New Yorkers, you're o.k.?

BobG · Post by **BobG** » 13 Sep 2001 6:52 am

Jim, I found it hard to believe too..
I got my information from a co-worker who had a family member who witnessed an isolated incident. It wasn't like there were thousands"dancing in the street". I probably was wrong in posting that information but i believe it to be true nonetheless.

Jeremy Steele · Post by **Jeremy Steele** » 13 Sep 2001 7:26 am

I work on the 21st floor in mid-town Manhattan...I watched the entire tragedy through binoculars after the first plane hit...I took the ferry back to Jersey with many survivors from the WTC, some of whom were still coated with cement dust and asbestos, they all had incredible stories of heroism on the part of cops, firemen, and rescue workers...it's just not sane to blame all Arabs for this act of terror.

anewcomb · Post by **anewcomb** » 13 Sep 2001 9:02 am

I live in New York (underneath the Queens side of Triboro Bridge) and, like others, waited to find out whether many of my friends had been left alive by this, and they are all ok which I hadn't dared hope for. They're all ok.

I never felt like a target this way before and am enraged.

My wife and I woke up and went outside at 2am last night. The air was full of the smell of burning plastic. It wasn't coming from nearby, the wind had changed, we were getting smoke from the twin towers.

Got up this morning and the car parked in front of mine had a bumper sticker: "Islam: religion of peace and prosperity". You could look at that and get more enraged, and I did, but also you could think about it for second and figure that the guy wants it to be true whether or not it is true right now.

Certainly there's been no dancing in the streets of Queens by Arabs. I think they've had the same worries as everyone else.

BobG, since as a rumor it's a bit inflammatory, could you possibly find out more about what was actually seen in Patterson, also when?

Andy
(carter starter)[This message was edited by anewcomb on 13 September 2001 at 10:21 AM.]

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 13 Sep 2001 9:49 am

I don't think we need to worry about whether or not this was a home grown plot like the Oklahoma bombing.This thing was way beyond rednecks with poop bombs in U-Haul trucks.
No,I think we can comfortably assume that this was the work of Muslim fanatics.

Jeremy Steele · Post by **Jeremy Steele** » 13 Sep 2001 9:56 am

My office building was just evacuated, since it's next to Grand Central Terminal and someone called in a bomb threat...turned out to be a hoax, and we're back at our desks now...this sort of thing is going to happen frequently, I'm afraid.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 13 Sep 2001 10:35 am

I think we can comfortably assume that this was the work of Muslim fanatics.

I'm not "comfortable" with any assumptions when lives are at stake. We have been led to that assumption by the media. We need to be sure before we take action, though.

John De Maille · Post by **John De Maille** » 17 Sep 2001 1:40 pm

I am sadly appalled and disgusted by what happened to all the innocent people on 9-11-01. I was safe, but my wife was due to fly in from Milwaukee,on that Tues. morning. She finally drove all the way home and was safe.
As an out to pasture Army Ranger 75th Reg., I need to say that, we here in the U.S.A. need to stop forgetting to keep our guard up. NOBODY should be able to get on any form of public transportation, and create such a catastrophe.We as a nation, have become extremely lax in our self-protection. We need to have a re-check of our safeguards.Then,maybe,we all can proceed with our wonderful American lives. To live free, and be free, from the sadistic maniacs and fanatics. I greive deeply for all the victims, who, have lost their loved ones.

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 17 Sep 2001 4:42 pm

Michael...I hope your condescending remark quoted below was not intentionally offensive:

"......This thing was way beyond rednecks with poop bombs in U-Haul trucks..........."

Prior to your cavalier dismissal of the Oklahoma City bombing, maybe you should have
been shown the photographs of the 168 men, women and pre-school children who were buried underneath the Murrah Building and the weeks spent attempting to identify the body parts resulting from that "poop bomb".

