73 replies to this topic

[AmandaNYC]

I'm ok, living 5.5 miles north of the WTC on the Upper West Side.  My two friends who work there are ok, one being a pertually late person-- the rest of my circle has vowed never to give her a hard time about being late ever again.

My bro-in-law comes in on a train (PATH for those who know it) into the WTC, but was already at his office a few blocks away, where he witnessed the 2nd crash. He managed to get out of NYC quite early, taking a ferry across the river.  

It's not really 6 degrees of separation, is it?


Strangely I was most overcome today when my sis told me what my 3.5 year old nephew had said.  She managed to get from Brooklyn to NJ with him, where they could clearly see the smokey NYC skyline and all the emergency personnel going in the opposite direction.  My sis was also awreck.  He asked what was going on.  My sis told him that some bad men had made a plane crash into a building.  He, in turn, said that he wished he were Superman so he could kick the plane.  

My nephew, I hope, will not lose his innocence through all this, with the real world events just seeming like a movie to him. But, as I mourn all the physical lives lost, I also mourn for all the children who will be forever traumatized by this event and lose their innocence.  It'll be hard enough for normal adults to cope with these events.

My best wishes to all.

-amanda

[ 09-12-2001: Message edited by: AmandaNYC ]

[antoP]

Everyone is shocked in Italy too. It's terrible, we still can't believe it. antoP.

[felursus]

I'm fine, everyone.  We live Waaaaay uptown, north of the George Washington Bridge.  I spent the day mesmerized in front of the TV.  I missed the beginning, but I had turned it on (just to catch the a.m. news, mind you) before the second tower was hit.  The whole thing is so surreal that I'm still partially convinced it's a very, very bad dream.  On the otherhand, they found a van full of explosives under the GW Bridge, and if that had blown up, I would really have felt that, as I'm only a couple of blocks away.  My husband's office is also no where near the WTC.  He did have a long walk home, though, as there was no public transportation, and taxis were at a premium.  I certainly am glad to hear that the other New Yorkers are fine.

Re: donating blood.  The Amsterdam Ave. site is the Red Cross.  The reason the hospitals started turning people away was that they had no more room to store blood, and Bellevue actually ran out of the bags to put the blood in.  They are now saying to hold off on donations UNLESS you are type O, the universal donor.  They particularly need O- blood.

I had wanted to volunteer at a hospital, but the ones that really wanted more volunteers were too far away for me to get to, and the one near me wasn't getting any of the patients from the incident on Tues.  I'll call again in the morning.

[attitude]

My heart goes out to all the victims of this tragedy. Having watched the events live on TV all night I cannot describe the terror I felt. I have never seen my city as sombre as it was today. We are all in shock. My whole family prays that everything will be alright and justice will be done.

[Jaana Heino]

Just to say that my thoughts are with you closer there, and thanks to the New Yorkers for reporting.

[Pamela Moberg]

My heartfelt condolences to the American people.
I note that flags are flown at half mast as a token of sympathy on all official buildings including the Royal Castle in Stockholm. European Footbll Union cancelled all their matches and likewise many theatre performances will not take place.
My thoughts are with you.
Pamela, Gert and Elena Moberg.

[E Johnson]

Twelve blocks below the New York State Theater, I'm fine. Eerily enough, from my apartment it looks like nothing happened, since our view is north and west -- no missing towers, no cloud of smoke.  Just quiet streets.

[vagansmom]

Now that it's a day later, I'm wondering how many of us actually slept well last night. I tossed and turned all night long, reliving the day's events.

My son lives and works in NYC and often in the WTC where he does computer wiring and setups. His office is in a building a couple blocks away. It was hours before I heard from him. As everyone knows, the phones were down. I finally got his email. Like so many of you New Yorkers, he saw far more than he could reasonably handle. I worry for all of you who have these images to deal with.

We're still waiting to hear about the safety of a dozen parents from my daughter's school and several of my former students' parents. They all work in the WTC. My son said that many people don't begin work in those offices till about 9:30 am. Hopefully, lots hadn't yet arrived.

[Natalia]

My husband and I are OK. We just flew back from China on Monday and this is my first day back in the office. This is senseless...surreal.

Thanks to all who have sent messages of sympathy and thoughts/prayers for the American people.

[atm711]

I am so sad for my beautiful City.  I approach Manhattan by ferry and I have never taken for granted the beautiful NY harbor.  As we approach Manhattan there is the Statue of Liberty, and then Ellis Island and finally the awesome NY skyline and the pristine World Trade Center towers.  I can't believe it will never be the same again.

[Autumn7]

Atm711, I feel the same way about both cities. Both New York and Washington are the two cities where my love of dance has been so wonderfully nurtured. As my husband said yesterday, it will be so sad to drive into NY and not see those Twin Towers. My friend's husband is with Mortuary Services for the Army and he called her to pack him an overnight bag with some changes of clothing to send up because he will sadly be working at the Pentagon for quite awhile. We live about 65 miles out of Washington but thank you to all those who have sent their thoughts and prayers to everyone in those cities. Our prayers, too, are with you all.

[dirac]

My heartfelt best wishes go out to all of you in Manhattan and Washington.  Our country has been very fortunate up to now in for the most part managing to avoid this kind of horror, experienced by some other countries almost daily.  


I feel almost embarrassed to be tucked away here in the boonies.  Here, there does seem to be a little panic in the air in locations where it doesn't quite seem to be justified, a sort of vicarious fear.  A co-worker of mine talked today to a woman neighbor of his, who asked him urgently, "Aren't you keeping your children out of school?"  My friend was doubtful that the suburban day school his children attend would be targeted by fanatics in hijacked jet planes, and said so, tactfully.

[Michael]

I'm fine too, but it's all unuterrably sad and disturbing.  Saw the first plane come in over the Hudson and turn in, incredibly low and out of place, and though "what the hell is that plane doing there, but then lost sight of it behind some buildings and didn't think more about what it was doing until I learned more.  The rest of the City, north of 42d street for sure, eerily dissociated from the horrific scenes near City Hall.  Spoke to several people at my old office, two blocks from WTC, who were caught in the street when the towers came down and who thought it was the end of the world, as you really didn't know what was happening.

[liebs]

I understand that NY City Ballet cancelled last night's performance in Parma.  Martins went out onstage and talked to the audience, who then gave him a standing ovation.  It is good to feel the support of our European friends.  I imagine NYCB is now faced with the enormous task of getting the company home in the face of all the problems with air travel.

[Snow Flake]

And what about ABT? They would be dancing in California, wouldn't them?