Gothamist: Five Years Ago...

no one cares

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 02:16:01 -0500

and let us not forget that it's possible that no one cares where you were on 9/11: http://www.wonkette.com/politics/9%252f11/wonkette-psa-no-one-cares-where-you-were-on-september-11-199807.php

Jonathan

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 19:41:07 -0500

I was at work in the UK and of course 8am your time was lunchtime over here. The company I worked for specialised in digital TV production so we had TV's everywhere. A colleage was reading Israeli news on the net and said that a cessna had crashed into the trade center in New York. So I flicked over onto CNN and saw the first tower on fire. I could believe it having been there myself. I remember thinking thats no cessna thats made a hole that big, then the second plane hit. The entire office of 50 people were glued to the TV. A Manager tried to get everyone back to their desks but our collective glare made him shut up. We were all stunned and there were jitters about targets over here. rumours were rife and we were nervous as our building was just across the road from military intelligence headquarters. Its one of those things that I kept going over in my mind... I cant believe it. I havent been to the US since and thats a combination of recent security alerts here and the overbearing security there which would never stop a determined lunatic anyway.

Michele

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:36:29 -0500

I'm a native New Yorker, over the age of 40, and don't live on the Upper West Side. I cannot express how much I love this city. One of my neighbors died in the Towers, and I was a few blocks away when they were hit. I was going to jury duty and running late when the first building was hit, and inside 200 Centre Street when the second one hit. I didn't fully realize what happened until after I got up to 17th and Broadway and turned around- from the east side you couldn't see what had happened. I remember starting to scream. While I don't like every post on this site and find some of them too obvious or just too young for me, I love sharing it with my boyfriend, who is not a native. While the obsession over Shake Shack and new bands that are pretty much meaningless is sometimes a bit much, and the small amount of coveage of activities like museums and art galleries, classical and jazz music, sophisticated stores like Lord and Taylor and Saks (and no, I'm not rich or white or tired), and events outside of 'hip' areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan sometimes get me down, I really like the site. I get a new perspective on my hometown, links to political news, some great pictures, and info on some little-known food places (I'm crazy about Famous Fat Dave's posts). I would be happy to read other blogs about New York City by some of the dissenters here. Please put up links to your blogs- I'm sure they must be very good since you are so critical of this one, and probably much deeper and urbane, too. If you don't have blogs yet, I'm sure you'll be mentioning them soon so those of us who truly love New York can share the love with you.

mike

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 14:06:04 -0500

I live in Chicago and was in the office when the towers were hit and fell. Internet service slowed to a standstill and many people were listening to the radio and watching the TV in the lunchroom. When the towers fell, I couldn't bring myself to go upstairs and watch it on TV ... I know it would be hammered into me eventually. My coworker and I walked the nine miles home because it was such a nice day and I really was in no hurry to go home. Plus, it seemed like the right thing to do: walk and talk about it. When I finally got home my sister (also my roomate at the time) was watching TV and crying. Much like the old space shuttle Challenger explosion when I was in seventh grade, they were showing the towers cascading into dust over and over. I turned the TV off and my sister and I walked to the lake. Like in NYC, it was a gorgeous day here. No clouds. 70 degrees. We sat on the shoreline in Ohare's usual flightpath and watched nothing but an occasional military jet fly eerily by, at a much higher altitude than O'hare traffic flies at. No one else, not a single person, was at the lake. Everyone was either at home watching TV or in bars getting drunk. A few days later I confirmed that my New York friends were all OK. For the next week I had nightmares, not of buildings falling or of people dying - - more like shocking and waking realizations that life and the world had changed for the worse. My sister called me on Tuesday to say she was glad we went outside and just talked that day. New York City is the best city in the universe. I've always felt that way. On 9/11, I felt like someone had attacked a close friend of mine. New York City to me represents all that is good about America.

essther

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 00:11:42 -0500

i stood on the corner at the dmv at battery place....watching the first tower on fire...thinking it was something small that hit it, a small plane anyways...stood there, on my cell phone, calling work saying 'i'm gonna see what's going on'. stood there until the 2nd plane rushed fast past on my left and crashed into the 2nd building and i ran as fast as i fucking could cuz i'm a fucking coward and ran to the 4/5 train and cried as i couldn't get my metrocard to work and had to buy another and then someone on the train didn't believe me that i saw what i saw. i wonder now, does she remember me? does she remember being so mean and skeptical? i was alone in my apartment with my dogs...all locks, even the chain across...cuz that would save me. i slept for weeks with the radio on...no news was good news....i can't stand it.

zincink

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 00:42:36 -0500

I was a temp at ADT Security putting in info for alarm systems. It was computer work..it was a job..and a few months before I was laid off from a company in Battery Park. The guy sitting next to me noticed alarms going off one by one in the WTC and then the phones started ringing off the hook. He looked at me for a moment..said nothing..and then told me the WTC was hit by a plane. I didn't believe it..My boss ran out of the building..my mother called me from her work Cell..told me to go home..I remember watching tv for a minute or two and then leaving..all the major roads were blocked so I was lucky to know the back roads rather well..and never to return to the job. There are other details but I would rather not share..its to sad of a memory.

Son of Pam

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:56:17 -0500

I remember thinking how the F am I going to make this month's rent. Then I heard the low rumble and the ground shake and said Thank GOD, It's the end of the world, take me with you GOD. I'm Waiting. then I realised I'm still here and those who perished were the lucky one's. I'm no fortunate son.