Even if the circumstances were reversed and it had been a "redneck" flying the plane and a "muslim" driving the U-Haul, in the United States of America we need to identify the guilty before we start killing people!

Fred G. Jones/Ret Oklahoma City Firefighter[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 18 September 2001 at 07:11 AM.]

HOWaiian · Post by **HOWaiian** » 17 Sep 2001 8:30 pm

Andre, that was a beautiful, humane, compassionate post. If more people shared your attitude, this world would indeed be a better place.

tears are welling up (again) as I think of the thousands of innocent lives lost, their families & friends; the bravery of the fire & police departments in the face of devastating slaughter, especially fire commissioner Von Essen, whose 300+ men lost included the ENTIRETY of the upper echelon of the fire dept. it was the sight of him trying to keep his composure at a late-night press conference on the day of the attack that caused me to lose mine.

Mayor Giuliani's actions & words thruout this tragedy have been exemplary; I couldn't stand the man before this terrible crime ocurred, but his performance has been simply stunning: matter-of-fact, realistic, strength-affirming; he has been a calming force for the city for these terrible last few days, and I can honestly now say that he would get my vote were he to run for mayor again.

I work nights in Manhattan and live in Brooklyn; on 9/11, I awoke at 11:30AM, well after the 2d tower went down, and checked my voicemail for any calls I might have missed while sleeping. there was a message from my wife, who works in Rockefeller Ctr: "...they blew up the WTC, it's gone...turn on the news." I thought she was joking, but I could hear the seriousness in her voice. I turned the news on and sure enough….I looked out my window to see all of the cars on the block covered in ash, and the smell of burning rubber & plastic wafting thru the air. my wife (a devout Bhuddist) made it home safely & in record time; I've heard real nightmare stories about others trying to get out of the city.

[quote]
"….IMHO, extreme patriotism, fundamentalism, dogmatic beliefs or religions of any kind,
racism, feelings of superiority etc are products of mind conditioning and doctrines that could (and often did) lead to intolerance, disrespect and violence."

Andre, I couldn't agree with you more. At the risk of being hounded off of the forum by true-believers (to whom I mean no disrespect), I must say that I am proudly atheist. This terrible tragedy (and the recent, asinine words of Jerry Falwell & Pat Robertson) simply reaffirms my atheism; at the same time it reaffirms my faith in humanity, as I have never in my short life seen something as beautiful as the whole city of New York (NEW YORK, mind you!) come together by the thousands to help one another thru an unprecedented crisis.

my heart goes out to those in the Islamic-American community who do not share the beliefs of the rabid, deranged perpetrators of this abomination. unfortunately, I know that many of them will suffer at the hands of knee-jerk jackasses who would blame an entire people based on the actions of some.

b0b, I know all of this should be posted off-topic, but I had to get it off of my chest.

Peace & strength to all,

how
[This message was edited by HOWaiian on 17 September 2001 at 09:35 PM.]

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 19 Sep 2001 4:55 am

i was brought up in the Apple too !
(Washington Heights/the Cloisters)
the Village (East+West), Soho were neighborhoods i knew well.
i got a friend who lives close to the Twins. i don't know where he is.
i was stunned by this terror.
i am not yet in Peace w: myself cause i have'nt found all the right questions and the right answers.
i'll go along w: André cause i partake in his way of thinkin'
Europe + Israel have been dealin' w: terrorist actions since the Munich Olympic games.
the USA has perhaps considered itself exempt of extremists terror in the past.
Now is the time for us to hold on to each other and ask ourselves why these atrocious events take place.
We are All, Americans, Tibetans, Algerians, Bosniacs, Afghanis, Israelis, Palestinians,
Burmese, Chinese, and so many more...
Steel askin' for Mercy ...

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 19 Sep 2001 8:24 pm

Good God!!! I'm having flashbacks to the 60s!!

Post by **b0b** » 20 Sep 2001 8:01 am

This is not the place for political debate. I'm closing this topic.

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