September 11 at the World Trade Center

by Tom Nelson

As a business economist, I attend the annual meetings of the National Association for Business Economics, which rotates among major cities. The 2001 conference had long been scheduled for the Marriott World Trade Center in New York City for September 9-11. I flew to Newark on Saturday the 8th arriving early enough to drop my bags at the hotel and walk 5 blocks south to the tip of Manhattan and catch the ferry to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Museum. With camera in hand I caught some beautiful pictures of New York skyline as well as the statue and the museum buildings. Saturday evening included seeing the Lion King at a Times Square theater. Sunday morning I found the Lutheran Church of Times Square, another quick subway ride in tunnels beneath the World Trade Center.

Our business and meal sessions, including breakfast on Tuesday the 11th, were held in a street-level ballroom, just off the hotel lobby and just a few inside steps from Tower #1. That morning's breakfast had finished, and we were listening to the President of Morgan Stanley tell us about the future of the securities industry. When the first plane struck on the north side of Tower #1, we heard a strange sound, perhaps a thud, that no one knew quite how to interpret. A few seconds later the pieces of plastic hanging from the ballroom ceiling to diffuse the light began to bang into each other much like a wind chime, as if the building were feeling some vibrations. Then the fire alarm sounded and someone said in a loud voice, "Get out of the building!" We quickly left our seats and walked quite fast to the hotel lobby. I exited through the front door of the hotel onto West Street while a number of others used the exits to the south (away from Tower #1). The street had already a layer of dust and small pieces of building exterior that had drifted down from the fire floors. We crossed the street quickly to avoid getting hit by such pieces and then looked up to see two or three floors high up on Tower #1 engulfed in flames. Initially we speculated on that a bomb has caused the fire. Within a few minutes someone learned by cell phone that a plane had struck the building. We could see only the west and south sides of the tower, not where the plane had hit. As more material came down we were forced to move further back for safety. Our meeting would not be resumed. My luggage including my camera was still in Room 1544 of the Marriott, packed and ready to check out. It remains in the rubble.

As we watched and tried to make sense of what was happening and what to do next, colleagues tried in vain to make new cell phone calls. It seemed clear that anyone above the fire floors might not be able to escape. We saw some people falling from the fire floors to their death. Several around me were screaming "O my God!" My reaction was to ask, "God, what are you doing now and what do you want me to do?" A sound from high up on the other tower forced our attention there to see the last of another plane hitting the south side, not quite as high. Within minutes three of the floors of Tower #2 were in flames as well. Then we knew for sure that the plane strikes were deliberate attacks and that we were in a war zone. The last of my economics colleagues said goodbye as we headed in different directions. As I walked the remaining few steps of the one block west to the Hudson River trying to decide where to go, a boat pulled alongside from the New York Fire Department. Firemen began to rope off an area to give them access to the towers. Knowing that I did not want to be trapped in the few blocks to the south, I moved quickly to the north side of their lines and proceeded across a marina to the World Financial Center buildings and generally moved around Tower #1 to the north at increasing distance. I wanted to see the plane-shaped holes but knew that only emergency personnel should be anywhere near the buildings. In addition, I had a fear that if there were two planes then there could be three or four with plans to attack other buildings. Hence I favored inconspicuous side streets while moving north.

On a side street six blocks to the north I heard a loud bang with screams from the crowd. Being only a few steps short of Broadway, I stepped forward to look back down Broadway toward the towers and saw a huge cloud of dust rising from the ground. My instant reaction was that a third plane had plunged into the crowd near the Trade Center, a typical terrorist thing to do. That interpretation was quickly corrected to a tower collapse by the radio and television accounts that were now everywhere available. Boom boxes sat on top of parked cars. Neighborhood restaurants with televisions attracted crowds to keep up with the events only blocks away. Six blocks to the north was not within soot range since the winds were blowing southeast.

