I was in Manhattan. Took the early flight from PIT to close a bond deal. I have pictures burned into my brain from that day. Going through security that morning, there were two pilots in front of me. I saw one of them emptying one of those plastic boxes they used to give you to put your pocket change in to pass through the x-ray machine. He had 45 cents and one of those little swiss army knives and I remember thinking how strange it was that we allowed people to bring knives into airplanes--although I had done it many times.
After a hard landing, the car service picked me up to take me to Bank of New York's offices on Barclay Street to have them sign the bonds. (It's on the West Side one block up from the World Trade Center.) I was dozing in the back seat--it was well after 9 a.m.--when I noticed there was very little traffic and a lot of sirens. Saw a plume of smoke over the city and an electronic sign that read "Avoid Lower Manhattan". I asked the driver to turn on the radio just after we passed NYU hospital and saw the horror. I remember thinking "That's not the World Trade Center" and "Those aren't people falling out of the building." The radio announcer said a plane hit the North Tower and to stay out of lower Manhattan to let the emergency vehicles get through. I told the driver to turn around at the end of the FDR and to take me to the bankers' lawyers' offices in the Chrysler Building. After we got off on 42nd Street, the announcer said a second plane had struck the South Tower. It was then obvious this was no accident.
I talked my way past security and up to the bankers' lawyers' offices. You realize you've been around a while when all the other lawyers look like kids running around wondering what to do. One even reached his client who was still in his office across the street from the WTC! Another told me her client had several "outs" under the contract. I told her to stop reading, if this isn't a force majeure, I don't know what is. I told them to get the documents in order and get out of the building. They got me a hotel room uptown. After the towers collapsed we went up to look out the 38th floor conference room window and saw the cloud of debris. While we were looking out, someone exclaimed there was a plane out there--we were glad to see it was a USAF fighter.
Cell phones were useless. After five tries I got a land line and tried to reach my wife--no answer at home, no answer at her work and she had her cell phone off!! I finally reached my mother-in-law who called my wife. I was very worried about my wife's pregnant sister who worked in the American Express Building (it also suffered damage in the attack) and was pleased to hear she was at home on vacation that week. Called the office to tell them $150 million was not coming in that day and got one of our executives who kept pestering me about when I thought we would close the deal.
We walked up to the hotel at Central Park West and 120th. I had no change of clothes and all the stores were closed but I bought some gym shorts and a polo shirt in a tourist shop along with some toiletries in a drug store. Washed my socks and underwear out in the sink. (My mother trained me well: There might be a war on, but my underwear would be clean!) The next day I took the train to Philly where I got a rental car and drove home with one of our accounting guys who happened to be in New York on other business.
The hardest thing for me was there was nothing I could do but get myself out of the way. I fought the urge to go downtown and help because I knew I would be adding to and not helping with the problem. When I got back to the office on Thursday, my colleagues were kind enough to leave me alone.
We closed on Thursday but in a gesture of defiance dated all the documents September 11, 2001. Those bastards can wound, but never stop us.
There are thousands of stories. I would have been even closer to the action but for USAir running late.
Joe
1977 28' Express
Twin 318s, raw water cooled
Ohio River
