nmah5153.xml

nmah5153.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-25

I was at work in the World Trade Center when the attack occurred. I work for the Port Authority of NY & NJ's Comptroller's Department and we were located on the 69th Floor of 1 WTC. When the first plane hit, I was having a cup of coffee and talking with the person in the next office about what a beautiful day it was. When the plane hit, we had no idea what it was. The building shook violently and I remember crossing myself because I thought that the building was going to completely topple over. It swayed for awhile and seemed to steady itself. A lot of things were falling from the floors above ours and we knew whatever had happened, it was big. Like a moron, all I could think about was getting my books so that I would have them for law school that night.

Smoke started to come up on our floor and we made sure that everyone was leaving. Eventually, there were 11 of us left on the 69th Floor. The Comptroller herself, nine men, and a co-worker that is confined to a wheelchair. The ten of us took it upon ourselves to carry him down. The stairs were tight but, as a result of the 1993 attack on the WTC, we had an evacuation chair that allowed us to slide him down the stairs. We took turns (2 in front and 2 in back) to make sure that the evacuation was safe. By the 44th Floor, the stairs had become to smoke filled to continue using so I ran ahead and found another set of stairs that was basically free of smoke but was a lot hotter. We switched stairs and continued down. At some point, an FBI agent, on the way up, told us that both buildings had been hit by planes. It was at that point that we knew it was terrorism. But we weren't scared. Not because we were a bunch of brave souls. I personally wasn't scared because I was clueless as to how bad it really was.

We kept going and at about the 20th floor (I think - some of my co-workers think it was the 12th floor) some firemen asked us to stop and leave our co-worker behind because we were in the way of firefighters that were bringing up the equipment needed to fight the fires. We waited on that floor for a few minutes and then the building shook and the lights went out. We didn't know it at the time, but that was 2 WTC collapsing.

We got the okay from the firemen to continue carrying our friend out but to stay to one side. We did that. At this opoint, we had been carrying him for over an hour and everyone was hot, tired and, because it was now dark, with holes in the walls and water on the floors, scared. The firemen were great. We were doing all we could to get out of there and they were telling us what a great job we were doing. Meanwhile, they were going up into the unknown, and with the knowledge that two planes had intentionally hit the buildings. We kept going. I had assumed that since we were going to get out that everyone else was going to get out. I was so wrong.

At some point, a fireman stopped the crowd from leaving. He had us wait. Then a fireman came running down from the stairs above us yelling "Go. Go. Go." We went. We got to the lobby and it looked like a bomb had gone off in it. We made a right and walked through the blown out glass doors that used to lead to West Street. We got outside and put our co-worker down and some guys came to us ansd said to keep moving because it wasn't safe where we were. They helped us carry him for a block or so. They were the only people I remember seeing as we first got outside. We stopped near a firetruck, thinking it was safe there. It had to be - we were a block away from the building. At this point, we still had no clue that 2 WTC had collaped. The ground was covered with some gray stuff but we had no clue what it was. We looked back at our building, still on fire, and that is when we saw the people jumping. It was by far the worst thing I had ever seen in my life. I didn't want to turn away - not because it was something that I wanted to see but because I felt that if those poor people had no alternative but to jump, the least I could do was to pay my respects and say a "God Bless you" for themm. It was such a shocking day that a non-religious person like myself was crossing myself and saying "God Bless". Some police and firemen told us to carry our friend to a triage area set up at Stuyveasant High School. We carried him to just outside the doors and then it happened. There was a rumble and I had no idea what it was. I turned to look around the corner and that is when I saw some policemen running. They picked our co-worker up and started for the school. I turned back and a big cloud was coming. It was huge and it was coming from everywhere. It looked like something from an Indiana Jones movie but it was real. We got into the school just in time. Everything turned black as the cloud covered the school. Some poor person outside didn't make it in and no one was going to open the door until the cloud passed.

By this time, my group had become separated. We were mixed in among terrified high school students who were probably more afraid than us. A possible gas leak emptied out the school after the dust cloud had passed. I ran into Rich Capriotti and we proceeded to walk uptown together. Some lady told us that 7 planes had been commandeered and America was under attack. It felt like the movie Independence Day. It felt like war. Eventually Rich and I parted company. He had to walk across the 59th Street Bridge to get into Queens for a ride home. I had to spend a few hours in line waiting for a ferry to Weehawken. In Weehawken, there was a bomb scare so I walked from there to my apartment in Jersey City. It tool hours. And when I got home, people stood on the hill next to my apartment watching the smoke from the WTC site. I didn't want to watch.