As many others and I walked along toward the north, some on the sidewalks but many in the streets (except West Avenue and Broadway which were needed for emergency vehicles), I met an African-American college student who was coming in from Brooklyn. When her subway train reached Chambers Street, which connects to the World Trade Center from 2 blocks away, the train stopped, the conductor opened the doors and abandoned the train-without any explanation to the passengers! All they could do was to follow him out to the street. Seeing the fire atop the World Trade Center, she started walking north to continue her journey to school, a trade school on 56th Street near 10th Avenue on the West side. At one point we stopped at a restaurant to rest, buy a drink, and catch up on the TV version of the news. I borrowed a cell phone from a stranger to try to reach Birmingham, but the lines were jammed. A few blocks further north, about where the numbered streets start, crowds screamed another gasp as the second tower collapsed. We passed subway entrances only to see them roped off. The next fear was that we were approaching the Empire State Building and viewed that as another likely target. We followed 6th Avenue up to Broadway and continued all the way to 56th Street and the trade school of my new friend. There I finally was able to use a phone line that connected me to Birmingham to assure everyone that I was safe. From the time of the first plane strike, that was approaching four hours. Carol gasped a huge cry of relief and called our children. The stranger in the restaurant whose cell phone I borrowed subsequently got through to Carol with word of talking to me.

Knowing one old friend who lived in Manhattan I headed for his apartment near 72nd and Broadway. Unfortunately, he was not there. Neighbors gave me suggestions of hotels in the area. The first hotel knew that it and almost all others were already full. The only uncertainty was the Lucerne at 79th and Amsterdam, but a quick walk there confirmed no room at the inn. Unlike Joseph, I did not have wife with me, and I had no luggage. A political office on 72nd Street had a TV in front on the sidewalk for passers-by to watch developments. This was to have been Election Day in New York City to select party nominees for mayor. I passed a Red Cross donation center that was urging folks to come back in the morning to give blood. Public restrooms are not readily available for people on the street, but the guards at The Juilliard School were happy to give me access in return for sharing my eyewitness account of the morning's events. With friend not returning to his apartment-he was in the hospital-and the day wearing on, I became concerned about plans for the night. Access to New Jersey via tunnels, bridges, and buses was closed. Cabs would not leave Manhattan because no non-emergency vehicles were being allowed onto the island. I returned to the Lucerne Hotel to ask about hotels further to the north. They had no rooms and no information. So I sat down in a big comfortable chair in their lobby to rest my very tired feet. Since the Lord had led me safely away from the World Trade Center, He must have some provision for this night. I was thinking about negotiating a price for the right to spend the night in this chair. After an hour and a half, a manager came over to inquire whether I had been one of their guests the previous night. When I told him that I had been at Marriott World Trade Center the previous 3 nights and that my luggage was still there in the rubble, he suddenly found a room for me there, possibly one that he was holding for a staff member unable to go home.

The Lucerne is a beautiful hotel with reasonable rates and includes a breakfast on the top floor. In the morning, the TV showed which subways were running (none near the World Trade Center) and also that Amtrak was running. That was all I needed. A quick subway ride got me to Penn Station at 34th Street, which was full of people trying to get on trains. Fortunately I knew that tickets could be purchased from the machines with no lines much more quickly than waiting in long lines to speak to an agent. The next train to Washington left within an hour, and I was on it, happy to leave Manhattan. If the airports opened, I could try to catch a Southwest flight from Baltimore-Washington to Birmingham. Otherwise an Amtrak train goes to Birmingham once a day. In Washington, I learned that the airports were staying closed and that the train to Birmingham was sold out for Thursday and for Friday. Earliest would be Saturday, arriving Sunday noon. I worked out with Vulcan's travel agent to take the train to Richmond that day where he would reserve a hotel for me near the Richmond Airport and a rental car at the (empty) airport for the following day. Thus the saga concluded with driving 725 miles in 12 hours on Thursday from Richmond to Birmingham. I took the scenic route through the Shenandoah Valley, Roanoke, Kingsport, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. Carol and I were thrilled to be together again. The Lord had provided a way home. Thanks for all your expressions of concern and support.

The Marriott is World Trade Center #3. It is the thin 20 story building with a slight bend that you see coming out of the south end of Tower #1 (left tower) and sits in front of Tower #2. I moved first over to the Hudson River (lower left) and then across the marina and around the tall buildings to the north (upper left). The boats for Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island leave from Battery Park (lower right).