OK…So it’s been a few days since the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks. I remember where I was when it all took place - W 31st Street and Avenue of the Americas (also known as 6th Avenue). The Avenue was straight path to the WTC and everyone had a clear of the towers. Amazingly, there was no concern for the Empire State Building which is just a few blocks away from where I was standing. I would have thought it would have been evacuated immediately after learning that this was a possible terrorist attack.
I watched the towers collapse from that corner. The office worked was on that corner (no one else came into work that morning). My boss called and told me that I should stay in the office where he felt I would be safe. I did for a some time but all I could think about was the Empire State Building and the possibility of a plane being flown into it. A friend of mine, who worked a few blocks away and further away from the ESB, sent me an email and said that I could come to his office and hang out there… He himself was about to close the office and head home. I chose the go there. The city seemed so silent; even the cars going by just seemed muffled in the eerie calm. Hardly anyone was speaking; they were just walking. Sirens pierced the surrealism of the beautiful September day and reminded that what I just witnessed really happened.
I do not remember how I got home that day. I lived in Bushwick Brooklyn at the time. What I do remember are the sounds of helicopters and fighter jets flying overhead for days after. I was terrified!
To this day, I get chills when I see what appears, to me, to be a low flying airplane. I didn’t see anything on the news but it appears that passenger airplanes are allowed to fly over Manhattan again. That scares me.
There was a change in the people of New York City that followed. New Yorkers were kinder to one another. We moved out of each others’ way. We offered seats ont he subways. We held more door open for each other. We shared cabs instead of fighting for one. We knew that even though we didn’t know the person next to us, he or she was affected in someway by the events of 9/11. With all the sorrow and loss all around us there was calm in our hearts.
Let’s not lose our ability empathize with each other. Understand that we are suffering something at any given moment. Keep calm and we will persevere.