Jazznewt

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:42:18 -0500

My wife and I had just plowed our nest egg into a condo 1 block from WTC and for some reason we left home early that day. When it all went down I was in my office in midtown, facing away from my south-facing window until my dad called me from California (still don't know why he was up at 6AM) to tell me what was going on. I confess my first thought upon seeing the huge black/brown clouds was not the loss of life, but that our home was gone, maybe because I knew my wife was probably already at work (she actually heard one of the planes hit when her train was at Canal St). After getting in touch with her by AIM (phones were useless) I went downstairs and marched northward past stunned faces for about 30 mins, never looking behind until I got to my wife's office -- just in that mode where all you are thinking of is taking care of your family. And mentally that's pretty much where I've been ever since -- my 9/11 experience is very much wrapped up in how to deal with something tangible -- where to go, where to eat, what forms to fill out, how to avoid inhaling toxic fumes -- that in many ways I've noticed 9/11 has been easier for me to cope with emotionally and mentally than a lot of people, including some people who were never there or didn't even live in NY or know anyone who died. Really the radius of the emotional shockwaves from 9/11 is amazing and complex, and I think for many people a sense of frustration in even coming to grips with the concept is a huge part of the equation. Not to make it a real estate story because a lot more happened afterwards, but our condo turned out OK with some repairs (due to the way the towers collapsed inward), after we were allowed back we lived there for 2 years with a front row view over the WTC site and then sold. I'm glad to no longer live down there, but we still live in NYC because we love it and always will.

S.D.

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:36:09 -0500

"their artifice and false sense of entitlement is a bit sickening."? Yeah! A post made up of "Where were you five years ago? What did you do?" Obviously smacks of artifice and false sense of entitlement! (sigh) Look, I'm really sorry you also lost a loved one but, IMO, your really way off base here. It's a two sentence post. If you have Issues with Jen and/or Jake could you express it in other posts instead acting out your obvious issues over a valid topic of Discussion? Jen and Jake were likely, at the very least, scared like the rest of us that day. Asking that question in a public forum helps people to discuss it if they want to. And, BTW: Your certainly acting like an arrogant self centered person crying out for attention.

d

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:27:51 -0500

"artifice and false sense of entitlement" What exactly are you talking about, BegToDiffer? How does anything, *anything* about this post project that? I couldn't care less that you know the writers of this site, whom you obviously can't stand. They're not my idols, I've never met them; you obviously bear some personal grudge against them and this supposed "self-centered UWS" mentality. And I couldn't possibly care even less that you're a born-and-raised New Yorker. Whoop-di-fukkin-do! So what? That makes you special?

Barry P.

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:08:02 -0500

Chambers and Greenwich Streets...saw the whole thing, then ran for my life.

edEx

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:39:31 -0500

begtodiffer: you're not the only one who lost someone. that's where your self centered-self comes into play. your arrogance is telling us the question of: "where where you..." is sickening.

Linda

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:25:19 -0500

uh...begtodiffer...YOUR sense of entitlement to 9-11 -- especially the my loss is bigger than your loss thing -- is a bit sickening IMHO.

bklynd

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:24:26 -0500

"However, their artifice and false sense of entitlement is a bit sickening." Now, see, this is where you step over the line as far as I'm concerned. It's their blog. They can fill it with content however they want. I'm actually surprised that so many readers were not in NYC on 9/11. But, clearly, that's a big part of Gothamist's audience. And in a way, that's really the blog's perspective much of the time - that of the enthusiastic young "transplant." Don't like it? The solution is simple, and you know what it is.

yowie howie

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:10:15 -0500

This is a nice post but I'm will to bet it doesn't have legs like the Steve irwin post. that's gonna hit 100 in the comment count and people are still commenting. and he died last week.

BegToDiffer

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:07:34 -0500

"an arrogrant self centered person like yourself crying out for attention" Excuse me, but how am I either? As someone who actually lost a loved one on 9/11, you'll forgive me if I find the whole post in rather questionable taste. To those telling me to f*** off, or that I don't know Jen & co., well, you're wrong about that. I have met both Jen and Jake. Nice people, both of them, honestly. However, their artifice and false sense of entitlement is a bit sickening. As a born-and-raised New Yorker, there's something definitely off about Gothamist throwing out a "Where were you?" question. Still, if it's easier to curse and damn the one that dares criticize your idols, then so be it.

boi jorge

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 17:05:04 -0500

Wake me up, before you go go.

bklynd

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:55:44 -0500

"what's with this one upmanship?" Hey, another complete asshole. Since when is posting one's experience (which, uh, was explicitly *invited* by Jen's post) "oneupmanship"? Fuck you, man.

Linda

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:55:43 -0500

I'm interested in reading folks accounts of that day (9-11). I'm interested in seeing their personal photos. If this offends some folks delicate sensibilities, then stop reading and point your browser elsewhere. The rest of don't give a shit that you don't like it. Keep talking folks. It's cathartic IMHO.

D

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:31:40 -0500

BegToDiffer, just f**k off. Also, malatron, how the hell do you expect to talk about their experiences? In the 3rd person? Would you like someone to tell us how you felt that day? There are some hopeless morons out there, and Gothamist is so blessed to have them vomit their bullschitt all over the comments.

S.D.

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:09:26 -0500

edEx, what I find odd about such people is: They likely don't at all know the people they're criticizing. Jen asked a simple question with a personal photo of that day. It has inspired discussion and remembrance. How this is a bad thing or an "self-centered UWS" thing is beyond me. You people who don't like such discussion: It's a simple solution, Don't come here.

edEx

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:56:07 -0500

*What's offensive about this post is not the question posed, but rather that Jen, Jake and the rest of their self-centered UWS crew couldn't care less about you or where you were on 9/11. It's a cheap ploy for affirmation.* —BegToDiffer -- you're wrong. what a surprise, an arrogrant self centered person like yourself crying out for attention. are you new to the internets or a loner with a manifesto for the new york times?

one's upmanship

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:25:40 -0500

what's with this one upmanship? I was here, I was there. It seems most of you guy's were out of town and in school. then you got your NYC worker drones with their I got out by the skin of my teeth. I especially love the long winded posters of 500 words or more. Please, stop. I hear they raised the recruiting age to 42. Now git. Wake me up til you go-go.

Bob

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:14:04 -0500

People seem to have a need to tell and retell their stories concerning 9/11. I don't know whether it's cathartic or not. Seems to have something to do with human nature.

11kap

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:43:57 -0500

Luckily,I was heading west.

BegToDiffer

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:25:47 -0500

Well, it's nice to learn that criticisms of Jen, Jake, and Gothamist are strictly verboten. Free speech for thee, but not for me, eh?

