On the Ocassion of the 20th anniversary of 9/11: This is My Memory

Midtown East

Heretofore, I haven't really documented my personal 9/11 experience. Which also includes my 9/13 experience. I haven't done so mainly because in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty damn insubstantial. 

This said, in the past few weeks I've been in more than one conversation where we all shared our 9/11 memories and despite the fact that mine is, as stated previously, of little relative consequence, it was harrowing at the time and mostly about an incident that isn't discussed much. 

But before I launch into my little tale that's all about me, let me briefly review Tom's day. On the morning of 9/11, Tom was in Newark airport boarding a flight to Chicago. He was with his boss headed to a business meeting. The gate he left from was literally right next to the gate the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania departed from. 

When Tom and his boss's plane touched down in Chicago, they walked into O'Hare and were confronted with TVs everywhere blaring that the twin towers had been struck. Immediately, Tom's boss turned his wheelie suitcase around and headed to the rental cars. 

They were in a car driving home within 20 minutes. Had they not done this, they would have been stuck in Chicago for who knows how long because moments later, all planes were grounded and all rental cars fully sold out.

Tom's boss was a lot smarter than me. I would have been like, but... we have a MEETING! We flew all the way out here for a MEETING! We must attend the MEETING! I do not say this with any degree of speculation as it's a guaranteed fact. I was back home attending all-important MEETINGS.

The thing about 2001 is that it was really before most people had cell phones and definitely cell phones with data plans where you could check the internet and your emails. Nobody even had laptops back then. If you wanted to know what was going on, you had to be by your landline, a television, a radio, or if not, talking to people who had been by a landline, a television or a radio. 

This amped up the fear factor exponentially I say in hindsight because fear is infectious especially when coupled with uncertainty and no official voice officially offering any sort of official narrative. What you hear screamed on the street is pretty much what you know to be true.

So on the morning of 9/11, I was in my office in New Jersey. I had a meeting in the city later that afternoon, but it was canceled so I didn't go.

9/12 was officially declared a "Day of Mourning" and most offices were shut.

9/13 however, it was business as usual in the Big Apple. Thinking back I'm like WTF? There's a huge terrorist attack and New Yorkers are like, ok, well enough of that news cycle, everybody back to the office. Unless your office had blown up, of course, and then just please make sure you report in to your supervisor so everybody knows you're not dead. Also it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to wear a mask if you're on the windward east side of the attack so you don't breathe in all the little bits of charred copier paper still flying everywhere.

Bright and early on Thursday the 13th, I had a meeting on East 42nd street on maybe the 11th floor of a skyskraper. Of course I went, because it didn't even occur to me not to go. It was a MEETING. I took the train in to Penn Station and then the subway to East 42nd Street, as per usual. It was weirdly normal, this whole excursion. The wind was blowing eastward to Brooklyn, so from what I recall, on the west side and midtown you wouldn't know anything had even happened.

I get to my meeting and while we're sitting there, someone comes in and says that there's a bomb in Grand Central Station and the building is being evacuated. Or maybe the fire alarms went off, I honestly have zero recollection. The building I was in was squarely right on top of Grand Central Station and everybody knew what had happened in the earlier WTC attack in 1993 in the underground parking garage. We all also knew what happened two days prior and how the terrorists had clearly upped their game.

The underground footprint of
Grand Central is very very large.

We all got out of that building so fast, we were like lightening in the stairwells. The thing is about Grand Central Station, it has a surprisingly large footprint. It runs under a very large area of east midtown. There are I don't know how many high rises on top of it. Tall high rises. With lots and lots of people in them. Add all these evacuated people with the Grand Central evacuated people and suddenly there's like 50,000 people in the street. Chaos ensues. That I remember very well. All the panicked jostling humans just everywhere and cops and soldiers yelling at everyone. The echo of the noise and car horns.

None of us knew quite where Grand Central ended or began underground so everybody scattered in any number of directions trying to get in the clear with zero actual information. We were all just racking our brains trying to work out exactly where the metro-north tracks or the 4-5-6 lines were in relation to the surface. Better to run north or south? Everybody was making up their own minds and it was general mayhem. 

Maybe I was talking to others also out on the street or maybe I was still with some people I knew, again, no recollection, but suddenly another rumor heated up that there was also a bomb in Penn Station. They were saying that all the trains in and out of the city would be soon be halted. Suddenly I was desperate to not get stuck.

My one very solid memory is running, literally running through the garment district with my backpack flapping on my back. In my head, I ticked through the pros and cons of going into Penn Station or trying to get a ferry to Jersey. 

The big downside to Penn Station was that it is underground. I heard from people around me that they were not gonna go underground no way no how. Nobody wants to be someone they're looking for in rubble. So I get that.

I have a recollection that the ferry option left from Javitz, which is behind Penn station. At least today, I don't think ferries go to Jersey from Javitz so question mark on that fine point, but as I approached Penn Station I made the last minute decision to try for the train.

I ran down the steps into the station, did not stop running as I glanced up at the big marquee and found the first train out of the city, noticed it was going to Summit, kept running right to the stairs down to the platform and right into the train.

The train left.

Either someone picked me up in Summit or I managed to switch to the right train to get me home.