story1367.xml
Title
story1367.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-08-21
911DA Story: Story
The morning of September 11th gave no clue to what was about to happen. I arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 8:40pm after a faster-than-usual commute from home. The day was beautiful -- bright blue sky and sunshine. As I threaded my way through the crowds of my fellow commuters, the sound of police radios buzzed in my ears. I got off the escalator and started towards the 8th Street entrance/exit. Just then, seven or eight city police officers ran by me, heading towards the back of the terminal. I left quickly, thinking that there might be a shooting somewhere in the terminal. Certainly not unheard of. As I walked across and up into Times Square a man with a TV camera was staring up at the huge TV screen that dominates the area. Strange, what's he filming? Although it has taken me several years to acclimitize, I am now a true New Yorker in that I keep moving. However, as I passed the TV studio that looks out on the street there were several businessmen gathered around a small TV screen. I squeezed in and looked. I saw the World Trade Center with smoke pouring out. "What happened". Someone replied, "I guess a plane hit it." Sad but not too unexpected to my mind...probably a Cesna.
I kept walking until it was time to head up 5th Avenue towards my office at 53rd Street. By now, the street was full of people staring down 5th Avenue. Some were standing up on mailboxes to get a better view. Others ducked into stores to buy cameras. Now I stopped and looked. Thick, black smoke poured up into the sky. Flames could be seen at the top of the building. The woman next to me said "another plane hit, I saw the explosion." As I looked I started to experience vertigo and nausea...my mind flashed on the people who must be up there. Just keep walking. I stopped by a police office. "We're under attack." "Come on, that's crazy...it's an accident." She glared at me "No, it's an attack. Those planes were flown into that building."
As I walked into my workplace lobby, the building guys invited me down to the basement to watch the news. We were crowded around a tiny black and white TV with terrible reception. God, could this be happening just downtown? Just then, my officemate ran down. "Your husband is trying to get hold of you. You need to call him". I ran upstairs but the lines were down. I called my mother in Rhode Island. Strangely, I got through. "Where are you!? Are you in the city!? What's going on!" "I'm fine, Mom.. don't worry." "But, the Pentagon's just been hit. Don't stay in the city".
The day unraveled from there. Some of my colleagues left the building, determined to walk to the top of the city and get off the island. One colleague was desperately trying to find her sister. She had left Boston and was either on the flight that had hit the WTC or she was safe. Another colleague was trying to find her husband. Was he downtown? Rumors were darting around. Two more planes are missing. They're headed for New York. We're not safe.
I sat on a box of office supplies and listened to the radio. The announcers voice suddenly rose in anguish "my god, one of the buildings has just collapsed." I hugged my knees and sat tight. I didn't want to leave the building. Finally my colleague asked me to go home with her. She was scared, her husband was a doctor, he definitely wouldn't be coming home tonight. We walked 40 blocks uptown to her apartment. The strangest sights:
no cars on the street. Then, one car screaming downtown with the windows smashed out and covered in ash.
Lines around the block of office workers waiting to give blood
a hugely pregnant woman squeezed against a building trying to stay out of the surging crowd and rest
Masses of people evacuating across the bridge towards Queens
Planes screaming across the sky. We flinched everytime.
I stayed until 6:00pm watching the news but all I wanted was to be home with my husband. I left and took a city bus that was running. I sat next to an old Asian woman. She talked to me about her homeland, her apartment downtown, her senile mother...her life had been hard. I felt so unworldly. Nothing had ever touched my world like this, made me feel unsafe.
I made it down to the PATCO where herds of people were waiting for trains to Hoboken. On the train, a man talked about watching people jump from the windows of the WTC. He was laughing and talking so loud and fast. The woman with him worried that people would misunderstand. "You weren't laughing before. You threw up, remember?" People can have the strangest reactions.
When I stepped off the train at Hoboken they were separting people into downtown and midtown/uptown. If you were downtown, they took you out and hosed you down. People squelched onto trains, sitting shivering in their seats and waiting. The trains weren't on any schedule. They filled up and then they left.
I was so lucky. I made it home to my husband. Not everyone did.
I kept walking until it was time to head up 5th Avenue towards my office at 53rd Street. By now, the street was full of people staring down 5th Avenue. Some were standing up on mailboxes to get a better view. Others ducked into stores to buy cameras. Now I stopped and looked. Thick, black smoke poured up into the sky. Flames could be seen at the top of the building. The woman next to me said "another plane hit, I saw the explosion." As I looked I started to experience vertigo and nausea...my mind flashed on the people who must be up there. Just keep walking. I stopped by a police office. "We're under attack." "Come on, that's crazy...it's an accident." She glared at me "No, it's an attack. Those planes were flown into that building."
As I walked into my workplace lobby, the building guys invited me down to the basement to watch the news. We were crowded around a tiny black and white TV with terrible reception. God, could this be happening just downtown? Just then, my officemate ran down. "Your husband is trying to get hold of you. You need to call him". I ran upstairs but the lines were down. I called my mother in Rhode Island. Strangely, I got through. "Where are you!? Are you in the city!? What's going on!" "I'm fine, Mom.. don't worry." "But, the Pentagon's just been hit. Don't stay in the city".
The day unraveled from there. Some of my colleagues left the building, determined to walk to the top of the city and get off the island. One colleague was desperately trying to find her sister. She had left Boston and was either on the flight that had hit the WTC or she was safe. Another colleague was trying to find her husband. Was he downtown? Rumors were darting around. Two more planes are missing. They're headed for New York. We're not safe.
I sat on a box of office supplies and listened to the radio. The announcers voice suddenly rose in anguish "my god, one of the buildings has just collapsed." I hugged my knees and sat tight. I didn't want to leave the building. Finally my colleague asked me to go home with her. She was scared, her husband was a doctor, he definitely wouldn't be coming home tonight. We walked 40 blocks uptown to her apartment. The strangest sights:
no cars on the street. Then, one car screaming downtown with the windows smashed out and covered in ash.
Lines around the block of office workers waiting to give blood
a hugely pregnant woman squeezed against a building trying to stay out of the surging crowd and rest
Masses of people evacuating across the bridge towards Queens
Planes screaming across the sky. We flinched everytime.
I stayed until 6:00pm watching the news but all I wanted was to be home with my husband. I left and took a city bus that was running. I sat next to an old Asian woman. She talked to me about her homeland, her apartment downtown, her senile mother...her life had been hard. I felt so unworldly. Nothing had ever touched my world like this, made me feel unsafe.
I made it down to the PATCO where herds of people were waiting for trains to Hoboken. On the train, a man talked about watching people jump from the windows of the WTC. He was laughing and talking so loud and fast. The woman with him worried that people would misunderstand. "You weren't laughing before. You threw up, remember?" People can have the strangest reactions.
When I stepped off the train at Hoboken they were separting people into downtown and midtown/uptown. If you were downtown, they took you out and hosed you down. People squelched onto trains, sitting shivering in their seats and waiting. The trains weren't on any schedule. They filled up and then they left.
I was so lucky. I made it home to my husband. Not everyone did.
Collection
Citation
“story1367.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 30, 2025, https://www.911digitalarchive.org/items/show/12659.