E-mailed as a forward to me by my New Yorker cousin Laura. The reports are
from some of her colleagues:

i liked phil's idea of sharing our accounts of yesterdays events... if
nothing else it will separate us from our TVs for a little while. here's
another perspective.

johnpayne

--

For those who don't know, I live in Brooklyn, so my commute takes me
through
Manhattan-specifically the WTC-twice a day. I take a subway to downtown NY
and walk above ground toward the north side of the buildings. I catch the
PATH train there to my office in Jersey City, NJ. I was lucky in that i had
gone to work early that morning to review a document before a 9:30 meeting.
I was in the WTC 10 minutes before the first plane hit. On any other
morning, i would have been walking toward the north side of the building
just when the first plane hit.

I didn't actually see the planes hit, but i did see the aftermath of each
one in turn from directly across the river in my office on the 25th
floor-an
office with an unobstructed view of the WTC. When the first one hit, we all
thought it was an accident... but it became obvious when the second one hit
that it wasn't.

Since we didn't know what was going on, we evacuated the building (and most
of the jersey city waterfront for that matter) and started walking. We were
walking mostly to have something to do to take our minds off of the burning
towers across the river.

--

Immediately following the first impact, the PATH train station near our
building, the one that leads to the WTC closed, leaving us no option to get
back to Manhattan from Jersey City. Everyone desperately tried to call use
their cell phones to assure others that they were ok, but mostly to no
avail. On a good day, Jersey City has terrible cell phone reception. Today
it was impossible to get a line. A group of people from work and I decided
to walk from Jersey City to Hoboken, where there are more transportation
options and better cell reception. We felt cut off from contact with anyone
in Manhattan. We all wanted to find transportation back across the river to
our homes, friends and loved ones.

We walked for about an hour-from 9:30 to 10:30-an hour in which we were
completely safe, but still had an unobstructed view of the events across
the
river.

At that point we thought the worst was over... no one believed anything
more
could happen. We stopped to rest and stare at the smoke rising from the
buildings. Everyone was in a state of shock that any of this was possible.
We ran into a few more people from work and that's when we saw the first
one
fall. Seeing that first building fall was unbelievably surreal. A cloud of
smoke and dust seemed to explode out from midway down the tower, and then
the top simply sank into the smoke. We were convinced that another
explosion
had caused this collapse. Most people were completely silent and just
stared. Others screamed and cried. No one said anything for what seemed
like
an hour, but was really only a few minutes.

The most disturbing sight to me was afterward-when the large cloud of smoke
cleared and it became obvious that the second WTC tower was not there. Only
one tower left standing, still burning.

We resumed walking. At that point (again) we thought the worst was over.
Who
would or could believe that both buildings could fall. That's a plot from a
Bruce Willis movie, not what happens in real life. But again, as we walked
along-with our completely unobstructed view-the second tower fell. This
time
it seemed less like an explosion. It seemed to collapse under it's own
weight. It simply sank down and was gone. I felt strangely distant. I think
I was numb to the sight at this point and couldn't process any more.

It seems to me that two factors led to the disconnection and distress I
felt
at the time. The lack of access to anyone by phone, and the completely
unobstructed view from across the river. I and those I was with felt
helpless to do anything. All we could do was watch (even if we didn't want
to).

--

We kept walking, eventually getting to the Hoboken train station at around
10:30 or 11:00, only to learn that all means of entry to Manhattan had been
closed. No trains, no cars (tunnels and bridges closed) and no ferries
(they
were being used exclusively to evacuate people from Manhattan). We decided
to find a place to sit, regroup, and see what we could find out about what
was going on across the river.

We went to a small pizza place that had a TV to keep up to date and rest
while we waited for a way back across the river. I couldn't watch the TV.
The news kept showing the impacts over and over and provided no new
information. It seemed incongruous to me that these events that had
happened
before my eyes were being replayed over and over on TV. That repetition is
desensitizing... I didn't want to be desensitized just yet. I wasn't ready
to
let go of the reality i had witnessed and ascribe it to "something that
happens on TV". We sat there for probably five hours, eventually running
into another co-worker who lives in Hoboken. She kindly offered to take the
crowd to her apartment to rest inside in the air conditioning. About half
of
us went.