Sharon

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:25:05 -0500

I was in my senior year at SUNY Albany. I was talking to a friend online before class that morning. One of the things I'll always remember from that day was her IM of: TURN CNN ON NOW She lived on Delancey street, and heard the crash. I had to run into the living room, as I had no tv in my bedroom. I saw the plane hit, but at the time they said it was a small commuter plane and it had been an accident. I knew something was very, very wrong when the 2nd plane hit, but I turned off the tv and went to class as normal. I don't know how I made it through that hour. Afterwards, I got out and heard news reports on the radio, but nothing was clear. I didn't have a cell phone, but called my mom back in Brooklyn on the landline when I got back to my dorm. I didn't have a problem either, which was surprising. I'll never forget how her voice sounded when she told me, "Honey, they're gone. They're all gone." My dad worked on Long Island, so I knew he'd be okay, but I proceeded to call and im every single person I knew to see if they (and theirs) were okay. And thank God, they all were. And there were some genuinely close calls, too (like the brother of a friend's friend who worked on the 104th floor of Tower 1 and went to Starbucks at 8:30 am.) I lost it for a few days, though. I was so upset I couldn't eat or sleep. And when I came home for the weekend (I had to) on Amtrak, I'll never forget the eerie silence that came over the Q train as we went over the Manhattan Bridge.

DK

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:02:16 -0500

At the time, I was a sophomore in high school. On Sept 11 2001 I was home sick with mono. I wasn't feeling well. Living in the suburbs of NJ, NY always seemed like a dream to me. It was the place I knew I wanted to go to college and the place I knew I wanted to live for the rest of my life. It seems fitting that I was home sick that day because unlike most people that only saw the video tape after the fact, I saw the whole thing happen live on TV. I woke up at 8:40 that morning and went downstairs. My mother was watching TV and when the first plane hit, the reports started coming in on live TV morning shows. I remember watching the screen of the first burning building and seeing the second plane come into focus. I remember thinking 'HOLY SHIT, IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? AM I DREAMING? AM I SO SICK THAT I'M HALLUCENATING?' Unfortunately, the answer was no. I remember the fear in the newscaster's voice as the second plane hit and she said 'Oh my God.' The rest of the day was a blur. My aunt worked behind the WTC and so everyone in my family was scrambling to find out where she was since she normally took the Path trains to WTC and then walked to work. Luckily, she was fine. I remember going to my brother's school. At the time he was 6 and couldn't understand why we were signing him out from school so early in the day. I remember thinking that my dream of living in NY had been shattered. I remember thinking that the city would be in ruins. While quite the opposite has actually happened, it's still scary to know everyday that the next time something happens, I will actually be here.

BegToDiffer

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:58:18 -0500

What's offensive about this post is not the question posed, but rather that Jen, Jake and the rest of their self-centered UWS crew couldn't care less about you or where you were on 9/11. It's a cheap ploy for affirmation.

malatron

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:51:25 -0500

59 comments and 200+ "I" um...stop it. Seriously.

Jen

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:49:58 -0500

This is something that people need to talk about, to share. Shouldn't be hard to understand. Five years ago I was in three consecutive hour-and-a-half classes at Syracuse University. I heard some girls mention it in the second class, but I dismissed their talk as naive nonsense, figuring they, as non-New Yorkers, had mistaken the news and perhaps only a Cessna had hit one of the towers. The third class was let out early, the professor urging us to get in touch with our families as soon as possible. At that point, I knew something serious had happened. I rushed to the student center and found a large crowd clustered around a small television that was showing smoke and fire. I was terrified.

edEx

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:28:55 -0500

i was walking to work, literally my second day (and last) on the new job (grand central area) when the first plane skimed the top of midtown. i called my dad and told him a plane had hit the wtc. he asked what kind of plane, i said a big one (not knowing its size at the time). he turned on the news and there it was, on fire, with smoke billowing—it was a large airline jet. a few minutes later, a jet roared over us and slammed into the south tower. we could see it from the office. it was sureal. my dad said, "we're under attack, this is not a fluke radar issue, we're under attack, no pilot would deliberately crash a plane into a building even if the plane were in distress, there's a huge body of water just beyond those towers for crash landings... this is the start of a long war, a war with no end, world war III" the next few hours i was scrambling around the city to find friends, i was on the phone with my dad till my phone went dead. at home, i had extra phone batteries, but they were no use since the cell towers were not working. i found some friends on email and we met up at 65th street, together. when we saw the blood donation line at the red cross was too long, we opted for direct help on-site. it was unorgnized at first, but people, humanity, worked as one... it was a day that literally, changed everyone's life. gothamist has not exploited this day nor this photo. (if yoiu want exploitation go to ground zero and watch the chinese women scream about photo sales, that's exploitation. the photos of the burning towers and the like are a reminder of that day, which we all need. they're simply reminding us of the horror (they're not selling it). should we not display photos and video of pearl harbor? the holocaust? vietnam? oklahoma city? photos help heal.

Karen

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:22:52 -0500

I was working midnights at Delphi Thermal, in Lockport, NY. I'd just gotten home, and had had time to shower and change, when my mother called, and asked if I had the tv on. I said no, and she said, a plane had just flown into one of the World Trade Towers in Manhatten. I thought she meant, a small private plane pilot had made some kind of naviagation error, or that they'd find the pilot had passed out and flown into it. No, she said, this was a jet airliner, and they already thought it had been done on purpose. I turned the tv on, and moments later, saw the 2nd plane hit. I called a friend of mine, and got her answering machine, and screamed into it, that if she was there, don't pick up the phone, just to turn on the tv. She answered, asked what was up, and I told her. We both started crying on the phone, watching tv. I think I was up til 7 pm that day, watching tv, calling people, taking calls, everyone asking, did we know anyone who lived in Manhatten, or who worked at the WTC, and had we heard from them. Didn't get much sleep, and those on the day shift at Delphi were told they could go home. When I went into work that night, the boss told us, that he didn't expect much, and for most of the night, we just sat around and talked, wondered what kind of maniac could arrange such a thing, and why our government hadn't caught onto it before it happened. I had a few chatroom pals, who worked near the WTC, and those people knew people who worked in the 2nd tower, some about where the plane hit. When the first tower was hit, those people got out, so survived. Unfortunately, I've heard that all have lung problems now. A friend was in Pakistan on that day. He didn't know what happened, but people started coming up to him on the street, saying they were so sorry, was there anything they could do for him. When he was told what had happened, he was struck, by both the horror of it, and how kind the Pakistani people were, to a blonde, blue eyed stranger. A freind of the family was an official in the firefighters union, and was at Ground Zero for weeks. He is still not the same. Another friend was working at the Pentagon, and no one could get ahold of him for some hours-even though he is in the military, and had been at that point for some years, he said no warzone he'd ever seen, compared to that day. I've been to Manhatten a few times since then. I haven't seen the WTC site, and don't wish to see it. I didn't live there, didn't know anyone killed or hurt there, but I can't bring myself to watch the movies, or documentaries, or the coverage today. I can't imagine the horror, the terror, and the rage that those of you who had to live through this, either because you were in the WTC that day, or because you were living, working, going to school, or visiting Manhatten, were living near, or working at the Pentagon, were in Pennsylvania. No one should have to witness horror like that, let alone live through it, and my heart, my prayers, and my wishes that you find some measure of peace, are with you.

