September 11th

September 11, 2001 started out as a beautiful sunny day in New York.  I arrived (via bus and subway) at my office at the Anti-Defamation League on East 46th Street near the UN building.

Suddenly, a colleague walked by and told me an airplane crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center (WTC).  My first thought was that during WWII a small airplane crashed into the Empire State Building.  Pilot killed, small damage to building.  

However, soon after I heard that a second airplane crashed into the second tower of the WTC.  It was no longer an accident.  It was a terrorist attack.

I later learned that a third plane crashed into the Pentagon near Washington and a fourth crashed on a field in rural Pennsylvania.

Soon, our office and many others closed for the day and my colleagues and fellow New Yorkers headed home.  However, concern for more terrorist attacks shut down all public transportation.  

No buses, no subway.  I had to walk home.

I started walking north towards the Queensborough Bridge on 59th Street.  I walked across the bridge.  

The Queens bound lanes were made exclusively for pedestrians.  Thousands were walking with me.

When I got to the apex of the bridge, I could see smoke floating across the East River from lower Manhattan.  It was from the destruction of the WTC.

When I reached Queens, I started following Northern Boulevard.  I probably walked another 2 hours east towards my home in Bayside.

At a point, I found a phone booth (no cell phones) and called my ex-wife Bonita asking her to pick me up.  It normally was a 20 minute drive.  It took her more than an hour because of the extraordinary traffic.  Likewise, it took us a long time to return home.

It was an unforgettable day.