![]() “The North Tower fell,” said a receptionist. 13 th St. to see if anyone knew anything about the North Tower. That’s when I walked over to the New York Health and Racquet Club on E. “Did you see what they did to our skyline?” he shouted at passersby, his voice indignant and veering toward hysteria. A gaunt hipster stripped off his shirt and set up a card table, asking for donations. The cautionary side of me said: Get out of this spot or your feet will get sliced into bloody stumps with flying glass.įeeling guilty for my cowardice, I walked back toward University Place. I remember thinking dry-eyed and ice-cold crazy: “What’s the matter with these people? Why don’t they buck up?” The outer chaos obliterated the inner turmoil, at least for a few moments. Young working people walked past me, heading north, some crying. and saw images flashing on the TV screens of smoke billowing in lobbies and people running out of buildings in the Financial District. I rushed outside to the street. The television sets were on but there was no immediate information about a jetliner or the fact that the North Tower had been hit first by the hijacked plane. Then, suddenly, I heard a newscaster shouting about a terror attack against the U.S. We worked the keyboards in silence, two slaves of New York. “Not bloody likely,” he said grimly, not looking up. “A kid outside says a jetliner crashed into the World Trade Center,” I told him. There was only one other person, a male Brit, working at a computer. I entered the News Bar, which then was an Internet cafe with a row of TV’s overhead. ![]() “A plane? You mean a small light aircraft like a Cessna?” I inquired in disbelief. “A plane hit the tower,” he said quietly. So I asked a kid with binoculars who stood outside the bar to explain the situation. The towers were still intact and I could see them clearly at around 8:50 in the morning. 12 and 13 th Sts., focused on sending out a few résumés but wondering why the hell there was a ring of fire around one of the twin towers at the World Trade Center. and Broadway with a red-white-and-blue American flag pattern and the message “Live For Today 9/11.”īY MARY REINHOLZ | On that unforgettable day 15 years ago, I was heading to the News Bar on University Place between E. ![]() ![]() On a recent 9/11 anniversary, someone painted the crosswalk at Prince St. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |