People are using Kleenex, paper towels, clothing, I used my tie, to cover mouths from the soot. Some people have masks provided by their buildings. Idea for a mask, “My dad went to the World Trade Center Kamikaze mission and all I got was this stupid mask.”
Some of the people walking past me are covered in the soot/ash from the collapsed buildings. These people have a much heavier accumulation than I do. Some have what looks like mud on their faces/clothes.
Nothing new. Penatagon on fire. White House on fire? English guy says he hasn’t heard that. English guy’s cell phone (VoiceStream) is actually working. I am unable to get a circuit (AT&T Wireless), although I have five messages waiting. A woman next to English guy asks to use his phone. I ask to use his phone. Call Nora, get voice mail. Tell her I’m safe. Don’t feel too safe.
We see the smoke moving towards Staten Island. The guys point out the Staten Island Ferry is still running. I decide to go to the Staten Island Ferry. No sense staying on Manhattan. The Ferry isn’t my first choice, but not a lot of others.
Walk towards the ferry terminal. Underneath a vendor is selling snacks, film, souvenirs of New York. Looks like his normal spot. He’s Asian/MiddleEast but no one is hassling him. Go inside, but the ferries aren’t running anymore. Stay inside. At some point the second tower collapsed. But maybe it happened when I was in the park. I have no perception of time. Could have been 10 minutes, 20 or 60 in the terminal. No clue.
Talk to a threesome in the terminal. No further news. Subways closed, ferries closed. But now Staten Island ferry is open.
Walk outside, the wind has shifted. Used to be from the north, going south. Now it is from the northwest heading southeast. EMT truck pulls up. Unloads stretcher and medical equipment. No injured. The wind is blowing the smoke across the East river into Brooklyn. This blocks my path along the East River I was hoping to take. Still not thrilled about doing that since I’ll be walking adjacent to buildings that could be open to more aerial attacks. Smoke moving that way seals my option.
Decide to walk west for lack of a better option. Walking through the park I see a group of workers who had come to Battery Park to work on the trees that morning. One of them has a t-shirt that says he is from Atlanta. Welcome to NY. A police car is driving through the park kicking up the ¼ inch of ash that has fallen so far. I cover my face as best I can and the policeman slows down as he realizes what a mess he is creating for me and all the others around me. My eyes are starting to hurt.
Walk west, hit the Hudson, walk north. Someone gives a paper towel to me. Grab another bottle of water. Lot’s of people just standing in the park. I get Nora on the cell phone. Not a great connection, but I tell her I’m safe. I’m not sure if she or I were happier to hear each other’s voice. She tells me to get off the island. I don’t know how I’ll do that.
A little bit north of Pier A there are 4 ferries waiting. A fireman is yelling at the crowd, “This is a secure area. There is no other way off this island, other than these ferries. And you HAVE to get off this island. Now get on the ferries.” It’s an orderly line. The fireman lift some over the barrier to get on the ferry, most climb over on their own.
A table has four people I recognize from Tucker. They have four lifejackets sitting on the table. I sit down and ask if this is the Tucker table. I offer the spare bottle of water I have. Finally one of them recognizes me and we introduce ourselves. Woody says he’s heard of me and that I do a good job. Fat lot of good that does me.
Almost across the Hudson, the ferry stops, and heads north in a hurry. “Man overboard,” I hear on the PA. Sure enough there is a man overboard. He has a lifejacket on and flippers. Was he swimming from NY to Jersey or Jersey to NY? Either way, he’s nuts. But then, two planes have crashed into the twin towers, both have collapsed and the Pentagon is on fire. What isn’t nuts?
The view from the Hudson of the NY skyline is eerie. Smoke is billowing from the area where the twin towers USED to be. This shakes me. I realize I was much to close to danger, but at least I’m safe now. It keeps going through my mind: There are no more twin towers. There are no more twin towers. There are no more twin towers. There are no more twin towers. There are no more twin towers.
Get off the ferry in Jersey City. The guys from Tucker are trying to find 15 Exchange Place, the office of Tucker in Jersey City. We find it but the building is closed, like all of the buildings adjacent to the river in Jersey City. Anybody attempting to enter the area close to the river is stopped by the police. But frankly, it is laughable, because if someone really wanted in they could get in.
The police are directing us to one of two bus lines. The first goes to Hoboken. The second goes to Newark Penn Station. The police keep repeating over a bullhorn: There is nothing going into New York City.