Hi guys,
Please forgive my non MPI post...
Today is a difficult day for me, but I am reminded of a story that didn’t get any press but I wanted to share it with you...
After the towers went down the entire area around them was quarantines or condemned. People were basically homeless the instant it happened.
There were a few strategic deployment centers in the city funneling in supplies and workers 24/7....
The South Street Seaport had volunteer EMS workers and off duty fire fighters pitching in to co-ordinate things for the newly homeless.
These brave people went into this condemned area and rescued one thing for hundreds of families, their pets, nothing else.
Think about it, in a world of complete ciaos people were handling over their keys to virtual strangers, giving them their address and gratefully sending them on their way.
Hundreds of pets, which would have starved to death, were successfully reunited with their humans.
New Yorkers do have a heart......
A story about New Yorkers
Moderator: Styles Bitchley
A story about New Yorkers
Last edited by Miss Q on Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
Don't look at the dogs, work the lock
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ConchRepublican
- COZITV Magnum, P.I. SuperFan / Chief Barkeep - Flemingo Key
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It was an awful day. My company at the time was located on Spring and Varick Streets in Manhattan, less than a mile from the Trade Center. Every morning, when I turned the corner onto Varick Street, I saw them, right there.
That morning I was in starting my day when I heard a plane fly low. My co-worker at the time, Judi, heard it as well. We both thought it was wierd to heard a plane that low flying over Manhattan. Just as we turned back to our computers, we heard the boom. We looked at each other and said "that's not good".
Our office looked over an alley that runs North/South. From my angle, I couldn't see anything, but I did see two men stop on Spring Street and point south, towards the towers, and then get on their cell phones. I went to the men's room, which had a southern view, to take a look. That's when I saw the hole in the building. We didn't know then what was going on, like everyone, we thought perhaps it was a commuter plane which hit the tower by mistake. We didn't know how, it was a beautiful clear day, but what else could it have been. I later found out the plane flew down/over Greenwich Street, one vlock west of Varick, which was why we heard it so clearly. It almost flew right over us.
Not long later the south tower was hit and we all got cold. Bad things were happening and we didn't know what was going to be next. We heard on the news about the Pentagon and reports of other explosions on the Mall in Washington and that a package was found at the base on the George Washington Bridge. Everyone was scared, but in control and trying to figure out what to do.
My boss had binoculars in his desk. I had taken them out earlier, after the first plane hit to try to get information. People were calling me because I was the closest one of my friends down there. Could I get a number from the tail? Size of the plane? Things like that. Morbid crash interest, I guess. The need to figure things out. After the second plane hit we were glued to the windows. People were filing in and out of the men's room to see what was going on. Some left, but others weren't sure where to go and stayed. We would pass the binoculars around to see what was heppening. It was then I had seen the first person jumping. The thought of it and sight still bothers me, that they felt that was a better choice. I didn't look through the binoculars after that.
Then the towers fell. I was on the phone with a friend in Jersey at the time who was stunned when I told him I had to go, that the south tower just came down. I felt a slight rumble or vibration, but it could have been in my head. Phone service was mostly down and cells were overloaded. Plus, there were a lot of cell towers located down there, as well as TV transmitters on the top of the towers, which were knocked out. Communication was spotty at best.
My family (parents, sister and BIL) we on a cruise up New England at the time and my wife was out working on Long Island, so I didn't have immediate family to worry about. A friend was pregnant, and we had other friends in the city that day, so I contacted a hotel far from anything I thought could be considered a target (Greenwich Village) and rented two rooms and told everyone that would be our meeting place until we know better what was going on. My thought was, knowing that terrorists in Israel usually struck again 20 minutes to a half hour after the first strike to get the first responders, that there was more to come and that, if I were them and was going for maximum terror and loss of life, I'd blowup bridges and tunnels while everyone was fleeing, so I told everyone not to leave. Our meeting place also had a bar, McSorley's, around the corner where we were known, so we'd have friendly faces and help if needed.
As I walked across town, I was passing many people walking up from downtown, all those people covered in grey soot. People and stores were open, out in the street helping anyone who came by. I went into one restaurant on the corner of Houston and West Broadway to use the bathroom. On my way out they were helping a man, all covered in ash who was in shock. He kept saying "I should be dead", and they calmed him down, cleaned his face and gave him water. I saw scenes like that all over.