Michael

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:00:23 -0500

Yes.. rhetorical questions... A good example would be: "Who made you God?" .. deciding which questions should and shouldn't be answered... ;)

adam

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:49:52 -0500

I was just starting the semester at a new college I had transfered to. I remember rolling off of my futon and turning on the tv at about 900 a.m. For the next 2 hours, I literally stared at the box with my eyes wide open

Meredith

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:42:13 -0500

What makes this tasteless? What makes that question a rhetorical one? Gothamist asks questions of readers, expecting feedback in comments, in every other post; why is this one any different? If you don't want to relive it, then don't. It is your choice to read these accounts, and it is your choice to be offended. This did actually happen that day. Why shut your ears and eyes to personal accounts?

smitty

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:38:34 -0500

the fifth plane they thought was hijacked was Delta 1989 which was right near united 93 near Cleveland. delta had to make an emergency landing because they thought were also hijacked because there was a suspicious person who wouldn't get off his cell phone on the flight or something.

C

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:36:18 -0500

I was walking to work and seen people gathered around a electronics store window, which had a tv displayed. I looked and seen the first tower and thought "this must be a movie", but it was a news feed. And i found it unbelievable, and thought it was possibly an accident. Until the second plane hit and was shown on tv, then I knew it was deliberate. As I walked to work all my coworkers were outside and said to go home. As I walked back home I could see the towers from afar (I lived in Chelsea) and witnessed the towers fall. It was the most emptiest, helpless feeling ever. It was like a slow motion reel, watching people waiting in line to use a payphone because all the cell phones had no reception, watching people crying, complete strangers consoling each other. People walking with clueless expressions.

lorraine

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:30:18 -0500

i was at home in greenpoint, brooklyn - not working at the time. when my alarm went off, i heard reports about the nation's skyscrapers being evacuated - i was so confused. i turned on NY1 just as the south tower collapsed. too unreal, i couldn't comprehend what was happening. i ran up onto my roof, and my neighbors were up there, all of brooklyn was standing on their rooftops watching. we heard sirens and military jets. it was a gorgeous sunny day, and we all stood there aghast at the sight of one twin tower remaining, and plumes of black smoke against the blue sky. later that morning, i received calls from friends from all over the country. i dinstinctly remember watching news reports about *five* planes that were hi-jacked. later that day the number was changed to four.

KR

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:17:16 -0500

I was working on 3rd Ave. and 39th. We had no internet access and couldn't make calls out. My co-worker and I ran down to the HSBC attached to our building and watched the towers burn on their lobby TV with a huge group of people. When the announcer said the Pentagon had been hit, we knew it was time to go. We ran back up and got our stuff and took off. I headed down 3rd Ave. Lines had formed at payphones. I made a right on 22nd, and when I got to 5th Ave., that's when I could see the huge grey toxic cloud and the one tower standing, the one with the antenna. I stopped cold and stared. Everyone around me was stopped and staring. Then it fell. Then man next to me threw his coffee to the ground and said "goddammit!" and took off. People were crying. I'll never forget seeing that antenna protruding from the ash cloud, falling.

stevie blunder

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:15:33 -0500

I was alone, I had no friends or loved ones, so it was just another day to me. It's NYC, wat can you do?

smitty

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:15:32 -0500

I was at a NYU class at the Tisch building (NYU's Stern School) on West 4th St. I had been in an 8:00 class that was held underground, so I hadn't heard any explosions from inside my class. I remember leaving class at around 9:15 and running into my classmate on the street and she told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. No one on the street really knew at that point what had happened about whether it was an accident or not. She pointed to the World Trade Center and I could see a tower on fire. I think it was Tower 1. For some reason, I only remember seeing one tower - I'm not sure if that's all I could see from where I was standing or if my memory has just tricked me. No one on the street really knew what to do. People were crowded on West 4th St. looking south. Car doors were open and people were also gathered around listening to the radio. I didn't know what to do or how serious it was, so I went to my next class. We discussed what had happened but at that point, the towers had not fallen and we did not realize how serious it was. After that class, I headed to my next one at about 10:30. Our professor told us that if we wanted to leave, we were allowed to. I tried to stay but after two minutes I had to leave. I couldn’t concentrate, was worried, and shocked by what had happened. I remember standing at Astor Place and seeing the exodus of people streaming north. The streets were packed with people heading out of lower Manhattan. I remember seeing cars driving north that were covered in dust and had broken windows. I left with a classmate and we went to several hospitals to try to give blood, but after being turned away and waiting in a long line at one, I went home. The next day, I left my East Village neighborhood to try to find the Times (no such luck at any newsstand) and I had to show ID to the national guard to get back in.

kitten

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:11:24 -0500

i was at home in manhattan 24th st + 3rd ave. i was sleeping late being a slacker with my work from home job. my girlfriend in CT called me and told me to turn on the tv. i had no idea. just a few miles away and if she hadn't called i wouldn't have known. i had no clue what to do or what was going to happen next. i could imagine fires breaking due to gas explosions or more attacks. i walked the dog, got money from the bank and a few groceries. i went to Bellevue to try to give blood and we all collectively cringed each time a plane flew overhead. they sent us home, too many volunteers. then i watched the soot covered people walking up 3rd avenue in shock. traffic was terrible, i had no special skills and didn't know how to help. thankfully my phone + internet were still working and spent the rest of the day trying to track friends and loved ones for myself and other people. it was terrifying to be so close and yet so detached. it took me a very long time to get downtown to go near the site. i had no real connection with the towers, but i miss them everyday from the skyline, especially now that i live in brooklyn.

