when I heard everyone start screaming that the tower was falling. I dropped the phone and ran to the window where I saw the huge plume of smoke and dust rise up into the air. It covered the entire lower section of the island in just a few seconds.

Everyone was really scared and upset now. And very angry. We knew thousands of people had just lost their lives.

I went back to the phone to finish speaking to my wife and to tell her I was fine so far and would call back in a bit.

I returned to the window and numbly watched. The single tower looked so strange. It just did not fit into the skyline.

I then noticed that the large, white TV antenna on the north tower began to tilt to the right and said so to everyone. Within a second it fell straight down as the tower collapsed. More screaming and crying ensued as everyone tried to comprehend what exactly was happening. It was really just too much to process.

The rest of the day was one of preparing for survival. I realize that sounds overblown, but we were pretty sure another attack would happen in the city. Perhaps, even a nuclear strike. At one point I left to find an ATM. Eigth Ave. was flooded with dirt covered people walking north, away from the WTC area. They looked like Polish refugees fleeing the German Army in Sept. 1939.

There was no way for anyone to get home as the subways and commuter railroads had all shut down. Those who lived in Manhattan started to walk home and the rest of us just waited. After awhile the city started ferry service to New Jersey where people could then pick up their trains, but I live on Long Island and there was still no way to get home. I made plans to stay with a friends family. Finally at about 4pm the Long Island Railroad began operating again so I made my way to Penn Station and went home.

In small ways. Working in NY City I now realize how vulnerable the city is to attack. I do not go anywhere without my cell phone, I think of escape routes from neighborhoods, I wear good running shoes and I eyeball people that could be potential terrorist while on the train or street. Call it profiling if you want, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Two things. All of the people who lost their lives, and the fact that the U.S. has to protect itself both at home and overseas. If this means eliminating terrorist activities by crushing countries that support terrorists, that's fine. I'll even re-enlist in the Army to help.

I did and still do every day. Prior to Sept. 11 I would put it up just on national holidays.