When I left the restaurant and headed east on Houston, I heard noise behind me, and yelling. People started running past me. I didn't know what happened, but I started running as well. I think that one of the other buildings had come down, and the wave of people running just made it up to me.
By the time I got to our place in the Village, things had calmed down a bit. It was only about 10 - 15 minutes after the running scare, but things were more settled. At this time it was about Noon. My friends arrived shortly after and then a couple went to pickup comfortable things at a KMart around the corner. They picked up flip-flops for me because I had been wearing new dress shoes that day and they weren't made for walking, my feet were all blistered and bleeding. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things at all, but an annoyance.
The city was eerily quiet. All we heard were sirens heading downtown and jets flying overhead. And people walking. Streams of people like you see from ants sometimes, just walking north. I was able to get into an internet cafe and let my family on vacation know where I was and that I was OK. We had had spotty conversations prior to that, but since we kept getting cut off, it was scary for them because they didn't know what was happening to me.
A friend left to try the trains at 3:00 PM and got home OK. He called us in the hotel that the trains were working fine. We left around 4:30 and were home at my house around 5:30 - 6:00 PM. I thought I did pretty good all day controlling myself and doing what needed to be done, but once I got home, my hands were shaking so much I had a hard time getting my keys in the door.
Jackie got home a little later than that. She stayed at work because people outside the city were told to stay away until they had things under control. It took her about 3 hours to get home because the highways were shutdown to all but emergency services so she had to take local roads.
The next few days, the worst thing was the smell. The wind would shift, and this smell, which I'll never forget, like formaldehyde and burned plastic.
We couldn't get back to work for the rest of the week, our office was within the cordoned off area, so we worked what we could from home and from the phones.
One day I did a small thing I'm proud off. Jackie and I went shopping and picked up a lot of gatorade and dog food for the rescue workers. We went to Shea Stadium a staging area, and I was amazed by the effort. Stacks of supplies, all donated by people. The Mets were there co-ordinating it. I was only going to drop stuff off, but when I got there, I had to help. I stayed for a couple of hours helping sort the donations. Bobby Valentine told me where to go and smacked me on the ass like a ball player for a doing a good job. I remember a car pulling in with Ohio plates, a station wagon. A heavy man said he driven all the way from Ohio with supplies for the dogs working the pile. He wanted to make sure they weren't forgotten and were taken care of. I was only there for a very short time, but it was important to me to do something.
That morning I was in starting my day when I heard a plane fly low. My co-worker at the time, Judi, heard it as well. We both thought it was wierd to heard a plane that low flying over Manhattan. Just as we turned back to our computers, we heard the boom. We looked at each other and said "that's not good".
Our office looked over an alley that runs North/South. From my angle, I couldn't see anything, but I did see two men stop on Spring Street and point south, towards the towers, and then get on their cell phones. I went to the men's room, which had a southern view, to take a look. That's when I saw the hole in the building. We didn't know then what was going on, like everyone, we thought perhaps it was a commuter plane which hit the tower by mistake. We didn't know how, it was a beautiful clear day, but what else could it have been. I later found out the plane flew down/over Greenwich Street, one vlock west of Varick, which was why we heard it so clearly. It almost flew right over us.
Not long later the south tower was hit and we all got cold. Bad things were happening and we didn't know what was going to be next. We heard on the news about the Pentagon and reports of other explosions on the Mall in Washington and that a package was found at the base on the George Washington Bridge. Everyone was scared, but in control and trying to figure out what to do.
My boss had binoculars in his desk. I had taken them out earlier, after the first plane hit to try to get information. People were calling me because I was the closest one of my friends down there. Could I get a number from the tail? Size of the plane? Things like that. Morbid crash interest, I guess. The need to figure things out. After the second plane hit we were glued to the windows. People were filing in and out of the men's room to see what was going on. Some left, but others weren't sure where to go and stayed. We would pass the binoculars around to see what was heppening. It was then I had seen the first person jumping. The thought of it and sight still bothers me, that they felt that was a better choice. I didn't look through the binoculars after that.
