I Was There

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I went to school at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. It was my first semester. Classes were held in two buildings in the Chelsea section of Lower Manhattan. The building my class was in was just a few blocks away from the Twin Towers. Before I went to class, I stopped to grab a bagel and tea from the street vendor outside of the school. Five minutes after I sat down in class, the first plane hit. Almost immediately everyone in class ran to the window to see what the loud noise was all about. All we could see were sheets of paper falling from the sky. We quickly exited the building, thinking a helicopter or small plane had made impact. Outside, people were already sharing their theories as to what might have happened. Some people were crying. As hundreds gathered outside talking and consoling one another, the second plane hit the other Tower. I was not a photographer then. My first instinct was to get home before things got worse. I hopped on the A train back to Brooklyn, but before it could leave the station Manhattan service was suspended. I exited the Subway and joined thousands, as we walked over the Williamsburg Bridge to make it home. Over the years I have revisited the site often, even more so once I started taking pictures. On September 11, 2018, I went to Battery Bridge Park to see the lights that New York City turns on every year in remembrance of everyone who lost their lives on that unforgettable day.