story9502.xml
Title
story9502.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-09-08
911DA Story: Story
Like many a New York story the subtle unusual differences in the details soon mounted into a tremendous and horrendous day. I remember that it started out as a bright and fantastic weather day. I left my apartment a bit early to vote in the NY primary election before heading off to work in Jersey City, NJ. But for some reason I changed my mind and chose to go to the polls after work instead of early in the morning, because I wanted take my time going to work and enjoy the weather. My wife had left about 30 minutes earlier than I did and was on her way to her job on Wall St.
To reach my office in Jersey City, I had to take several subway lines, the last one in NY being the N/R train to the Courtland Street/WTC station. From there it was maybe a 5 minute walk to the PATH subway station through the concourse level of the WTC. As far as I could recollect the first plane must have hit about the time that I reached the bottom of a long staircase leading to the mezzanine level of the PATH station. Now imagine if you will about 6 or 7 really long escalators just filled with hundreds of commuters coming from New Jersey and more on the way. On this morning, as I walked to the escalators after buying a newspaper, nothing really seemed out of place, but the crowds from Jersey were slow in coming. I took the stairs that lead to the mezzanine level since they were usually less crowded than the one escalaltor that lead downstairs. Things got a bit tenser however when I reached the actual turnstile area near the commuter bar. Without warning about 12-15 Port Authority police and security personnel came bursting out from several doors located behind the turnstiles, each of them moving with great urgency. One security guard in particular attempted to leap over a slam gate, caught his foot and imediately fell face first to the ground. But faster than you could blink, he was on his feet and running with the rest of the group. I immediately stepped aside looking behind me, expecting to see the cause of their action, but, again, nothing was evident. They all ran to the escalators and away they went. I and another passenger stood for a moment watching this. I remarked to the other man "did you see anything or anybody?" He replied no and with a nervous look we both continued with our travels.
The train ride to New Jersey, which normally took about 8 miuntes took less than 5 and the train was almost completely empty. No announcments were made, but as I would later find out the train was a means of escape for me and thousands of other commuters. When I emerged at the Exchange Place Station I saw about 200 people standing near the station looking back at New York. The World Trace Center was just about directly across from the PATH Station entrance, maybe 1-mile across the Hudson River. At first I thought there was some media crew there doing a live telecast from the Jersey City waterfront using lower Manhattan as a backdrop, which happened fairly often. But when I didn't see one, I was immediately struck by a long thick plume of black smoke which by now had started to float across the Hudson and into upper Manhattan. I could not see the top of the North Tower of the WTC until I followed the smoke back and was horrified by the flames and smoke that were erupting out of the building, making the top of it look like an oil refinery fire. I immediately ran to my ffice building, about 50 yards away from the PATH station. While running through the concourse level, which was glass enclosed and facing the WTC, I encountered a man on a cellphone looking at the North Tower ablaze. I asked him what he saw. His reply was "I was just standing here when I saw a plane come from that way and it just plowed into the building. This was no accident!" I could not get my mind around the concept so I pressed further. "It was a jumbo jet! It came straight in like they meant to ram the thing! Goddamnest thing I ever saw!" My jogging to the office became full-fledged sprint. I reached my office on the 2nd floor in about 2 minutes. I alerted my co-wrkers, who had come in from Jersey so they wouldn't have seen the first attack, about what I had saw. I tried calling my wife's office but could not get an answer. I left a message desperate for her to call me back. Her office was only three blocks away from the WTC and she would often take cabs and walk some of the way. We all gathered by a large window that afforded us an unobstructed view of the burning tower. Several of them scrambled back to their desks to call loved ones, but I and another man stayed. As we wondered aloud who could have done this he noticed another object coming from the right. He immediately yelled "What the hell is that plane doing?" I saw what he was describing just as the second plane suddenly came into view and disappeared just as quickly into the South Tower. It exploded out and sideways almost as if it were in slow-motion. We stood in disbelief at what had become a nightmare. The Human Resources Director for the company, watching from an office maybe 20 feet away, fainted. I could hear screams from others in the office when they realized that they had family or friends that worked at the WTC and that this was officially an all-out assault from whoever. Fear turned into more sprinting. I ran back to my office and called my wife again with the horrible update. With great relief my wife's voice greeted me on the other end of the line. She was very upset as well, but was rallying her co-workers, many of whom were panicking and praying in their office. They were preparinig to evacuate but the phone cutoff before we could finish our conversation.