The rest of us continued our wait at the pizza place, around 2:00 or 3:00
people started to get through more frequently on their cell phones and we
were able to talk to some people in NY and other friends and family across
the country. The rest of the day consisted of everyone walking across the
street (to the spot with the best cell phone reception) and going through
their phone books person by person, calling their friends and family to
reassure them that they were ok. We eventually left the pizza place and
went
around the corner to a neighborhood pub for a few minutes where we saw the
third building fall on the television. Some of us stayed there while others
returned to the more sedate confines of our co-workers apartment to watch
the goings on on TV.

Soon after we all regrouped at the apartment. Around 7:30 or 8:00 we heard
the third rumor of the day that the PATH was running one line from Hoboken
to 33rd street in midtown Manhattan. One group of people left to check it
out. They called as soon as they got to the other side of the river to let
us know that the rumor was true. From there it was easy for us to get a
train home-one that avoids downtown completely. I made it home around 9:00
last night. My neighborhood in Brooklyn was thick with smoke... I still
smell it now in fact, at noon the next day.

I feel like a week has passed since yesterday morning, and of course I'm
still dumbfounded by the events, but I'm thankful for the support our
little
group got from and gave to each other as the events unfolded...

johnP

===========================================

FW: WTC | phil oye's story

Most people know I'm fine at this point, but I thought people might be
interested in my version of the day's events. I'm sending this out to a
bunch of different people, I don't have the energy to tailor it, so
friends,
family, and co-workers will just have to deal with a generic message.

>

First some background, I live in Manhattan's east village and work in
Jersey
City, which is directly across the river from the World Trade Center. To
get
to work, I have to take the N/R train to World Trade and change to the PATH
train to Jersey. My current client at work, is Morgan Stanley who occupies
part of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center.

I'm on my way to work to try to be there by 9am. As usual, I'm running a
few minutes late. I hop on the N/R and reach World Trade at about 9:50, as
we get off the train and go through the hall from the subway tunnel and
enter the lobby of the world center we see no people and a lot of smoke. At
the time I thought there was a bomb in the basement like in 1993. (Once I
learn about what actually happened, I'm amazed that that much smoke filled
the ground floor of a 110 story building from *anything* that could happen
at 90+ stories. But I guess it came down the elevator banks.

Anyway...

There were a few people still around who said that they were evacuating
people. At this point I hadn't yet turned into an idiot (more on that
later), so I sensibly thought that evacuating would be a good idea. I
proceed up the nearest escalator and exit the WTC on the northeast corner
(Church St. and Vessey St. if that helps anyone).

As I exit, there is paper flying everywhere and debris lying around
including a fair amount that is smoking. There are hundreds of people
milling around staring up. I look up and see what now everyone has seen on
TV: a huge gaping hole on the north side of Tower 1. At this point, being
the dutiful boyfriend that I am, I call Jeni and tell her that a bomb has
gone off and not to come to work. She later calls me back, after watching
all the news, and lets me know that it was, in fact, a plane that hit.

This is where I start getting stupid.

I downshift into thinking that is was an accident. A totally bizarre and
horrible accident, but an accident, not a bomb. Not a terrorist attack.

I start taking a bunch of photos with my always present digital camera.
See, what did I tell you about being stupid? At this point, police are on
the scene in force and forcing people to evacuate the area. I can picture
their faces and sincerely hope they are ok, considering the number of
police
officers and firefighters missing.

Anyway, I circle the building on the north side towards the Hudson river.
I
figure I would hop on the ferry and cross the river. This would, in theory,
get me away from the area, provide me a view, and allow me to see if
everyone from work was ok.

I'm looking around and studying the people watching. I would say that 95%
are completely calm. A few are grieving heavily and a few are running, but
the rest were very calm. Walking. No shoving and no panic.

It is at this point I start to notice bodies falling. I had heard a bunch
of people around me saying that they were seeing then, but either not
wanting to believe it, or hoping that it was just debris, I ignored it.
However, I saw two bodies fall out of building. They must have jumped from
above the impact, because they were appearing out of the smoke. Absolutely
awful.

I'm still staring at this unprecedented spectacle in front of me when the
second explosion happens. Because I'm the north side of the building, I
couldn't see the plane approach or hit, but I certainly heard it. As I
stared at this explosion and watched the flames and debris start to fly
out,
the thought that ran through my head was this: "Damn, those dumb-ass,
special-effect-laded, blockbuster, pieces of crap, Hollywood blockbuster
movies are pretty damn accurate." Though I'm paraphrasing myself to be
sure.
At this point, people are starting to run north. I do the same. I guess, I
was getting smarter.

