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What was everyone doing the morning of 9/11/2001?

N-Trizzy2609

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R68 Subway Car

R68 Subway Car

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I was a 4th Grader (8 years old at the time) when this happened. I was in Mr. Cordice's science class at Children's Colony Prep School and then he abruptly interrupted his lesson to tell us some planes hit the World Trade Center and that one of them (since this was before our usually scheduled 10:15 snack break, he obviously was referring to the South Tower (the one with the observatory deck)). We were all dazed and confused by that news. We were not told anything else about it. We were next to the 7th and 8th grade class room (Children's Colony Prep School was a small, 2 story, K-8 school which was recently converted into a all-Kindergarten school and church) and they had radios and TVs in their to listen and watch the news live. The 7th and 8th graders saw all of this live and were horrified. I did not find out anything else about this until I was taken home by my mom. As I was coming home, I finally asked her what had happened. She told me that both towers of the World Trade Center collapsed after they were attacked by hijacked airplanes. I came home to find out that 7 World Trade Center also collapsed. The lasting image of that day (for me) came when I went to the living room TV in my house and the TV was on WABC 7. All I saw was the massive hole and smoke coming from it. I vividly remember seeing the World Trade Center when I took a trip to the Statue of Liberty with my dad a month before (on what was a beautiful Friday afternoon in early August 2001). The World Trade Center was so beautiful. I remember the sun shining on them. I remember him telling me that he was going to take me there one day (he had visited the South Tower observation deck when he first came to this country in 1990 (my parents are Guyanese, I was born in the United States)). Unfortunately, I never was able to do so. :P :cry: To see that beautiful sight fall with all of those innocent people and turn into a massive pile of rubble was nothing short of horrific. I fell asleep at around 9 to 10 pm that night. I woke up to go to school the next morning. All that I can remember is the complete and utter silence in that classroom the next day. Most of the class did not even come in. We were thankfully told to come to school because our principal and teachers did not want us to stay home to just watch this horror all day. Even when were playing outdoors, we were dead silent and depressed. I remember that on the night of September 10th, 2001, I was watching the newest episode of Rocket Power (a popular Nickelodeon kids show). I never, in my wildest imagination, believed that the world would change so radically the next day.

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peacemak3r

peacemak3r

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I was in the 8th grade and everyone saw the smoke from the school windows, mind you we were pretty far away, if anyone here knows where P.S. 206 was.

 

All the teachers tried to keep it on the down low but really after seeing the smoke and having computers in the classrooms, did they really think we didn't know?

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Amtrak7

Amtrak7

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First grade class. Around 10AM, teacher called everyone over to sit down on the floor. She then read a prepared memo stating that planes had struck the WTC and that they had collapsed. Not everyone realized the severity of the disaster, except of course those kids whose parents worked there.

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B35 via Church

B35 via Church

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at home, in bed... sleeping at first.....

 

It was a day when I woke up too late for the one class I had that day, back when I went to DeVry..... so I just went back to sleep.... then my great gran'ma woke me up & told me what happened.... My gran'ma works (well worked, as she just retired) down in city hall, so she was worried & what not....

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lilbluefoxie

lilbluefoxie

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I was in 9th grade in an Assembly and the principal came running down into the auditorium and was like oh a plane hit the world trade center, the rest of teh day followed very surreal, people thought it was the end of the world. It mustve sucked for the railfans back then cuz they had to wait a while before they could photograph without tons of scrutiny.

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alejr88

alejr88

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When that happened, I was an 8th grader in school on my English class. I remember at 9:30ish, Mr. Siano who was my english teacher got a phone call from his cell. It was one of his colleagues informing what happened to the first tower. He informed the class and we stood there silent and shocked. Then around 10 or so, another teacher comes in to the classroom notifying that another plane struck the second tower. Don't remember much after that probably during 12:23 pm when me and my younger sister went home because everyone else was leaving the school. I was 11 years old when this happened and was not into trains until the summer of 2002.

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Trainmaster5 Motorman (Retired)

