One Story among Thousands The Views and the Memories The Last Day The Last View Leaving 68 The Stairwell The Sky Lobby Back to the Stairwell Out of the Stairwell Out of the Trade Center To Midtown Going Home Some Questions and Answers

To Midtown A train arrives and I get on, but it stops running after only a short time. We are notified that the bridges and tunnels from Manhattan have been closed so there are no trains going to Queens. I go back up to the street level at the corner of 34th Street and 6th Avenue. I feel numb. I would like to find a restroom so I start walking east on 34th Street and then turn north on 5th Avenue. Many of the businesses here have already closed. I hear sirens in the distance but the streets here are strangely void of traffic. A group of people has gathered in front of a small electronics store to listen to a radio broadcast about the Trade Center. The reporter is saying that the South Tower is "gone"! What is he talking about – I was just there! There is a big hole in the building but it still exists! Some of the people walk out to the middle of 5th Avenue and they look south in amazement. There is a giant plume of grayish white smoke downtown. It is much bigger and lighter than what I would have anticipated from the fires. As I continue walking north, I keep trying to make phone calls; about one in ten actually gets through. I reach my daughter’s answering machine first and leave a message. My message is brief because I don’t know if she is aware of the plane crashes and I don’t want to shock her. I basically tell her that there is a problem at the Trade Center but I’m okay and will talk to her later. I get through to my brother’s answering machine and leave a brief message there also. I head back toward 6th Avenue and stop in Bryant Park, which is quite crowded. I hear a news report coming from a portable radio on a park table. There is a small group of people sitting around the table and there is an empty chair nearby, so I ask if I can join them and listen to the news. They welcome me. I hear a news report that the North Tower has just collapsed! I am stunned. A woman at the table says that there were earlier reports that the South Tower collapsed and there were reports of other plane crashes! My head drops into my hands. The potential loss of life is hard to imagine. I try to make more phone calls and I let the other people at the table use my phone too, but our calls are not getting through. Now there are some people running this way from the other side of the park and they are yelling: “Get out of the park – there’s a bomb!” We run out of the park and scatter in all directions! I head south on 6th Avenue but I don’t know where to go. Is any place in Manhattan safe? I slow down to a walk. I’m sure the trains will start running again eventually so I proceed to 34th Street, near the F train entrance. Surprisingly, Macy’s hasn't closed yet so I can use their restroom. I splash water on my face, which helps, but I still feel stunned. There is an empty seat on one of the sidewalk benches across 34th Street, so I go there to rest. I share the bench and some surprisingly comforting conversation with two tourists – a man and his wife who are visiting from Australia. I notice a young man who is anxiously trying to get into the sneaker store but that store has already closed. He is well-dressed in business attire but he looks weary and his dark shoes are covered with a light powder. I wonder if he walked all the way here from the World Trade Center. I continue trying to call people. The first person I reach is my daughter. She cries uncontrollably when she hears my voice because she truly did not expect to hear from me. Although I left a message on her machine earlier, it was too brief – I failed to mention that I was already out of the Trade Center and it took so long to reach her. Continue: Going Home