"Trying to call you now. There's been a huge terrorist act here. Two planes crashed in each of the twin towers just before 9:00 am. I was in Manhattan when it happened."
*****
Unfortunately being in downtown I was lucky to be able
to make it out to Brooklyn (I ran all the way) I saw the whole awful thing - was at my desk at 8:40 AM on the 43rd floor of 1 Wall when the first plane hit, had my back to the window at the time. Larisa saw it, she started screaming and I ran over to aid her. I went back to my desk to watch when the second one hit, saw the fireball and felt the heat come through the window that's when Lynn Wilson and I started screaming for everyone to leave. Ethan, Tony, and Bruce left with us. The Bank didn't make any announcements it was chaos we started making our way up Broadway and were across from Century when the first building collapsed. It sounded like an earthquake coming from above at first I thought the building was settling then the dust started to billow and we ran, people left their shoes in the street it was surreal. I ran all the way to the Manhattan Bridge, while I was walking across the second building collapsed. We all made it to Flatbush Ave. and I arrived just as the LIRR was back in business made it home by 1:30 PM. Let's meet for drinks in Hoboken next time, don't think St. Charlie's or O'hara's is even there anymore. Talk to you soon, Everyone be safe, Peace.*****
Thanks to everyone for your concern. Here's the description to gave to
Claude and Gudrun yesterday of what happened: I was taking the train to the World Trade Center, apparently just a bit after the planes hit. I got out of the subway, feeling a bit annoyed that there was another subway problem, only to see the 2 WTC buildings on fire. I was about 5 or 6 blocks away at the time. Everyone started walking north (uptown), and I was hanging out, when the first building collapsed. You can't begin to imagine how awful it looked. About 20 minutes or so later the 2nd one dropped. Injured people everywhere. people running, crying. Beyond belief. I spent about 4 hours walking home, alternatively walking and hanging out and watching the tragedy. You can't imagine what it was like. While I was watching the buildings after the planes had hit, but before they had collapsed, people next to me with binoculars said that they could see people jumping from the buildings, I would imagine because they were trapped in the fire. It was surreal and tragic beyond description.What stunned me, and alot of others, most of all was the knowledge
(confirmed on the news reports last night), that there would be all sorts of extremists who would be celebrating the killing of so many innocent people. What kind of culture/religion/situation can produce so manypeople who would celebrate the killing of totally innocent people? This wasn't an just an attack on New York, nor the United States. It wasa cultural attack on Western democratic values. It's something that we all need to think about.I'm currently work at a temporary consulting assignment at Merrill Lynch.
When it's done (which could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months) perhaps I'll make a trip to Europe and say hello at some point. Hope everyone is well.*****
"The
question of how they got on the planes is a
good one and the FAA has a
lot of explaining to do. Stop paying the security guards
at the airports less
than a McDonald's employee and maybe we'll start
catching terrorists smuggling
box cutters and knives onto planes."
"This is the world our government helped create, regardless of the fact that it was likely a terrorist act of religious fanatics. What happened here in NYC today was not something that occurred out of nowhere. The US government's policies throughout the world are not always in the best interest of all of humanity, and this is indicative of the old aphorism, "What goes around, comes around." It's a tragedy that so many innocent people had to die in the process."
*****
"Re Pearl Harbor. I don't see the similarity. Pearl Harbor was a staged event to give us the public support to get into the war. (Yes, staged by our military.) Today's event was an extremely clever attack, so clever that I don't think our defense analysts ever even concieved it, let alone have a hand in planning. No, I don't think it was staged on our part, but just the same, it will serve to galvanize the hawks, if I may borrow a phrase from the 60s and 70s, and we will be in a war soon, with whom, I don't know. Everybody is comparing today to Pearl Harbor for the horror of an attack. In that way, I agree. Vast devestation. The huge twin towers are no more. That is awesome. Such attacks as these, the US rarely has had to sustain."
"I would like to hear what Gore Vidal has to say. I enjoy
hearing and watching him speak. I heard an interview
where he says that we are going to an environment of
richer rich and poorer poor where an explosion like the
French Revolution will happen, and he wonders why the rich
allow it to happen, for they truly will suffer greatly.
Your theory that the rich are addicted to their power is the rational answer, in my opinion, and
that we, the ignorant (as I pointed out in my previous rant), are the
typically co-dependent members of the equation."
"Each individual is ultimately responsible for this creation [people who would do this] in the world. We need to increase our sensitivity to the needs of others. The world was meant to work for everyone with no one left out. This is a wake up call. If we heed only the part of righteous anger towards those who have done this we will have missed the calling and I believe that a bigger wake up call will be delivered. And - those who do this are evil and cannot be allowed to go free. Perhaps the world better understands the plight of Israel."
*****
"I'm pouring out my guts to you this way because I think I am very frightened at this time. Everthing outside and around us is business as usual. It's almost as though war broke out this morning and this afternoon it's business as usual. WE all have no idea what to do or think. I don't hear m;uch of the outside here in the office. At about 3 PM I heard a plane and ran outside to see what it was. Much ot my surprise I must add. I was in tune enough to immediately remember I shouldn't be hearing any jet engines as I usually do all day around here. This was so loud. A coworker was outside smoking and said it was probbaly an intercepter that went into supersonic speed. What an unusual thing to hear. What a vulnerable feeling we all have. WE are no longer secure from harm. Not with GW at the helm. He's flying from place to place and can not go back to Washington. The first I heard about the World Trade Ctr going down to the ground was a visual memory of you in St John's Riverside Hospital after you were hit by a car. You were talking to me about the progress of the construction of the first tower. WE could see it from your hosp. rm window. Do you remember that? What year was that? Was it 1969 or 1970. What is this need for towering builings. What purpose could they possibly serve?"
*****
"To all, This is just to let you know that
we are all OK. We walked
back and now we are stocked up with food and money.
Traffic is stopped
on all streets around us.
More Later."
*****
"Hi: I'm OK. I got out of the city immediately after the first plane crashed into the WTC. I immediately figured out that it was no accident so I headed straight out of the city as they were closing down the West Side Hwy. I looked back to see the huge cloud of smoke over Lower Manhattan as I headed north.
"I just now got back from getting one of my customers who works across the street from the WTC. He and a maintenance worker from his office building made it up to the Bronx on a bus. They both witnessed some pretty gruesome sights. I suspect I'll be doing more trips like that today because I have several customers who work down there."