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Remembering 9/11 - A personal account

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From the moment I woke on Tuesday Sept. 11, 2001, I knew it wasn’t going to be a typical day.

At the time, I was living in Hoboken, NJ, directly across the river from lower Manhattan. My daily commute involved taking a train into the World Trade Center (WTC ) station and then walking a few blocks to my office. The WTC was a part of my life – I shopped, ate and even watched movies there.

As a lawyer, my day started much later than the traders on Wall Street and I would normally pass through the WTC at about 9 a.m. That morning, after sleeping in, I heard a woman outside my window yelling about a building being on fire. I didn’t think too much of it but I did turn on my TV. Strangely, the only station working was one in Spanish which had a direct shot of the WTC and what appeared to be a small fire.

I immediately called my parents in Toronto. After turning on CNN , my mother confirmed that there was a plane crash. I told her that rather than taking the train today, I would take a commuter ferry to NYC and simply walk around the fire. After some back and forth, my mother pleaded for me to not go to work. I agreed with her, changed into shorts and a t-shirt, grabbed my camera and started to walk to a park across the Hudson River for a better view.

As I got closer, there were a lot of emergency vehicles on the street. I began to realize that this wasn’t a ‘small’ fire. At the exact moment that I walked into the park, the first tower of the World Trade Center started to collapse. As it crumbled, I stared in utter shock as a massive plume of smoke and debris rapidly spread into the city and river. I immediately sat on the ground and tried to process what had happened shaking my head in disbelief.

Instantly, random people held hands and formed circles of prayer. Others screamed expletives. As I looked across the river and as the debris subsided, all I could see was one lone WTC tower – but not for long.

A short time later, U.S. Air Force jets buzzed the sky. It was comforting to see them and a few people cheered. But we were still very much in shock and had no clue what was really happening, nor did we understand the gravity of the situation, and the fact that these events would eventually result in such heavy losses of life and anguish for so many. NYC would be changed forever.

Less than a week later, New Yorkers were allowed back into Lower Manhattan. It was an entirely different landscape. We took a ferry across the river as the train station was gone. As the boat passed the WTC , fires were still burning and toxic smells were ever present; no one said a word. We docked at the foot of Wall Street and immediately saw dozens of emergency personnel including army vehicles. It looked like a war zone. It just looked incredibly foreign.

The memories from that day will last a lifetime and still bring me chills. But a new era has begun. The new Freedom Tower is being built and the 9/11 Memorial Museum is near completion. Those lost will not be forgotten but life will continue as New Yorkers are known for their resolve and strength.

Further WEB ONLY reflections from John Moore in the days following 9/11:

Life Several Blocks Away from Ground Zero by John Moore

Monday, Sept. 17, 2001

I woke up this morning at 7:00 a.m. and was at work by 9:00 a.m. I took the ferry to work this morning and it went right past the WTC. Everyone on the boat was looking at it, but nobody was saying much at all. There was a camera crew on board filming the ferry as it travelled across the Hudson toward NYC. I even had my picture taken by some photographer as I was one of the first people off the ferry at around 8:30 a.m.

Once I got to my building there was a huge lineup due to increased security measures. I looked around and quickly saw police on every corner and the National Guard in fatigues. As we entered the building we were told that the fire alarm system doesn’t work and that we were entering at our own risk! A little scary. Then we were checked for ID at 3 separate points and had to sign in. Our whole building is without power and is running on generators.

At lunch, my co-workers John, Ian and I walked over to the New York Stock Exchange and saw loads of camera crews and photographers. In addition, there are police and army vehicles all over Wall St. There is still a smell in the air and lots of people were walking around with masks covering their mouths. We walked up Nassau St. and were within two city blocks of the disaster site. It looks incredibly foreign. After about 20 minutes, our eyes started to somewhat burn. We decided that we had enough and went to our local pub for a quick lunch.

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2001

I was a little tired this morning plus I really didn’t feel like arriving on time on the one week anniversary of this disaster. I got aboard the ferry at 9:15 a.m. and bought a book of 10 tickets. I am assuming that I will have to make this my permanent form of transit to work now. The strange thing is the number of police aboard these New Jersey ferries. I understand that police presence has increased, but it is at an unusually high level for a ferry carrying only two to three hundred people.

For instance, this morning there were 4 Hoboken, NJ police officers, 2 Federal police officers and 1 NYC police officer on board. In addition, when my ferry arrived at the Pier, we were greeted by 3 more police officers right at the point of arrival and then an additional 18 as I walked from my ferry and then across the street to my building.

I can’t help but thinking that they are worried that more terrorists may be coming from New Jersey. There are some recent reports stating that several of them had been living in different parts of Jersey City, which is the next town over from me.

As our ferry arrived this morning, the winds had changed and the smoke was traveling in a southern direction. Just as we swung by the tip of Manhattan, the pungent smell entered our boat. I forgot my respirator mask today, even though I laid it out by my briefcase last night. They were handing them out last Thursday when I first went to Manhattan to check out the situation. I guess I will have to limit my exposure to those toxins for the day. There is a U.S. Coast Guard ship sitting and watching everything that does through the waterway. It is a little daunting, yet comforting to see its presence.

We just had a meeting and they are concerned with the power to our building. We aren’t connected to the main NYC grid because of the event. Outside sits several tractor-trailer sized generators, while inside over half of our building rests in darkness. We are trying to strategize in case we lose power. They don’t expect us to be connected for several weeks. One of my co-workers mentioned that gasmasks are sold on the Internet. I guess I should have bought one last week!

That’s all for now in what’s going on in this part of the world.

Take care,

John

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