Dude

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:59:21 -0500

#43 - How is criticizing the usage of the burning WTT self-centered and immature? I just hate posters like you who's always jumping to wrong conclusions about people over one post. I didn't deny that such images nor the the whole tragedy exist, I thought it was inappropriate and Gothamist could've used any other images from that day. It was purely used for sensation and shock and nothing else. This is like showing a picture of dog poo and asking readers how does it feel to have stepped in it.

homer jay simpson

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:52:01 -0500

Wasn't anyone Drinking that day?

Shelly

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:43:50 -0500

I was in Washington Heights in Brooklyn staying with some friends. I had just moved out of my apt. on Avenue C two weeks before. I worked evenings so I was sleeping until my friend woke me up to watch the TV. We climbed to the rooftop and watched what we could, but only saw the very top of the buildings and the plumes of smoke. We saw the first tower dissapear from our sight. We were confused about what had happened, so we climbed back in to watch the TV where we saw the second tower fall. Unbelievable. And then I cried for days. The strangest part of it all was the quiet that spread all around. Everyone was silent on the trains yet we were all thinking of the same things and scared. The sights of smoke and lights at ground zero and jet fighters flying overhead for the coming days and months and the smell that you knew was death was so overwhelming and sad. The hardest part was watching the media re-run it over and over and seeing the planes go into the buildings. I still hate to see that to this day.

Jessie

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:24:23 -0500

I woke to the phone ringing off the hook at around 7:20 AM. I was a Senior at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and we were on Central time. My neighbor shrieked through the receiver, "We are at war, oh my god...turn on your tv, America is at War!". After gaping open mouthed at the footage, I began to desperately dial my parents and brother back in New York. It was all busy signals. I remember being disgusted that my school did not cancel classes.

LLa

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:23:09 -0500

In the early morning of 9/11/01 I was working as a publicist at a conference in New Jersey sponsored by a large real estate firm presenting US Brokerage practices to a small group of political officials of the People's Republic of China. Just before 9:00 AM I got a call from the home office saying that I shouldn't expect any press at the event because a plane had hit one of the towers. The conference was in full swing and there was no reason to make an announcement. However moments later, after the second plane hit I got another message from my office that the country was under terrorist attack. I then interrupted the conference and informed the CEO's who quickly left the building leaving me with the Chinese officials and one translator. Our cell phones were not working but the Chinese could call Bejing and updated us with news they were receiving in China. The Minister of Land Reform then insisted on seeing the news on a TV. So after a few minutes of scrambling around a quickly evacuating building, I found the company gym, and it was there, on the monitors above the stationary bikes where ten Chinese business men in black suits and myself, a shocked and horrified native New Yorker all watched the buildings fall. After passing my charges over to a hotel manager in Jersey and assuring them of their safety, I headed back to Brooklyn via Westchester and down over the Whitestone bridge to the fine white ash that covered Carroll Gardens and that colored the rest of our lives.

iheartnyc

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:16:22 -0500

I got to work early that Tuesday morning. As I prepared for the start of my day, my supervisor walked over to me and said that a plane had just hit one of the towers at WTC. I couldn't believe my ears, so he pointed to the tv set in his office... the first plane was in the building. I ran to my desk to call my mother and before I could inquire about my uncle (who happened to work down there) she she suddenly screamed, "oh my God... they did it again! They hit the other building". Hearing my mother so distraught and realizing what was happening to my beloved city, I just broke down. I can't properly verbalize the fear and unfathomable sense of hopelessness and despair I felt that morning. The uncertainty, the confusion, the anger, the melancholy... It's now five years later and I still cringe when a plane flies overhead.

D

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:14:22 -0500

Dude, Dora, and others: How incredibly self-centered and immature to castigate Gothamist for showing an undeniably familiar image and suggest it is "tasteless" to ask people where they were that day. The fact remains that it happened, and why would anyone be better off denying that it did? We will all come across images and personal accounts of that day for the rest of our lives, so rather than blame others for opening old wounds, please try to find it within yourselves to deal with it.

Stefanie

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:10:58 -0500

I was sitting at my desk in my West Village apartment, checking email and drinking coffee when I heard the first plane screech over my building. I was immediately alarmed, as the plane was obviously flying way too low. I grew up near JFK and was hyper-aware of the sound of low flying jets. I called my mother immediately and said "Mom, I think a plane may have crashed into the Hudson River." She told me to turn on the television and about thirty seconds later NY1 put up the feed, assuming a small communter plane had accidentally hit the towers. I spent the next hour and a half frantically calling my friend that worked for Morgan Stanley on the 72 floor of the North tower. When he finally called me to say he was fine, I went outside and watched the second tower collapse with my neighbor from the middle of 7th Avenue South. We saw refugees covered in white dust streaming north, and a man with a bandana yelling at everyone that he was in the Green Berets and the fucking Arabs were going to pay for this. I've never seen such rage on a stranger's face before. I went upstairs eventually, numb, and spent the next few weeks and months in the same state of surreal shock as the rest of us. Oddly, it feels like yesterday.

itsallgood

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:04:12 -0500

Damn kid, (#36- black nostradufus)-- whatever it is.. it can't be that bad. Don't say sh*t like that. 9/11 changed everyone's life-- but be happy you still have yours. Whatever it is.. you can work through it.

Mr Skin

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:59:23 -0500

Watching TV before work, freakin the hell out.