I told my co-workers, most of whom lived in New Jersey to get ready to leave as soon as it was okay. I kept looking for the hierarchy in our office to gather us together and tell us to evacuate. It was rumored that the Pentagon had been hit but the reports as to how and where were sketchy. We were ordered to stay away from the windows adjacent to the Hudson and the unfolding devestation outside. Was the attack still underway? What else had been hit? Many had gathered in the cafteria and and the reception area, where TV monitors tuned to CNN gave us detail after unbelievable detail. Then the pictures from the Pentagon attack were shown for the first time. This was another crippling blow to our psyches. In the cafeteria TV pictures of the smoking ruins and fires from Washington, D.C. juxtaposed against the two towers burning literally in the background through the huge windows gave new meaning to surreal. How many people had died? How many other planes were out there waiting to strike or had? Still more rumors floated about concerning several planes that were unaccounted for and they could be anywhere. In all of this, still no word on whether we would evacuate or not. Though I was ddeply worried for my wife and my friends who worked in the WTC I figured that we would be safe enough where we were. It was the only joke of the day I could think of, but I didn't think anything in New Jersey was important enough to blow up. I went back to my office to try and call my wife a third time, but when I got there I was startled by several loud screams coming from the hallway. The unthinkable had happened again. The South Tower had suddenly collapsed. I rushed to one of the barracaded windows, expecting to see the tower laying in or near the water's edge. Instead the entire area was enveloped by a thick gray fog which continuted to rise. It soon blotted out the entire area. When I returned to my desk again, my wife had left a frantic message telling me that here building shook and swayed when the collpase was under way and that they could no longer see the sun out of the windows. As bad as it sounded she and others were ready to evacuate. Her voice assured me that the building indeed did not just fall over, but again I was equally worried about what she would find when she hit the streets. Replays on TV showed that it simply came down with a thunderous final implosion. Several more people fainted. Others cried for some type of vengeance. At that moment the Jersey City Police came through and announced an evacuation. It was stern, but that was what was needed. We immediately left the building, but for the people from New York, there was no where to go. Transportation to NY, in the form of bridges, ferries, tunnels, and trains was completely cutoff. I and another co-worker wandered over by the Exchange Place PATH station trying to find someone to tell us what we could do. the lone gentleman who was there calmy told us that there was no service and that no one knew when it would come back. He also informed us that the area was being cleared so that survivors and the deceased ould be transported trhough this area to local hospitals. Over his shoulder, we could see the smoldering North Tower of the WTC. As he was speaking to us his radio clamored for attention, but before he could answer it, the North Tower suddenly started to collapse. In a rush of smashing concrete and steel, which sounded like 1,000 rollercoasters coming down at once, the building folded like a beach chair. We stood speechless for a moment, as if the collapse was simply another part of a day that shook the soul. We then went to the next PATH Station to see if anyone knew what to do about getting home. The ferries from New York started to arrive carrying people who clearly had been there for the collapse. One man was so covered in soot an debris that his shoes literally emitted puffs of smoke as he walked. He looked dazed but he also didn't slow his stride. A squadron of F-16s came over head not too long after. I wondered if this were simply window dressing. Whatever we normally did to keep planes from being hijacked went horribly awry on this day, and now thousands were probably dead and injured and a city lost one of it greatest landmarks. The nation for a day lost its security.
Hours later I checked into a hotel room that was reserved by the company I worked for since New York was locked down until the next day. I spoke to my wife at length and found out that she was in the street when the second tower fell. Covered in soot from head to toe, she and several of her co-workers managed to walk to the lower east side and found a restaurant to sit in for a few hours. In the end it took about 6 hours for her to get home. She was scared and tired but her spirit was not broken. I also found out that she was scheduled later that day to meet with the catering manager of Windows on the World restaurant to plan a monthly fucntion for one of her professional organizations. He was one of the 3,000+ people that perished in the attack. Later on that evening as I walked around Jersey City trying to find a restaurant to buy some food I saw some people walking around putting up flyers of the missing. I also saw people gathered near the PATH station looking at the now dissipating smoke and flames where the WTC once stood. They were silent, but I think it was more out of shock and respect. So many things went through my mind before during and after the initial event. Our feeling of safety was pummeled almost to death. The people inside the WTC were doing nothing more than working and having breakfast and they were slaughtered. I was at least lucky enough to have escaped from underneath the catastrophe.
