I was right there across the street on the
27th floor of a hotel when it happened.
It was chaos. I had to head south with the
rest of the stampede when the first tower
collapsed. The smoke and ash were so thick
I was certain we would die. Everyone headed south. People were scared to death. Some were crying. But people were trying
to calm each other down and help each
other. Debris was everywhere. There were
body parts in the street.
Nobody knew what would happen once
we got to Battery Park. The only place to
go from there is the Hudson. There was
a restaurant at the end of the island, but
it was locked. There were some workers
inside, but they were scared to death. They
refused to let us in. People were screaming to let us in because the smoke and ash were so thick people were literally choking. Finally, a young guy smashed the door with a hammer so we could get in. There
were hundreds of people there–kids,
stockbrokers, people with their dogs.
The sky was filled with ash and smoke
for quite some time before it finally cleared.
But just when it seemed like everything
would be OK, the thick, black smoke again
filled the sky, and hordes of people again
came running south. We knew that meant
more of the building had collapsed.
The restaurant manager who let us in
was very nice; he gave us water. Some of
the older people were overcome by the
smoke. There was no way to get back uptown.
Eventually, the police said we had to leave,
and sent boats to ferry people from Battery Park to Jersey City. I took one.
The towers are gone from the skyline.
The sky over New Jersey was blue. The sky
over Manhattan was black.
– Lisa Stein (9/11/01)