NY'er

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:53:07 -0500

I came out of the subway at Broadway and Wall seconds after the first plane hit. I watched in shock as the second plane hit WTC2 and I frantically tried to reach all of my co-workers who commuted by PATH to the WTC station. I watched as the desperate jumped, and to this day anytime I hear someone say "on my god" it takes me back to that day. When WTC2 collapsed I ran, it became as dark as midnight, and the the soot and debris in the air felt like needles in my throat. It was three hours before I could find my way out and I walked home, covered in dust, debris and soot, still in shock.

Edward Odell

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:52:02 -0500

My wife was away working in Brooklyn Heights, while I went in to work in Hartford that morning. I remember her calling me to tell me she heard the impact and could see the buildings from the end of the street where she was working. I typically listen to the local NPR station at work so I was hearing the news all day. I remember being worried sick about my wife working down there so close to the site (they continued working through the week) and my brother who works down on Varick. Later we went in to watch news coverage in the conference room and the shock of seeing the plane going into the tower was something I will never forget. Getting through to family and friends in NY was touch and go, but I kept trying. Eventually we all got in touch and everyone was ok. Three weeks later I had to go down to a site next to ground zero to meet with a Forensic Damage Consultant team. I had to go through a military checkpoint to go in. The scene was surreal with tourists and cameras and dust all over the sides of the buildings on Broadway. I remember staying in Brooklyn and walking along the Promenade and seeing all the candles and missing signs, looking out over the river at southern Manhattan. It just seemed like something out of a nightmare.

malatron

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:49:47 -0500

27 comments, and 100+ "I". Would you all like a mirror to hold also?

black nostradufus

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:49:20 -0500

If I knew then what I know now, I wish I was one of those who perished. that day started an avalanche for me that will never ever return to normal. thank you.

Rob C

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:41:33 -0500

I was in Tokyo at the time and had been out on the town with an American friend. We got home, he went to his hotel. I turned on the TV and saw that they were showing some random "disaster movie" dubbed in Japanese. Changed channel a bunch of times - same image on all. Heart sank as I realized what was going on. Called my friend, he called his partner in US, we all watched together in silence.

kickstand

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:38:20 -0500

I was on my honeymoon in Hawaii, far away from NYC on 9/11. It was a beautifl day in Maui and despite the wonderful surroundings, everyone was glued to a few TV's at the bar, consoling themselves and trying to come to grips at what was happening so far away. For those next few days my wife and I wanted nothing more than to be back in NYC helping out. The tropical getaway had lost all it's luster. We wanted to be with our friends and family and helping the victims. http://www.whereitstands.com/archives/2006/09/10/index.html#000492

Lorene

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:35:59 -0500

I was at work at 11 Madison Ave. The story of my day.

Neal

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:31:58 -0500

I was at the bottom of 5 World Trade Center eating at sugar glazed doughnut at Krispy Kreme when the first plane hit.A sound I will never forget hearing and then witnessing.

lc

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:26:56 -0500

I was in HK and turned on CNBC at 8:50 to watch the stock market when they're covering the hit on the North tower. Then I heard that the 8:AM United flight to SF was involved. My husband was supposed to be on that flight back to Hong KOng but he had changed it to transit via LA, which would have left at 9AM...Thank goodness he called and told me that he was already on the runway and the flight is cancelled. 10 minutes after his call the telephone networks were jammed and few calls went through. It was a nightmare.

james gang

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:18:50 -0500

i was living in chicago, had recently moved. i biked to my job at Pearl Art. when i walked in, all the tvs were on, which was unusual, because we only really used them for showing demos. i walked to my station, where folks were gathered, and i said "c'mon time to get to work, why are the tvs on?", and everyone was just silent. when i looked up at the tv, it was at that moment that the first plane hit. at first, i thought it was a commercial for some stupid action movie, but then everyone just flipped out. being located fairly close to the sears tower, we were instructed to close the store and leave, just in case. i had an argument with a "gentleman" who "had come all the way from the suburbs to get [this] oilstick and didn't give a f- that we were closing", and i was like, dude, is an oilstick really that important right now? and he proceeded to tell me "what do yo u care, you probably don't know anyone in new york. you're just rushing home to watch the television". my then-housemate was supposed to fly home from boston that day, from logan int'l where the planes originated. my mother occasionally worked at one of the buildings in the world trade center complex. i grew up here. so yeah, i went home and watched tv that day. i think that's all anyone could really do that wasn't right there.

dora

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:17:55 -0500

This is the most tasteless thing Gothamist has ever done. Thank you for making me sick to my stomach.

Vince G

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:17:38 -0500

It was my first week of living at college at Pace University on Spruce St (in front of City Hall) I woke up to the first plane - our windows were filled pane to pane with the towers, being so close. I stared up and said this is unbelievable. The shcool told us it was a small plane, an accident, and that we should carry on. And being somewhat naive and never even letting any other thought into my brain, I followed accordingly and went to class. Thats when the second plane hit and my professor screamed: GO MOTHERFUCKERS- RUN! RUN! The school broke out into pandemonium. I ran down the stairs and saw people streaming passed a girl in a wheelchair crying. I stopped and picked her up and carried her down, while someone else behind me carried the chair. After that I ran out and the gray cloud seen on TV swooped onto the block and I couldn't breath. Panicked, I ran down the block into another buildings basement basically accepting death while women and children - and some men - weeped. What-a-day.

amanda

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:17:22 -0500

For some reason, I woke up about an hour early that morning. Literally jumped out of bed. I decided to head into work early, and therefore turned off the radio and TV right about the time when the first plane hit. I had no idea what was happening. The strangest thing about that morning was that I remember locking the door of my brownstone, turning around to face the sunlight and thinking, "Wow, the days don't get any more beautiful than this." I got on the F train out in Windsor Terrace and headed into the city. As we were going over the bridge from 4th Avenue to Smith-9th, I looked out at the skyline, as I did every morning. For some reason, one of the towers of the WTC was smoking. And then I saw the second plane hit the south tower. I turned to the woman next to me. "A plane just crashed", I said. Everyone got up to look out the window at what was happening. Some people got off the train at the next stop. I kept going into work.. I didn't think it was that serious. I worked at the time at an office building on 36th St. on a high floor. We had a perfect view of downtown from the south side of the building. I watched both towers fall that day. I later intended to walk back to Brooklyn somehow, but it ended up that the trains were running later that day. Everyone was stunned. People walked around in a daze for weeks afterwards. Many cops and firefighters lived in my neighborhood, and I remember the owner of the pet store around the corner from me lost a cousin.

