Stories from Ground Zero

Mike Uretsky, of Damascus, an administrator at the Stern School of Business at NYU, lives in Battery Park City next to the WTC. He is unable to enter his apartment and must find a place to live in the meantime. He told TRR:

“I left my apartment early on Tuesday because I had an early meeting at NYU. I usually leave later. If I had still been there, I don’t know what would have happened to me. When word came over the radio about the first tower, we went up on the roof of the building. I was looking at the flaming tower when I saw the other plane approaching the towers. I watched in amazement when the second plane struck the tower.

“I have a Turkish friend whose daughter works for Morgan Stanley uptown. She became very distressed when she couldn’t reach any of her fellow workers at the WTC. They were all killed. The rest of her staff changed clothes and went down to the site to help out.”

Rose-Marie Chapman, a resident of Hemlock Farms, sent this in:

“On Monday afternoon, the day before the fateful Tuesday, my husband John and I were driving friends to Newark Airport to catch a flight to Germany. It was a day of sunshine with interruptions of thunderstorms.

As we approached the airport, the tip of Manhattan came into view. The thickest, blackest thundercloud hovered right over the WTC, making the two monoliths look as if they had been drawn in charcoal. It could have been a backdrop for a stage presentation. For some reason, I started to get goose bumps and felt very threatened. Fourteen hours later, the mighty towers were no more.

I shall never forget seeing what I now know was simply—doom. That black cloud marked the target. It was apocalyptic.