Then the towers fell. I was on the phone with a friend in Jersey at the time who was stunned when I told him I had to go, that the south tower just came down. I felt a slight rumble or vibration, but it could have been in my head. Phone service was mostly down and cells were overloaded. Plus, there were a lot of cell towers located down there, as well as TV transmitters on the top of the towers, which were knocked out. Communication was spotty at best.
My family (parents, sister and BIL) we on a cruise up New England at the time and my wife was out working on Long Island, so I didn't have immediate family to worry about. A friend was pregnant, and we had other friends in the city that day, so I contacted a hotel far from anything I thought could be considered a target (Greenwich Village) and rented two rooms and told everyone that would be our meeting place until we know better what was going on. My thought was, knowing that terrorists in Israel usually struck again 20 minutes to a half hour after the first strike to get the first responders, that there was more to come and that, if I were them and was going for maximum terror and loss of life, I'd blowup bridges and tunnels while everyone was fleeing, so I told everyone not to leave. Our meeting place also had a bar, McSorley's, around the corner where we were known, so we'd have friendly faces and help if needed.
As I walked across town, I was passing many people walking up from downtown, all those people covered in grey soot. People and stores were open, out in the street helping anyone who came by. I went into one restaurant on the corner of Houston and West Broadway to use the bathroom. On my way out they were helping a man, all covered in ash who was in shock. He kept saying "I should be dead", and they calmed him down, cleaned his face and gave him water. I saw scenes like that all over.
When I left the restaurant and headed east on Houston, I heard noise behind me, and yelling. People started running past me. I didn't know what happened, but I started running as well. I think that one of the other buildings had come down, and the wave of people running just made it up to me.
By the time I got to our place in the Village, things had calmed down a bit. It was only about 10 - 15 minutes after the running scare, but things were more settled. At this time it was about Noon. My friends arrived shortly after and then a couple went to pickup comfortable things at a KMart around the corner. They picked up flip-flops for me because I had been wearing new dress shoes that day and they weren't made for walking, my feet were all blistered and bleeding. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things at all, but an annoyance.
The city was eerily quiet. All we heard were sirens heading downtown and jets flying overhead. And people walking. Streams of people like you see from ants sometimes, just walking north. I was able to get into an internet cafe and let my family on vacation know where I was and that I was OK. We had had spotty conversations prior to that, but since we kept getting cut off, it was scary for them because they didn't know what was happening to me.
A friend left to try the trains at 3:00 PM and got home OK. He called us in the hotel that the trains were working fine. We left around 4:30 and were home at my house around 5:30 - 6:00 PM. I thought I did pretty good all day controlling myself and doing what needed to be done, but once I got home, my hands were shaking so much I had a hard time getting my keys in the door.
Jackie got home a little later than that. She stayed at work because people outside the city were told to stay away until they had things under control. It took her about 3 hours to get home because the highways were shutdown to all but emergency services so she had to take local roads.
The next few days, the worst thing was the smell. The wind would shift, and this smell, which I'll never forget, like formaldehyde and burned plastic.
We couldn't get back to work for the rest of the week, our office was within the cordoned off area, so we worked what we could from home and from the phones.
One day I did a small thing I'm proud off. Jackie and I went shopping and picked up a lot of gatorade and dog food for the rescue workers. We went to Shea Stadium a staging area, and I was amazed by the effort. Stacks of supplies, all donated by people. The Mets were there co-ordinating it. I was only going to drop stuff off, but when I got there, I had to help. I stayed for a couple of hours helping sort the donations. Bobby Valentine told me where to go and smacked me on the ass like a ball player for a doing a good job. I remember a car pulling in with Ohio plates, a station wagon. A heavy man said he driven all the way from Ohio with supplies for the dogs working the pile. He wanted to make sure they weren't forgotten and were taken care of. I was only there for a very short time, but it was important to me to do something.
CoziTV Superfan spot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPTmsykLQ04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPTmsykLQ04
Conch, wow, you were too close at Spring and Varick. I am glad you made it home fairly easy and in one piece.
I had vendors in to visit me that day on Long Island and as the highways were closed to all westbound traffic they had to drive to Orient Point and take a ferry to get off the Island and drive from there....
Sadly, I remember the smell you wrote about when the wind was from the West....
Good for you for pitching in where you could at Shea!
McSorley's as your meeting place - classic! Mine (due to 9/11) was the public library.
