Remembering 9/11

I remember asking my late grandfather to recall when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in the winter of 1941. I was amazed at the detail he could recall at 75 years old to recreate the life-changing moment.

I had a similar experience when I asked my mother about the day J.F.K. was assassinated. She told me she will never forget watching the stoic Walter Cronkite crying in black and white on national television.

The day will come when children and grandchildren ask about 9/11 (if they have not already), and like the attack on Pearl Harbor, and J.F.K.’s assassination, everybody will have a uniquely personal anecdote.

I took to the streets of Port Chester this past Thursday to ask people what they remembered of that day.

“I was watching T.V. at my home in Yonkers,” recalled Randy Oommen. “I called friends in Rockland to get any other information, but the whole situation was eerie.”

Chris Barrese, of Artemis Hair Design, remembered gathering around a television at Excess Hair Salon, where he used to work. “Devastated … morbid … I was walking around in disbelief,” he told me after he was at a loss for words to describe the feeling.

Andrea Straface, an elderly woman from Harrison, was sitting at home watching the news. “I remember turning the news on after the first plane hit and originally thinking it was a mistake,” she said with sadness in her voice. “When I watched the second plane go into the second tower I was in complete shock.”

Like a number of Americans, Straface watched in disbelief on screen as the unimaginable took place. Others, like Diane Kanca of Rye, worried for loved ones working in Manhattan. “I had just finished running with the dog, and I turned the radio on in the shower,” Kanca said. “My first thought was of my husband who was supposed to be downtown. I reached him on his cell phone and found out he was in his office in Midtown. I was calmer after that.”

A number of Westchester residents commute daily to Manhattan for business. For most, Sept. 11, 2001 was no different.

“I had a patient in the chair when we first starting getting word of it,” said Isabel Leeds, a dentist from Greenwich, CT, who worked in Rockefeller Center on 51st St. and Fifth Ave. 

“My husband is a physician, and he worked on 15th and Fifth at the time. He called to say the second tower had collapsed, and wanted me to get out of the building. Rockefeller Center announced for us to stay calm. So I finished with my patient, and then with my assistant took the stairs down,” recalled Leeds.

“I walked outside and tried to call my husband, but the phones weren’t working. There were lots of people walking down toward the site. I’ll never forget the giant mushroom cloud engulfing Lower Manhattan,” said Leeds with a look of astonishment.

“I tried to reach my daughter, who was in third grade,” Leeds continued. “There were still public phones at that time, and all of them had huge lines. My husband got called Uptown to a hospital, and I caught the one train going to New Haven after Grand Central reopened,” said Leeds.

She described the overall feel of the day as “dark and morbid mixed with debris.” She also recalled the selflessness and amiability of New Yorkers.

“When I got on the train it was twice as packed as I ever saw it, but everybody was helping each other. There was such a friendly camaraderie amidst a tragedy.”

Bob Kiely of Sleepy Hollow was also in Manhattan that day.

“I was working on 18th St. in a retail store. Customers started talking about what was happening. I stepped out and saw the mushroom cloud rising,” said Kiely.

“We were running a delivery service and had trucks going out everywhere - Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx. I eventually left to head back home and walked up Fifth Avenue to Grand Central.”

Unlike many others who described scenes of the day as chaotic and jumbled, Kiely had a different experience. “I’ve never seen the city so empty. No people, but a machine gun every block,” he said.

While many of those I spoke to in Port Chester had vivid memories of how 9/11 affected New York, there were some who were far away from Manhattan and shared a strong connection to the events.

Karen and Nick Stephens were on vacation in Cyprus. The Stephens are a British couple who relocated to Rye last week. “We finished a round of mini golf, and headed inside to where a T.V. was. I honestly thought it was a movie, but when I saw CNN in the corner of the screen I quickly realized this was actually happening,” said Karen Stephens.

Karen and Nick worked for Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan, respectively. Both had ties to the World Trade Center. Karen recalls doing business on the 64th floor of one of the towers, and Nick was involved there as well.

Although the terror was centered on the East Coast of America, Karen Stephens remembered precautions being taken abroad

“I remember calling back home to Canary Wharf [in London], and hearing they were starting to evacuate that building. Unfortunately we found out later that Nick’s best friend’s brother-in-law lost his life in the World Trade Center.”

Karen and Nick Stephens are one example of how people outside of New York were closely affected by the falling of the Twin Towers. Despite the fact that it is 10 years later, memories do not fade fast, in Port Chester and beyond.