Jen

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:16:17 -0500

And I don't know how I could leave these out - I remember hearing the fire trucks screech for a long time - all the firehouses uptown and on the West Side responding. I couldn't hear fire trucks' sirens for a long time without shuddering and worrying.

Midtown office worker

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:09:17 -0500

I woke up early, voted in the Primary and got to work before 8am for a videoconference. Sitting in the conference room we were in a news void until I went to the bathroom around 9:45 and saw a strange scene of people gathered around a couple of TV sets set out near the window with people crying. I got all the news at once. Both towers and the Pentagon were hit and many other planes unaccounted for. I then turned around and faced the grim task of informing about 50 people in two cities of the horrible news. I said "Excuse me, but there has been an attack on NYC. Two separate planes hit the Twin Towers and another hit the Pentagon" and then it sort of dawned on me how bad this really was and said softly to myself "how the *#%! did they get the Pentagon?" and then I said "I'm going to check on my family" and the meeting quickly disbanded as people quickly activated their cell phones and looked at their blackberries... I walked home to Astoria and then drove out to the Brooklyn Heights overlook area with a few friends to see for ourselves.

drew

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:07:28 -0500

this is a nine minute recording.

bx

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:05:54 -0500

I remember being in my Sophomore year of High School on Long Island. The principal came on the loudspeaker, giving a vague message that a plane had hit one of the towers, and said nothing else. I had a free hour in the morning, and because of the beautiful weather outside, my friends and I decided to go outside. At the time, none of us knew of the severity, since our administration thought it better not to tell anyone. It was the last time I could go outside for any extended amount of time for a week. Even from 20 miles away, the smell of the air was strong enough that I can never forget it.

007

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:05:26 -0500

Rhetorical people, look it up.

Max

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:59:03 -0500

I had just started my first week of college up in Bronxville, ny. My roommate woke me up at approximately 9:30 am (I had no classes that day) with the words "they flew a plane into the world trade center." I had to think hard to remember where the world trade center was located. We heard jets and helicopters flying overhead all day.

tien

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:58:28 -0500

my friend and i were driving to work in brooklyn down the fdr to the williamsburg bridge. as we circled around for the bridge, i saw that there were large amounts of smoke coming out of world trade center. after seeing that, we turned the radio to 1010 wins to hear them saying that an aircraft had hit the one of the towers. after the buildings passed out of view temporarily, the man on the radio said something like, "a second plane just hit the towers." a second later we heard the sound of the impact. after being hit lightly from behind while we were stopped at a traffic light, we pulled over to get out of the car and watch with other people in disbelief. 10 minutes later, we continued on our way to work over the williamsburg. once at work, we found a tv and flipped it to the news to find out what was going on. we later watched the towers fall from the roof at work.

Privato

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:55:22 -0500

I remember that the morning was exactly the same as this morning. Same temperature, same sunshiny morning, no clouds. The mornings could be twins.

Estella

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:53:48 -0500

I was working in Boston, having recently moved from NYC. My boyfriend called me at work to tell me a plane had hit the WTC. I watched the second plane on the television at work. I ran home from work and started packing up. I moved back to NYC (Tribeca) two months later. I just needed to be home.

kim

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:51:39 -0500

I for some reason had taken the local R from Brooklyn in - when normally I would've taken the express N and was running late as usual. When we got to Cortland St a little after 9, they opened the doors to let people on, but yelled at us not to get off the train. We could hear sirens, but like myself everyone was more concerned with getting to work on time. When I finally got out at 23rd, people were gawking down 5th avenue and a bike messenger told me what had happened, but I didn't believe him. Of course when I got to work and started getting the information it still didn't sink in. Finally I walked up towards my mothers office at 50th & 6th where many of her colleagues who were at the WTC office had also been walking towards(had it been a week later or painting had been complete she would've been there and more than likely died). Got up there, than there was a n evacuation - we left and started walking downtown to walk back to Brooklyn. But we stopped in Times Square and we got to the train station and this was the scariest thing - there was one cop and about 100 people screaming to let them go downstairs, fighting, yelling - they all wanted to try and get on any train out of the city. My mother who is a crazy lady pushed through the mob and we got on a train to Brooklyn. We were really lucky as I don't think there were many trains after that. I tried to remember more details this morning as I was coming over the bridge, but I couldn't.

Callavere

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:50:53 -0500

I was sitting on an N Train on the Manhattan Bridge that was just sitting there. I was bored, and looked out the window--and noticed both towers on fire. It took me a half a minute to remember my dad worked in Tower 1. 98th Floor. He was fine--he ended up getting to work right before 9, after that tower was hit, and called my mom immediately to tell her he was fine. But that hour it took to me to finally get to work after seeing those towers one fire is probably one of the worst hours of my life. A very nice woman on the N train saw me crying and gave me Kleenex. She said she'd pray for my dad to be OK. I guess her prayer worked.

Gothamer

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:49:18 -0500

People, that was a rhetorical question. Even if it wasn't, let's pretend it was.

S.D.

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:46:53 -0500

Dude, I respectfully disagree. This is a private photo taken that day. No attempt at profit is made here, and it was the tragic reality at that moment.

