story11.xml
Title
story11.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-01-28
911DA Story: Story
Dear Friends and Family,
I have gotten e-mails from all over the country and the world asking me how we are. By now I have responded and let everyone know that we are all fine, and so far, everyone close to us is fine, too. I thought I would write a brief description of what life is like from this small corner of NYC. It is not intended to be an overview, just a snapshot from our vantage point.
Tuesday, September 11th, started out as Primary Day here in NYC. Craig and I were out in the car at 5:45am to check a specific list of polling places in East Harlem to make sure that there were no irregularities as the polls opened in those districts. I dropped Craig off at Campaign HQ at around 8:50. I heard that a plane had struck the WTC and when I got home a few minutes later, I got Leona out of bed and we sat, like the rest of the world and watched an unbelievable horror unfold.
Our neighborhood is home to 7 hospitals, including Bellevue, which is the top Trauma Center in Manhattan, NYU, where the Chief Medical Examiners Office is, as well as 5 other medical centers. We also have the police academy near by. The sounds of sirens and military aircraft flying over head were nonstop the first 24 hours. There were literally thousands of people walking north from lower Manhattan, for hours after the attack. There were so many people walking that they had to walk in the streets because there was not enough room on the sidewalks for everyone. Once people knew that they could walk over the bridges to Brooklyn and Queens from Manhattan, they began a very long walk towards home and Manhattan got very quiet, except for the sounds of sirens and jets flying over head.
Yesterday the city was eerily quiet. Because we live 4 blocks north of 14th street (no one is allowed to go below 14th street unless they have ID that proves that they live there) there is basically no traffic (by NYC definition) on the streets. There are police, national guard personnel and State Troopers at the barricades at 14th street checking everyone's ID's. Craig and I went for a walk yesterday afternoon. The winds had changed from the West to the North so the acrid smoke from the electrical fires began to fill the air of our neighborhood. There is a small private (gated) park in our neighborhood called Gramercy Park. It is usually locked and only residents that live adjacent to it can go in. For the past two days the park has been left open. We went and sat there for a while. It was peaceful. Children playing, couples walking. Artists sketching.
New Yorkers are usually in a hurry and NEVER make eye contact. People are strolling around, greeting each other quietly. The usual pulse of Manhattan is still. The city (north of 14th street) is getting back to the daily routine of business. Schools will open, subways are running, as are the trains. Tunnels and bridges above 14th street are open. The grocery stores were out of bread and milk. I am assuming that deliveries will resume today and shelves will be restocked.
On the news today it said that the Mayor has ordered 17,000 body bags. Although no one we know has come up missing so far, there was a report on the radio that 900 employees from The State Attorney's Office are missing. We are sure that we will know a fair number of them.
The City moved quickly to protect the Arab/Muslim communities in Brooklyn. There is a visible police presence there for protection.
That gives you a sense of what it is like here. I will try to write again in a day or so.
We send our love to all. Keep safe.
Love,
Annie (Helen)
ps: feel free to pass this along to others.
I have gotten e-mails from all over the country and the world asking me how we are. By now I have responded and let everyone know that we are all fine, and so far, everyone close to us is fine, too. I thought I would write a brief description of what life is like from this small corner of NYC. It is not intended to be an overview, just a snapshot from our vantage point.
Tuesday, September 11th, started out as Primary Day here in NYC. Craig and I were out in the car at 5:45am to check a specific list of polling places in East Harlem to make sure that there were no irregularities as the polls opened in those districts. I dropped Craig off at Campaign HQ at around 8:50. I heard that a plane had struck the WTC and when I got home a few minutes later, I got Leona out of bed and we sat, like the rest of the world and watched an unbelievable horror unfold.
Our neighborhood is home to 7 hospitals, including Bellevue, which is the top Trauma Center in Manhattan, NYU, where the Chief Medical Examiners Office is, as well as 5 other medical centers. We also have the police academy near by. The sounds of sirens and military aircraft flying over head were nonstop the first 24 hours. There were literally thousands of people walking north from lower Manhattan, for hours after the attack. There were so many people walking that they had to walk in the streets because there was not enough room on the sidewalks for everyone. Once people knew that they could walk over the bridges to Brooklyn and Queens from Manhattan, they began a very long walk towards home and Manhattan got very quiet, except for the sounds of sirens and jets flying over head.
Yesterday the city was eerily quiet. Because we live 4 blocks north of 14th street (no one is allowed to go below 14th street unless they have ID that proves that they live there) there is basically no traffic (by NYC definition) on the streets. There are police, national guard personnel and State Troopers at the barricades at 14th street checking everyone's ID's. Craig and I went for a walk yesterday afternoon. The winds had changed from the West to the North so the acrid smoke from the electrical fires began to fill the air of our neighborhood. There is a small private (gated) park in our neighborhood called Gramercy Park. It is usually locked and only residents that live adjacent to it can go in. For the past two days the park has been left open. We went and sat there for a while. It was peaceful. Children playing, couples walking. Artists sketching.
New Yorkers are usually in a hurry and NEVER make eye contact. People are strolling around, greeting each other quietly. The usual pulse of Manhattan is still. The city (north of 14th street) is getting back to the daily routine of business. Schools will open, subways are running, as are the trains. Tunnels and bridges above 14th street are open. The grocery stores were out of bread and milk. I am assuming that deliveries will resume today and shelves will be restocked.
On the news today it said that the Mayor has ordered 17,000 body bags. Although no one we know has come up missing so far, there was a report on the radio that 900 employees from The State Attorney's Office are missing. We are sure that we will know a fair number of them.
The City moved quickly to protect the Arab/Muslim communities in Brooklyn. There is a visible police presence there for protection.
That gives you a sense of what it is like here. I will try to write again in a day or so.
We send our love to all. Keep safe.
Love,
Annie (Helen)
ps: feel free to pass this along to others.
Collection
Citation
“story11.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 11, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5087.