(A moment for orientation for any past or current New Yorkers, I'm on the
corner of West Broadway and Barklay, one block north of the WTC).

As I'm running as fast as I can, which if anyone knows me, isn't very fast
at all, a huge, and I mean huge, piece of debris lands in front of me. 25
feet in front of me. Oh, did I mention that this thing is the size of a
garbage truck?

Now, if you've followed my story so far, you realize that this thing flew
*over* my head to land in front of me. This all happened as I reached West
Broadway and Park. The debris landed on the far corner, and I was just
reached the near corner. This immense, deafening crash happens and I see
twisted metal and glass. I take a hard left to put some (hopefully) solid
buildings between me and the tower.

I feel relatively safe at this point, so I take stock and again notice how
calm people are in general. Though to be fair, that 95% figure dropped to
about 80%.

I make my way over to the ferry (keeping to my original plan, even though
the event had moved from what I thought was an accident to an obvious
terrorist attack). I reach the ferry, which is on the edge of the World
Financial Center (adjacent to the WTC). There are a LOT of people here,
this
being the only transportation option. Yet again, I was struck by how
orderly
it was. I reach the floating platform and wait for the next boat. There
were
a ton of ferries out there lining up to take people off. The first boat was
almost full and going the wrong way, so I said hell with it, and bought a
ticket just in case. When the next boat pulls up, I get on, and believe it
or not, they were taking tickets! I have no idea whether they were
requiring
them or not, and I felt no desire to test it.

The boat pulls away and I am able to see the entire scene. Absolutely
amazing.

I reach the Jersey shore and they start evacuating. I have to go through
it
again. I notice that our office building is cordoned off, so I give up, and
resolve to get back home. Partly motivated by the fear being stranded out
here. I had been calling Jeni to no avail. The last she had heard from me,
I
was standing in front of the towers before the second plane.

I run into a Cary, a co-worker, we trade our stories, and I hear that the
other PATH train to 33rd street was open. I say goodbye and start heading
for the nearest entrance. Well, other than the one that takes you to WTC
(Exchange Place).

I get on the train, and it heads to Hoboken. People get on at Hoboken, and
someone says that a tower fell. I attribute this to sheer rumor. Or
madness.
At the time, I couldn't fathom that one of those towers could possibly
fall.
No way. Those things are huge and integral to New York. They define the
skyline. They symbolize New York. I had joked in the past that they
symbolize the arrogance of New York. Imagine in the late 60's when they're
conceiving of building them. "We're going to build the tallest building in
the world. Fuck it. We're going to build two of them."

The train at this point is just waiting at the platform. The conductor
says
that the engineer doesn't want to go to Manhattan. At this point I couldn't
blame him, but I wanted to go. Badly.

Finally we start moving. It takes forever. Finally, I get off at 9th
street. I'm walking up the stairs and I notice a couple of people running
down. I assume that they're trying to catch the train, but not at all. At
the head of the stairs I hear some one say "There's smoke!".

With a heavy heart, I reach the top and see people running. I look back to
the south of the Manhattan and the towers are gone. Gone. In their place is
smoke. I couldn't believe it. I still can't.

I start the long walk back home (eight avenues, ugh). I frantically try to
call Jeni and my parents on the phone, but no luck. And every payphone had
a
line three deep waiting to use it. I pick up the pace. There weren't many
people around, and those that were were listening to radios to get the
scoop. I see people ripping open boxes containing radios or video cameras
that they had just purchased.

I make my way home and once I reach home, see Jeni, and sit down and watch
15 hours of CNN.

All in all, an absolutely amazing day. I can't believe how calm I was. I
always wondered how I'd respond to a situation like that, I guess I now
know. I still can't imagine what it must have been like to have been in the
towers, walking down all those flights of stairs. Or worse yet, been on the
place or where the plane hit or above.

Though, in retrospect my judgement was a little suspect, I turned out to
be
pretty damn lucky.

Here are some of the photos I shot. None of them are particularly
impressive if you've seen the TV coverage, which, unless you live in a cave
you have. But, in case you're interested....

-phil