I had vendors in to visit me that day on Long Island and as the highways were closed to all westbound traffic they had to drive to Orient Point and take a ferry to get off the Island and drive from there....
Sadly, I remember the smell you wrote about when the wind was from the West....
Good for you for pitching in where you could at Shea!
McSorley's as your meeting place - classic! Mine (due to 9/11) was the public library.
Last edited by Miss Q on Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don't look at the dogs, work the lock
Since I am one of the lucky ones that runs his business from home, I was doing some paperwork when one of my employees called me and said something terrible happened in New York and to turn on the news. I turned it on as many others did, as the second plane came in and hit. My brother lives on the New Jersey shore, works for AT&T and at that time was commuting to New York on one of the many ferry's that go into Wall Street. He was supposed to be in the North Tower for a 8:30 am meeting on the 53rd floor so I and our mother was calling his cell phone trying to get a hold of him to see if he was okay but just kept getting his voice mail. It turned out that he had been in Phoenix the day before, his flight back home into Newark got in 4 hours late and he overslept for the meeting (we found out about 9:45 am when the towers were starting to go down). When the first plane hit above AT&T's offices, all of the employees did what they were trained to do after the garage bombing and evacuated via the stairs. They took a head count when they got down to the plaza and accounted for everyone but my Brother so they were worried as well. By the way, these employees got down to the Plaza a few minutes after the second plane hit and said that jumpers were starting to rain down from the North Tower, a horrific sight that some are still in counseling for...NEVER FORGET!
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SelleckLover
- RENLEDUN, Protectrix of the Realm
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Steve wrote:
I saw a documentary that was shown on TV about a year after 9/11. A couple of French guys just happened to be filming on NYC on that day. They were following a rookie fireman around to document the experience of his first weeks of being a fireman. I guess typically when a station gets a rookie, they rarely get any calls. This guy had been in the station for 2 weeks and had yet to fight a single fire. Then they got the call to the Twin Towers. It showed them standing in front of the doors to the entrance and they were under a large overhang. It showed them talking to other fire fighters there and every few seconds or so you would hear a loud "THUD!" and they would all look up, and then resume talking. The narrator then stated that the thuds we were hearing were bodies hitting the overhang. It was very unsettling to hear it, and I will never forget it. I remember thinking how horrible things must have been up there to make a person think that jumping would be a good idea. Unfortunately it was their only alternative, and in desperation they chose it. Too many innocent lives were lost that day. May they rest in peace.By the way, these employees got down to the Plaza a few minutes after the second plane hit and said that jumpers were starting to rain down from the North Tower, a horrific sight that some are still in counseling for...NEVER FORGET!
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ConchRepublican
- COZITV Magnum, P.I. SuperFan / Chief Barkeep - Flemingo Key
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 6:19 pm
- Location: Flemingo Key
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I was watching 102 Minutes That Changed America last night on the history channel (it was excellent) and that put in perspective how close we were. Not that close, not even close to "the cloud", but 7/10 of a mile isn't far! People were videoing from 1 mile away, and that looked close.Miss Q wrote:Conch, wow, you were too close at Spring and Varick. I am glad you made it home fairly easy and in one piece.
I had vendors in to visit me that day on Long Island and as the highways were closed to all westbound traffic they had to drive to Orient Point and take a ferry to get off the Island and drive from there....
Sadly, I remember the smell you wrote about when the wind was from the West....
Good for you for pitching in where you could at Shea!
McSorley's as your meeting place - classic! Mine (due to 9/11) was the public library.
As for McSorley's, we love that place. Some of the servers were at my wedding, so we knew it was a safe place for us to meet.
CoziTV Superfan spot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPTmsykLQ04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPTmsykLQ04
Ah Conch. After reading all you wrote, I sit here with tears in my eyes.
One can only imagine what that was like for you. (Hugs)
Can well remember that very morning as first we heard on the radio what had happened, then watched on television. We will never forget that day.
Have always felt so proud that so many Canadian firefighters just left to go down and help in any way they could.
One can only imagine what that was like for you. (Hugs)
Can well remember that very morning as first we heard on the radio what had happened, then watched on television. We will never forget that day.
Have always felt so proud that so many Canadian firefighters just left to go down and help in any way they could.