Trainmaster5

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I remember getting a phone call from my co-worker telling me to turn on the TV right away because a plane had crashed into a WTC tower. I had the radio on to Newsradio 88 so I turned the volume UP on the radio and watched the TV. When the second plane came into view I was momentarily confused thinking it was a replay of the first incident. I finished dressing for work and before I left for work ( I was on L.I. that am) I saw the collapse of both towers. I was hauling ass on the Southern State when I was diverted onto Sunrise Highway. At Valley Stream/Green Acres the NYC and NYS police wouldn't let me cross the city line so I ended up in the parking lot there and talked to a NYC bus operator whose bus wasn't allowed back across the city line either. I called my crew office and told them what was happening and was told that if I didn't report to work I would be considered AWOL for the day. I'd already driven 30 miles in an attempt to do the right thing and transit was telling me too bad, tough luck. The B/O, who heard the whole conversation, gave me a back door route to bypass the roadblocks and it worked. I went up into Elmont and took Dutch Broadway over the Queens line. I made it to NLY about 3 hours after I started out and hooked up with some of the midnight and am crews who were stranded and couldn't get back home or where their cars were. As nightfall came you could see and smell the after effects of the disaster way out by Jamaica Bay. When I told the yard dispatcher that I was going back out to L.I. that night he asked me to do him a favor. There was a brand new T/O who had been out of school car for two days and he needed a ride out to Valley Stream and would I drop him off. Believe me, this young man left his car in the parking lot at Green Acres, put on his work boots, and walked/jogged the 10 miles from the mall to New Lots Yard. This showed me that this kid was a professional, no matter his age or circumstance. A slight Caucasian kid, jogging through SE Queens and ENY trying to get to work 'cause he was dedicated. Or crazy as hell. I happened to attend a retirement function at the yard a few weeks ago and we all spoke of that day and how each of us remembered it. As the yard dispatcher and I were leaving someone brought up the story of us and the young man and we both laughed about it. Even on that solemn day something good happened to try to mask the sorrow. Like my elders remember Pearl Harbor I'll never forget 9/11.

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DevilBus65

DevilBus65

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I was a B/O at QSC heading into Manhattan on my 9:00 trip when customers got on telling me a cesna had hit one of the towers. By the time I got Union Turnpike and Main st I saw like 5 buses coming back into Queens with customers aboard. I stopped and called the depot and a dispatcher told me to tell my customers something had happened in NYC and we wouldn't be going into the city. Their option was to take the subway from Queens blvd or I would take them back to where they got on. Of course there was one ******* who complained that he had paid to go to NYC, so I had to explain that there were no buses going to to go into Manhattan and that the subway was his only option. After I had dropped all my customers off I returned to College Point. As I was going west on the LIE I could see the Towers falling as I approached the Van Wyck. I still remember saying to myself " Those shits are gone". It was a very bizarre moment that I will never forget.

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IRT Bronx Express

IRT Bronx Express

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I was in 4th grade when the attacks happened. I didn't know what happened as the only thing I remember was that the Twin Towers were on fire, as seen on tv. I do recall that free subway service was provided on the Dyre Ave line because it was announced. Maybe I'm wrong, but I do remember that the Baychester Av (5) station was mentioned.

 

A week later, my teacher told all of us to bring food for those that "needed" it. Again, I didn't know why we had to bring food, as I found it strange back in the day. That all changed when I saw some 9/11 docs years later, such as Inside 911. I understood why 9/11 was a big deal back then.

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St Louis Car 09

St Louis Car 09

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I was attending Transit Tech at the time and I remember I was in music class.The dean came to the room and told us that the "Twin Towers were no more" and that "We are under a terrorist attack".The school was shut down for the day,and there were a group of kids going around threatening to jump and Middle eastern person coming out of school.I remeber the fighter jets circling around the city.At the time I was living in East Elmhurst near the airport and I havent heard a single jet engine for 2 days.It was surreal.

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JubaionBx12+SBS

JubaionBx12+SBS

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I didn't have any close friends or family near the WTC so the events of 9/11 didn't really affect me emotionally. I do remember where I was on that day though. I was school, a third grader at P.S. 97, and for some strange reason half of my classmates were leaving school before 12 pm. I'm sitting there thinking "What the hell is going on?". Instead of going to lunch on schedule the lunch aides told us when to go. The students who remained after lunch were taken to different classrooms to watch movies. I was called to leave 5 minutes after the movie started. I asked my mom what was going on and she told me that planes hit the World Trade Center. My 4 year old sister was first to break the news within my family. At about 9:00 she saw it on TV and told my mom. My mom thought it was a movie and then realized minutes later this was a real life event. When I turned on the TV, I saw a bunch of smoke on the screen in the spot where two buildings should be and I realized it was worse than that. I was lucky to be alive and thankful none of my family worked in Lower Manhattan.

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DaTransitMan4608

DaTransitMan4608

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I was just in Pre-school when the attacks happened. It was just another ordinary day to start with until my Grandma came to pick me up, I was confused because ususally my mom would've picked me up. Then when I got home I saw the news. My mom would've taken the :njc: home but she couldnt because (NJT) was shut down. She had to ride the Ferry to Hoboken Terminal where a friend picked her up. Its so sad how so many people died. An old friend of mine lost his cousin in 9/11.

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