My 9/11 Experience

I was on my way to work and no one on the train had any idea what was going on. It was still early and no announcements were made or the panic hasn't set in which kicks in the security measures to protect the people of this city by law enforcement. By the time i reached 42nd Street Grand Central on the express train both tower were already hit and burning.

Before the law firm i work for split into two and the group i was with moved down to Wall Street we were on Lexington and 41st. The great thing about that building and the floor we were on is that it had a nice balcony that ran the length of the building with a north to south view running along Lexington. On a good day (which 9/11 was) you could see the Twin Towers and the Empire State building on the south side and just one block north you can see the Chrysler building with a long view of Lexington Avenue running north.

When i stepped into the office it seemed like people where there and now gone, but they were all on the balcony watching the towers burn. It was a horrific sight and something i will never forget. It just didn't seem real and you can only think of what the area down there must be like and all of the people that flooded into those two building in the morning to go to work.

After speaking to family and my girlfriend at the time who was out of state and worried about me, we switch from phones to two way pagers (we both had Motorola T900, remember those!!!) the cell and land line systems were being over loaded, but out text's were getting through.

I went downstairs to a Duane Reade across the street to get a disposable camera and by the time i got back the first tower already fell; it was heart wrenching. To take a break from work and always look down the Manhattan skyline of building and see both WTC building was a good feeling. Now only one was standing while the remaining building still burned........it would make anyone freak out a little bit inside.

After the first one fell we all knew the day was not going to be a regular work day so everyone was talking about what we should do next and plan our way home before they lock down the city. Most of the people lived in Westchester (past the Bronx by way of the Metro North Railroad) or Long Island and some lived in the city. The receptionist and I were the only ones that lived in the Bronx. I told her i was heading for Madison Avenue where there are express buses that head into the Bronx to the Parkchester section and if she wanted to join me she should get her shit and lets boogie.

By the time we left our job on Lexington Ave and passing Grand Central on Park Avenue (where they have the bridge with the road that wraps around Grand Central Station) they were kicking people out of the subways cuz they were shutting down the WHOLE SUBWAY SYSTEM AND METRO NORTH (Metro North begins at Grand Central so a lot of people were assed out if they didn't leave on the last trains heading out).

We weaved through the sea of people with faces that didn't know what to do or where to go cuz their day was thrown into chaos. We made it to the line where the stop was for the express buses. We didn't care which one we got on just as long as it headed into the Bronx. I was just going to take a cab home from where ever they dropped us off. It was standing room only and we were packed in tight. The driver couldn't stop if he wanted to because we were already packed and couldn't take on any more passengers. With each stop we passed you can see the lines growing and growing and the people screaming at the buses to stop. The mass exodus of people who only worked and not lived in one of the biggest cities in the world was happening for real. What made it all that real is someone had a radio and was playing 1010 WINS and they just announced the second town had fell. People were crying, cursing and praying.

By the time we reached north of the city to the bridges that lead out of NYC and into the Bronx we were diverted because they started closing down some of the bridges to control the flow of cars and people exiting the city to the outer boroughs. We made it out and the driver let us out on Parkchester in the Bronx and people from there went their own ways. The receptionist lived close by; we wish each other well and safe travel and i was able to get a cab, head home to my place in the South Bronx. I was home by 11am, but some of my friends weren't so lucky because they had to walk all the way home if they couldn't catch a ride.

My day wasn't as bad as some, but that is the day i was given and all i could do was live it and tell it to all of those that want to read it.

Thank you for giving me your time and taking the time out of your day to read my words.

BSoM