DROZ

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:45:46 -0500

Wow, I'm French and was an exange studient upstate New York, closed to Newburg, up on the Hudson river. I just arrived 3 weeks ago. As a senior in HS, I sat down with my mate in which was about to be the most unforgettable chemisrty class I ever had. Mr Reese's voice - school principal- very quickly after the first plane crashed, could be heard through the classroom speakers, anouncing us the terible news. I wasn't sure I understood correctly at first. Although my friends faces - most of whom were children of comuters - helped me to notice that the situation was terrible. Class was dismissed for the day. My host brother and I came back home, watched TV for an hour or so, and Mum finally said, "All right kids, time's over, TV will not help to get all those people back." Life goes on, lets enjoy the fact we are all together tonight."

areacode212

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:45:20 -0500

I was at home, dressing for work, late as usual. I had been listening to WNYC, but I turned it off before they started their live coverage of the attack. Then my mom burst into the apartment shouting that two airplanes hit the WTC; she had been making copies at Kinko's when it happened and she found out there. I turned on the TV and just got snow because I didn't have cable and the broadcast antennas were located at the top of the WTC. I did end up finding a working TV, then walked around my neighborhood in a daze, seeing parents collecting their kids from school, watching stores close down for the day, and finally, commuters walking uptown. By the afternoon, I had ended up downtown at that park across from the courthouses, where a bunch of us hammered together stretchers--most of which probably went unused.

adamks

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:42:13 -0500

five years ago i was a sophomore in high school in maryland. being near washington d.c., many of my classmates' parents worked for the government. it was surreal to sit in a packed classroom watching live news footage on a crappy old TV while we were supposed to be having spanish class. news filtered in that the pentagon had been hit, and kids were lining up to use the phone to call their parents. we saw the towers collapse on a television screen hundreds of miles from lower manhattan. i now go to college in the city.

Adam@Mookie

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:41:31 -0500

I was on the roof of my apartment building on 15th & 3rd watching helplessly. I blogged the whole thing http://mookie.no-ip.com

Dude

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:41:25 -0500

Gothamist, I think this was pointed out before that you should stop showing pictures of the WTT on fire. It's distasteful and no better than those vendors hawking t-shirts and books with the flaming towers.

Michael

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:40:27 -0500

I was in Cleveland, getting ready to go to class when one of my housemates told me. After gaping at a couple reports online I flipped on the tv news, which was airing a press conference with our Mayor. Officials had plotted one of the flights, United 93 I think, on a trajectory toward Cleveland before they knew about the crash in Pennsylvania. So downtown Cleveland was evacuated, and the media were instructed to call a hotline for updates. I was general manager of WRUW-FM at the time, a community/college radio station. So I called the hotline and got the information about street closures and dialed up my studio. I told the DJ what to announce every 15-20 minutes and tried to put the fear of god into him that this could actually be kind of important to do this right. In the first couple hours after the attack we had no idea if there would be more planes. In retrospect it's a little embarassing, like "Cleveland? What the hell were *you* guys worried about?" But at the time we just didn't know.

jenny

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:39:15 -0500

I was down at work at WFC1 and watched the whole thing out of our office windows. We were evacuated after the second plane hit and a few of us walked south and then walked back to the site to meet co-workers. I was about two blocks from the south tower when it collapsed and we ran into a building down on the Promenade on the Hudson. We ended up getting evacuated from Battery Park in a tug boat that took us to Jersey City. As someone else mentioned, it was such a beautiful day that day and I remember taking the escalator up from Liberty St. to the south pedestrian walkway and looking up West St., at the Trade Center, at everyone walking and running on the street, and took it all in. I just thought it was such a beautiful morning to be a New Yorker -- and then it all went to hell.

Jeff

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:38:07 -0500

I watched the entire thing from my conference room at work, then walked the 9 miles home to Queens with everyone else, watching the smoke drift across the river.

S.D.

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:26:55 -0500

I was on 25th St and 2nd Ave when the first plan hit. You could see the smoke 25th and 2nd but not the actual towers. I thought it was just a "normal" building fire downtown. When I got my coffee, I was told a jet hit one of the towers. By the time I got to my desk, the 2nd tower was hit. From my building, you had a clear view of the Twin Towers and I just stared at them wondering if friends and Family were ok. I didn't stay to see them fall.

a sad day

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:26:16 -0500

i was at work at park/34th and watched the whole thing from my office window, including the towers falling. i always said to myself that i would have been much better off if only i had not seen those towers fall. it was as if you put two sticks of butter (tall way up) in a hot pan and they just completely melted. that was exactly what it looked like. we had to evacuate our building because we were so close to the empire state building that they were afraid it was going to be next. i had nowhere to go because i did not live in the city at the time. i ran to grand central to try to leave, but it was closed. luckily, i caught up with some co-workers and went to someone's apartment. at about three, the trains started running again and i was able to go home. i lost my job two weeks later. i just remember that 1) the horrifying feeling watching those towers fall and knowing all those people were dead and hearing people in my office screaming 2) it was the most beautiful september day 3) none of the street vendors had any water 4) i couldn't even look at anyone for days on the street after that because everyone was so sad and if i saw someone sad or crying i would cry 4) i had a lump in my throat for weeks afterwards 5) it seemed like those towers were burning forever

Henry

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:18:36 -0500

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plasmonyc/8373166/

Plasmonyc

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:17:37 -0500

i was in Firenza, Italy in the Boticelli gallery at the Ufizi when the planes struck the towers. it was an eerie feeling to see it on the local pubs tv screens. Especially as I was living right across the east river from the towers in South Williamsburg. I intitally thought it was a film, dure to the fact that a few weeks earlier, the Gas tanks in Queens were imploded and we celebrated that event with a morning party on the rooftop of our building. Anyways, the towers dominated the view atop that roof. It was spectacular. I understand many of my building mates were on the rooftop that morning, mortified by what was witnessed. For me, getting stuck in Italy for a few extra days was not so much a problem as was not knowing what was happening back home. To my city, My people. My reality. I will never forget. Life is filled with surprises, and surprises fill us with life. Here is a photo of the view:

Jen

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 09:13:07 -0500

I wasn't working at the time, so I was at home. I was on the phone with a friend about some volunteer work at the GMHC, and then my mom called me. She was frantic, because my dad was leaving Boston that morning on a United flight to San Francisco, and the news had been mentioning a United flight from Boston. I ran to turn on a TV and saw that World Trade Center was on fire. I stayed on the phone with my mom until she got a call from my dad - his flight had thankfully been grounded at Logan. Then my dad called, and I asked him to try to come to NY as soon as possible. Calls started to come, as did the emails, with friends and family asking if everyone was okay. When I went outside to go to the grocery store, many other people had the same idea - they were all stocking up. And then we started to see people walking up from their offices, since the subways weren't working.