Everything After - A 9.11 Youth Circle

[demo] On 9.11 I heard a big bang. I was waiting at the bus north or tompkins square park. I thought a bus had fallen over. My bus was late so I walked the route to 1st avenue, where people were watching the smoke. Someone told me a plane had crashed into the towers. Must have been a prop plane. On the bus someone said it was the second one. Then I knew it was terrorists.

By union square I watched from the bus as the towers were burning. At Broadway I got off and walked south to work. I walked with a woman who had come through the towers by subway as the terror striken people from the towers area came on. Oy!

All the buses going south were pulling over and stopping. They weren't going anu further. People were streaming north. Outside work I watched the buildings burning, came upstairs and the staff was watching it all on tv. One fell and then the other. I missed the first one cause I was in the bathroom and couldn't believe it when I returned.

Then we all knew we had to go home but staff here is from all over and there was no more public transportation. But my wife was home I wanted to get home and be with her. So after we all discussed it I told folks anyone who wanted could come to my house and then I left, walking home along Houston. People were just in shock streaming in all directions away from downtown.

I was very happy to get home and be with my wife. People came over all day and stayed with us, mostly Brooklyn people who couldn't get home. We tried to give blood, but no more was needed, so mostly we kept each other company and made sure loved ones knew we were okay. We each took turns going around saying what our day was like. One of us there worked across the street at AMEX and was watching people jumping before he finally headed out and left in time.

What was your day like?

[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]

[demo] My day was pretty much a state of shock. I woke up ready to drive myself and my girlfriend into Manhattan. I actually woke up to the radio, which was broadcasting the event of the first plane hitting the 1st building - at this point nobody new what was happening. I actually said to my girlfriend "It's probably going to be difficult getting into the city today. - then as we listened, I just kept thinking, no way, it couldn't have been a plane, they must be mistaken - then we heard the report of the second plane, and that was that - we actually had an interesting mix of media and reality happening because as we were listening and watching tv, we heard so many sirens - her apartment is right next to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which is the main tunnel to lower manhattan from Brooklyn - all of the emergency personnel were responding - and we heard sirens for the couple of hours straight. The rest of the day we just sat at home and watched tv - what else could we do?

nick

[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]

[demo] I was in school. After 2nd period, my advisor told me two planes had just hit the twin towers. I thought someone had played a practical joke or something. I went to gym, where one of my good friends (who lives about 6 blocks away from where they were) was flipping out because he couldn't reach his family. Another friend told me the towers had collapsed and I didn't believe him. My school is in lower Manhattan and I figured I would have felt the ground shake or something. Also, these were the twin towers and I couldn't wrap my mind around the idea they could be destroyed. Then gym was cancelled and we went to the tech lab, where we saw some pictures. I emailed my sister who was out of town to let her know I was ok. Then we just went through classes, not sure which rumors were true and consoling friends with family members who worked down there. My school finally let me leave to stay at a friends apartment nearby. I figured I would spend the night there, because I live in Brooklyn. But I got through to my mom, after finding out the L train was back on, went to Williamsburg where I was picked up. After getting home, I mostly watched TV in disbelief and talked to neighbors.
[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]

[demo] I had just finished my spanish class and was walking to the train to go to work. I work at 95 Wall Street about 5 blocks from WTC and my train station is bout 2 blocks away. I had been let outta class early b/c of a palne crashing into one of the towers but it was on my way to the train that I learned the towers were begining to collapse. I just went back to my room at school and cried, afraid that my loved ones were hurt or trapped.
[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]

[demo] Have you ever had one of those days in which you have no class or any other thing to do and decide to take a break? Well Sept 11 was one of those days for me. I had just finished my class and had nothing else to do for around three hours. At around 8:00 I went to see if any particular person was around to hang around with. It was during this time that one of my counselors came out and told us about the first plane. I rushed to the cafeteria in which they had a huge TV. By the time I got there the second tower was hit as well. It was an unbelievable sight. I don't remeber what was the first thought that came into my brain, but somehow I remember praying that it was all an accident or something. I called family members and made sure all were all right. Thats when the reality of the whole issue started making its way in my brain.
[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]

[demo] It was my 2nd day back from a trip and I was meeting my english teacher for the first time. We were talking about college essays and Mr. Streep (yes related to Meryl Streep) came in from next door and told us the news. I at first though it like hit an antenna or something. I didn't realize how bad it was until we were put in the gym and they put the TV on. We watched as they repeated the images over and over again. A lot of my friends were frantic since they had family there. I cried with everyone else. I didn't get home until around 6 to 7 o'clock that day since I live in the South Bronx. Fortunately no one I knew lost anyone close to them.
[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]

[demo] In the morning before my class, I was watch the morning news report of the first plane and the second plane hitting both towers. I knew at the moment that incident was no accident. But still I went to class - Communications 101. During the middle of the class a student came running down the aisle and saying the classes were canceled because the towers has just collapsed. The whole class was in state of shock. We immediately left the class and students went right to their cell phones. It was an intense situation. I do not want to ever go through something like that ever again. Since, I live in New York City - a lot of emotions was racing through my mind and heart. When a person is a situation like this, one's mind can always think of the worst possible outcome - luckily in my corner there was no tragedy.
[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]

[demo] hi. i live in queens and was sleeping around 9 or 10 am when my step dad came and knocked on my door to tell me the twin towers were under attack. i was totally out of it and could not believe what was going on- i think i'm still in denial to a certain extent. since where i live is pretty far away from the city- i didn't see anything first hand and i think in some ways that separated me from processing it all. my school is in manhattan and i was supposed to have class that night but everything was cancelled. a friend and i tried to give blood out in long island- but there were so many people trying to donate- they didn't need us. it was weird because we had gone to this hyatt hotel to get info of where to donate and randomly there was this twin tower mural on the wall. it was just weird and ironic.
[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]

[demo] I live in chelsea, but had stayed overnight with a friend in Riverdale. We woke up around 10 when someone called us to tell us that "something bad was happening." we turned on the TV to see nothing but smoke and the words WORLD TRADE TOWERS DESTROYED scrolling across the screen. i hate to say this but the first thing that hit me was that the buildings were gone. a few minutes later, the second blow hit when i thought about all the people who were in them. it was just too much to face all at once. we called loved ones and watched TV all day long. I didn't get back to my apartment in Manhattan for three days.
[This is a sample discussion. Real Circles will open March 4.]