WTC tale from brooklyn

A story about a place, by grit

This is a ticket stub from my last visit to the World Trade Center. As a native New Yorker, I rarely visit the tourist attractions, but on this occasion a friend from Australia was in town and I opted to go along as I had not been to the top for 10 years. But here is the more interesting story...

I live in Brooklyn three blocks from the East River with a truly spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline--there isn't a corner you can turn in this neighborhood where you're not catching a glimpse of some architectural wonder peeking over the horizon.

So naturally we went to the roof of my building to watch on September 11th. It was, put simply, nauseating. I always imagined one would experience fear at such a time, but it was just plain sickening. A neighbor on the roof next to us called up with the reports about the other planes and the hit on D.C. We were in shock and at a loss for how to react. We talked each other down from the verges of hysteria with ridiculous logic about how prepared they are for evacuation, how strong the buildings are, how they'll put the fire out, etc.

But here's the twist...

I tend to walk to the river to see or show-off the skyline to visitors, since the roof of my building is normally off-limits. The only other time I have been up there was on July 16th, 2001 with permission from the landlord, to watch the Gas Company implode two 400' high holding-tanks which lie about a mile to the east--truly monumental industrial structures.

Some people couldn't understand the impulse to wake up on a Sunday at 7am to see such a thing. I explained, "the tanks been a part of the NYC landscape for over 40 years, and besides, how often do you get to watch something so big come down--it's a spectacle, both materially and aesthetically."

So we found ourselves back on the roof the morning of the 11th looking a mile west at two other structures disintegrating. It was a mind-fuck beyond even my own twisted imaginings. And with the collapse of the Twin Towers also plummeted what little faith in humanity I had left. No small feat--I had hung on to that shred for quite a while. And here is my only remnant of those two memorable buildings.

submitted on March 11 at 1:41 PM
This story and photo are licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Event took place on September 11, 2001 in or near NYC, New York, United States

Next Story: Betting on Señor Beckett
Previous Story: RUN DMC behind the scenes