And it strated off as such a beautiful day.
To reach my office in Jersey City, I had to take several subway lines, the last one in NY being the N/R train to the Courtland Street/WTC station. From there it was maybe a 5 minute walk to the PATH subway station through the concourse level of the WTC. As far as I could recollect the first plane must have hit about the time that I reached the bottom of a long staircase leading to the mezzanine level of the PATH station. Now imagine if you will about 6 or 7 really long escalators just filled with hundreds of commuters coming from New Jersey and more on the way. On this morning, as I walked to the escalators after buying a newspaper, nothing really seemed out of place, but the crowds from Jersey were slow in coming. I took the stairs that lead to the mezzanine level since they were usually less crowded than the one escalaltor that lead downstairs. Things got a bit tenser however when I reached the actual turnstile area near the commuter bar. Without warning about 12-15 Port Authority police and security personnel came bursting out from several doors located behind the turnstiles, each of them moving with great urgency. One security guard in particular attempted to leap over a slam gate, caught his foot and imediately fell face first to the ground. But faster than you could blink, he was on his feet and running with the rest of the group. I immediately stepped aside looking behind me, expecting to see the cause of their action, but, again, nothing was evident. They all ran to the escalators and away they went. I and another passenger stood for a moment watching this. I remarked to the other man "did you see anything or anybody?" He replied no and with a nervous look we both continued with our travels.
The train ride to New Jersey, which normally took about 8 miuntes took less than 5 and the train was almost completely empty. No announcments were made, but as I would later find out the train was a means of escape for me and thousands of other commuters. When I emerged at the Exchange Place Station I saw about 200 people standing near the station looking back at New York. The World Trace Center was just about directly across from the PATH Station entrance, maybe 1-mile across the Hudson River. At first I thought there was some media crew there doing a live telecast from the Jersey City waterfront using lower Manhattan as a backdrop, which happened fairly often. But when I didn't see one, I was immediately struck by a long thick plume of black smoke which by now had started to float across the Hudson and into upper Manhattan. I could not see the top of the North Tower of the WTC until I followed the smoke back and was horrified by the flames and smoke that were erupting out of the building, making the top of it look like an oil refinery fire. I immediately ran to my ffice building, about 50 yards away from the PATH station. While running through the concourse level, which was glass enclosed and facing the WTC, I encountered a man on a cellphone looking at the North Tower ablaze. I asked him what he saw. His reply was "I was just standing here when I saw a plane come from that way and it just plowed into the building. This was no accident!" I could not get my mind around the concept so I pressed further. "It was a jumbo jet! It came straight in like they meant to ram the thing! Goddamnest thing I ever saw!" My jogging to the office became full-fledged sprint. I reached my office on the 2nd floor in about 2 minutes. I alerted my co-wrkers, who had come in from Jersey so they wouldn't have seen the first attack, about what I had saw. I tried calling my wife's office but could not get an answer. I left a message desperate for her to call me back. Her office was only three blocks away from the WTC and she would often take cabs and walk some of the way. We all gathered by a large window that afforded us an unobstructed view of the burning tower. Several of them scrambled back to their desks to call loved ones, but I and another man stayed. As we wondered aloud who could have done this he noticed another object coming from the right. He immediately yelled "What the hell is that plane doing?" I saw what he was describing just as the second plane suddenly came into view and disappeared just as quickly into the South Tower. It exploded out and sideways almost as if it were in slow-motion. We stood in disbelief at what had become a nightmare. The Human Resources Director for the company, watching from an office maybe 20 feet away, fainted. I could hear screams from others in the office when they realized that they had family or friends that worked at the WTC and that this was officially an all-out assault from whoever. Fear turned into more sprinting. I ran back to my office and called my wife again with the horrible update. With great relief my wife's voice greeted me on the other end of the line. She was very upset as well, but was rallying her co-workers, many of whom were panicking and praying in their office. They were preparinig to evacuate but the phone cutoff before we could finish our conversation.
