September 11, 2011 - Two Down
Exactly ten years ago.
The day started as any other with my usual walk down Second Avenue from my home on East 79th Street to my
office on East 46th Street. Somewhere in the 50's things changed.
Sirens started wailing as all kinds of emergency vehicles, (including those ominous black SUVs with
blacked-out windows), raced past me on their way downtown, and the sky started filling with police and news
helicopters... the usual sign that something newsworthy was going on.
Looking down Second Avenue I could see a large plume of smoke drifting from right to left and assumed it was
from a fire in a highrise or office building... probably somewhere in the 20's or 30's.
After getting to the office I turned on the TV to see if there was any coverage of what was going on. There was.
The North tower was on fire after being hit by an aircraft. The networks were scrambling for details and at
one point reported that a small general aviation aircraft, (like those always seen flying up and down the Hudson),
had struck the tower.
Then the second jet hit. And things changed. Again.
I called my wife to let her know what was happening, and to make sure our kids were safe at school uptown.
Then I went back to the TV and remained transfixed by what was taking place just a short distance away downtown.
The South tower fell.
It was horrifying and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It took a while, but I finally turned off the
TV knowing it was time to leave the office, take my kids home from school and be with the family.
The streets were eerily free of traffic. A car was stopped at a strange angle to the curb with its doors wide open
and a cluster of people standing around gravely listening to the car radio.
The first "ghosts" appeared. People covered in white dust from the collapse of the South tower walking zombie-like
uptown. Were they going home or just wondering aimlessly "away"?
On the sidewalk outside a coffee shop a man with a cellphone to his ear was frozen in place. Then, without any
expression, he turned to the people in the coffee shop and held up two fingers. Then he rotated his hand
and pointed down with one finger. That's when I knew the North tower had just collapsed.
It still amazes me that an event of such scale could be so clearly expressed and communicated with a quick little
gesture of one hand.
