Here's an email that I got from my sister who was in lower Manhattan
yesterday afternoon. She works in Manhattan and was on her way to work
when all hell broke loose. BTW, this email was the first communication
i've gotten from her. All phone lines were coming up "Sorry all
circuits are busy".
> Yeah, I'm alright. Shaken up, like a lot of others, but fine. THe
> phone
> lines were out all over the place earlier, sporatically later on.
> Thanks for
> trying to call. The phone lines weren't working well due to everyone
> doing
> the same. I actually was in the city today. I'm quite stupid. I was on
> my
> way into the city to go to work this morning when I heard on my
> walkman than
> the trade center was hit with a plane, but of course originally they
> didn't
> think it was a terrorist attack, just an accident, so immediately(the
> exhausted, lazy person I am)thought to turn around and go home, but
> then I
> realized that wasn't a mature thing to do and everyone was probably at
> work,
> and I should be too(plus I did need money). So I hopped on my bus and
> trepidatiously got on the subway(after I heard that another plane had
> hit
> the trade center, which scared the hell out of me) and prayed that
> there
> weren't any bombs in the subway. I got as far as midtown(I work
> downtown-about 10 blocks away from the disaster), and as I was about
> to
> transfer as usual the trains shut down service, so I took a bus
> instead.
> Yeah, I sure was determined to get to work. Fortunately I was one of
> the
> first people on the bus(I then happened to be in Times Square, where
> I'm
> sure you know is one of the most crowded places in the country) so I
> got a
> seat. People in the street gathered in the center of Times Sqaure to
> watch
> the jumbo TV for the latest headline. So many people had no idea
> exactly
> what had happened. I was updated constantly due to the radio. The bus
> got so
> crowded, people were jammed in(more than allowed). The bus driver said
> he
> was only allowed to go as far as a specific street(Which happened to
> be my
> blcok). Then two blocks later on our journey of traffic hell he
> announced he
> could only go to 14th street, and we'd have to walk down the rest of
> the way
> if we wanted. By that time I heard on the radio that all offices below
> 14th
> street were closing and everyone was urged to get out of the area. I
> also
> got a good look by then of the two buildings that were no more but a
> huge
> tower of smoke and fire. At that time I realized I wouldn't get to
> work, and
> honestly I really wanted to go home. That was out of the question
> because I
> heard that all public transportation to and from the city was shut
> down by
> then. I had one option. Fortuantely I spoke to my friend Allyson(lives
> at
> NYU) last night and knew she'd be home(in NYU grad housing) so I
> walked over
> to her apt.(only 3 blocks away) and I stayed with her and some friends
> for a
> few hrs. I saw the smoke engulfing the sky. Her window had a perfect
> view of
> what was once the twin towers. I was pretty shaken up by the time I
> got to
> her. I had never seen NYC in the state it was. Mounds of people were
> just
> crowding the streets coming North only. In the streets, sidewalks
> everywhere. Only one direction. The phone wires were out for a while.
> I
> tried to call home, call ALlyson, call work on very nice people's cell
> phones, but they weren't working. People were lining up down the
> blocks to
> use pay phones. Finally I got through from Allyson's. I got there at
> about
> 10:30am. I stayed until 3pm. Allyson saw the second tower collapse
> from her
> window. She heard the plane fly over her building. IT's really scary.
> All I
> wanted was to get out of the city, and that's what we couldn't do. We
> were
> trapped. We cosntantly stayed glued to the tv(by the way, only one
> channel
> is working since all the others were transmitted through the
> Towers-Yeah,
> I've got issues with that:-) All day long tragedy was on tv. It was a
> very
> somber environment. When I heard transportation resumed only going out
> of
> the city I decided to give it a shot(take the bus-not subway). I tried
> calling them to make sure, but it was consistently busy. So I walked
> in the
> main streets(no cars anywhere-the only sound heard from miles was
> sirens and
> silence-very bizarre in NYC) 15 blocks uptown, and the busses weren't
> running. So luckily I found another woman who lived in Yonkers and she
> suggested we go to Grand Central Terminal since she heard trains were
> running out there. So, we headed up 30 more blocks up town. IT seemed
> like
> it was closed down there as well. All the ticket terminals were closed
> down.
> Then we realized it was running for free. Whoopie. So I took the next
> train
> out, and I have never been so happy to live in a suburb. It's been
> horrific.
> I'm so glad you are not in one of the cities that were targeted. I was
> trying to think of who would be where of who I know, and fortuantely
> no one
> seemed to be in those designated areas. I got worried when they said
> the
> plane crashed in Pittsburgh, but then I realized you didn't go back
> yet, and
> it crashed in a field. Tomorrow downtown is shutdown as well, so I
> don't
> have work. I feel like it's a snow day and I don't have school. It's
> so
> bizarre. The skyline isn't the same. IT looks so empty. One reporter
> said
> something in particular that really hit me- he pointed out the Empire
> State
> Building in the distance and said that that is now the tallest
> building
> remaining in the city. IT looked so lonely just standing there all
> alone
> without any building that stood in comparison. IT's terrible, and I'm
> so
> grateful that I wasn't near it when it went down. I wish I didn't see
> the
> aftermath, but I did. Tell me , how are they covering it over there?
> Is it
> on TV/radio 24hrs? Every radio station is just news constantly.
> Everything
> is shut down here. IT seems like they're winning now. All the sporting
> events are cancelled around the country, the Emmy awards, theaters, tv
> programs, work places, stores, everything. And all the time they're
> dancing
> in the streets of Palestine.
=====
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lonni J. Friedman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Linux FAQ & Step-by-step help: http://netllama.ipfox.com
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