I told my co-workers, most of whom lived in New Jersey to get ready to leave as soon as it was okay. I kept looking for the hierarchy in our office to gather us together and tell us to evacuate. It was rumored that the Pentagon had been hit but the reports as to how and where were sketchy. We were ordered to stay away from the windows adjacent to the Hudson and the unfolding devestation outside. Was the attack still underway? What else had been hit? Many had gathered in the cafteria and and the reception area, where TV monitors tuned to CNN gave us detail after unbelievable detail. Then the pictures from the Pentagon attack were shown for the first time. This was another crippling blow to our psyches. In the cafeteria TV pictures of the smoking ruins and fires from Washington, D.C. juxtaposed against the two towers burning literally in the background through the huge windows gave new meaning to surreal. How many people had died? How many other planes were out there waiting to strike or had? Still more rumors floated about concerning several planes that were unaccounted for and they could be anywhere. In all of this, still no word on whether we would evacuate or not. Though I was ddeply worried for my wife and my friends who worked in the WTC I figured that we would be safe enough where we were. It was the only joke of the day I could think of, but I didn't think anything in New Jersey was important enough to blow up. I went back to my office to try and call my wife a third time, but when I got there I was startled by several loud screams coming from the hallway. The unthinkable had happened again. The South Tower had suddenly collapsed. I rushed to one of the barracaded windows, expecting to see the tower laying in or near the water's edge. Instead the entire area was enveloped by a thick gray fog which continuted to rise. It soon blotted out the entire area. When I returned to my desk again, my wife had left a frantic message telling me that here building shook and swayed when the collpase was under way and that they could no longer see the sun out of the windows. As bad as it sounded she and others were ready to evacuate. Her voice assured me that the building indeed did not just fall over, but again I was equally worried about what she would find when she hit the streets. Replays on TV showed that it simply came down with a thunderous final implosion. Several more people fainted. Others cried for some type of vengeance. At that moment the Jersey City Police came through and announced an evacuation. It was stern, but that was what was needed. We immediately left the building, but for the people from New York, there was no where to go. Transportation to NY, in the form of bridges, ferries, tunnels, and trains was completely cutoff. I and another co-worker wandered over by the Exchange Place PATH station trying to find someone to tell us what we could do. the lone gentleman who was there calmy told us that there was no service and that no one knew when it would come back. He also informed us that the area was being cleared so that survivors and the deceased ould be transported trhough this area to local hospitals. Over his shoulder, we could see the smoldering North Tower of the WTC. As he was speaking to us his radio clamored for attention, but before he could answer it, the North Tower suddenly started to collapse. In a rush of smashing concrete and steel, which sounded like 1,000 rollercoasters coming down at once, the building folded like a beach chair. We stood speechless for a moment, as if the collapse was simply another part of a day that shook the soul. We then went to the next PATH Station to see if anyone knew what to do about getting home. The ferries from New York started to arrive carrying people who clearly had been there for the collapse. One man was so covered in soot an debris that his shoes literally emitted puffs of smoke as he walked. He looked dazed but he also didn't slow his stride. A squadron of F-16s came over head not too long after. I wondered if this were simply window dressing. Whatever we normally did to keep planes from being hijacked went horribly awry on this day, and now thousands were probably dead and injured and a city lost one of it greatest landmarks. The nation for a day lost its security.
Hours later I checked into a hotel room that was reserved by the company I worked for since New York was locked down until the next day. I spoke to my wife at length and found out that she was in the street when the second tower fell. Covered in soot from head to toe, she and several of her co-workers managed to walk to the lower east side and found a restaurant to sit in for a few hours. In the end it took about 6 hours for her to get home. She was scared and tired but her spirit was not broken. I also found out that she was scheduled later that day to meet with the catering manager of Windows on the World restaurant to plan a monthly fucntion for one of her professional organizations. He was one of the 3,000+ people that perished in the attack. Later on that evening as I walked around Jersey City trying to find a restaurant to buy some food I saw some people walking around putting up flyers of the missing. I also saw people gathered near the PATH station looking at the now dissipating smoke and flames where the WTC once stood. They were silent, but I think it was more out of shock and respect. So many things went through my mind before during and after the initial event. Our feeling of safety was pummeled almost to death. The people inside the WTC were doing nothing more than working and having breakfast and they were slaughtered. I was at least lucky enough to have escaped from underneath the catastrophe.
And it strated off as such a beautiful day.
Collection
Citation
“story9502.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 11, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/9491.