The stories go on and on.
People stopped into the local newsstand store on the Sunday after the Sept. 11 disaster looking stunned, many of them having worked in the World Trade Center or in the damaged buildings nearby. They bought their newspapers. They talked about what they saw. They said they didn’t know what they would do over the next few days or weeks, or even – gauging from their tones – the rest of their lives.
"I’m going to get up at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow anyway," one blonde-haired middle-aged woman said. "That’s the time I would get up to go to work."
Each person bore a story of horror, of that moment when the world seemed to rock along with the World Trade Center. In the aftermath, many acknowledged the deaths of co-workers and relatives. Most devastating, too, is the report of lost neighbors in Secaucus.
Even the kids have stories of where they were, of what they were doing when the World Trade Center Towers collapsed.
But the gap in the stories starts when it comes to the missing, those poor souls who did not return on Tuesday and have left their loved ones speculating as to their fate.
As with many other towns in Hudson County and around the state and nation, Secaucus had an impromptu memorial a week ago for those people who did not return. There were candles, posters of the missing, messages of sympathy, and American flags hung from or placed in front of the fence along the Route 3 bridge on Paterson Plank Road.
Each day since the disasters, more flowers and candles have appeared, as well as more posters.
Some residents missing
A report issued by the New Jersey State Police last week listed Steven Simon, Steven Strobert, Michael Tanner, Nancy Perez, and Arlene Babakitis as missing residents of Secaucus. It is hard to know the full number of missing residents from Secaucus, as some were born here and lived out of town, and others did not have their hometowns listed.
Perez and Babakitis both worked for the Port Authority on the 64th floor of Tower One. Babakitis, according to her missing poster, was last seen on the 25th floor, but according to her sister, Karen Reoch, who has been investigating the situation, Babakitis may have made it as far as the ground floor before the building collapsed.
"There are conflicting reports," Reoch said.
Babakitis apparently came down from the Port Authority offices together with Perez. One report said they had made it to the 20th floor another said they were last seen at ground level.
Perez, who recently purchased a condo in Secaucus, had just moved from Union City. She was in the World Trade Center in 1993 when it was first bombed, and friends said she never recovered from the fear. She applied for a transfer and was stationed in Jersey City for a long time. A recent promotion sent her back to New York.
"Nancy and my sister were close friends," Reoch said. "They lived near each other in Secaucus."
Babakitis, who would have turned 48 in October, grew up in the Lower East Side of New York City, where most of her family still lives – including her 83-year-old mother. Reoch described her as one of the foundations of the family, the person who maintained contact and organized social events that brought the family together.
She worked for the Port Authority for 30 years, covering a range of responsibilities. Her last position dealt with bridges and tunnels, although she also helped coordinating the Easy Pass program, a pre-paid car and truck pass for tolls.
"She was a dedicated mother and worker," Reoch said. "She planned most of the family functions. She gave a lot of herself and never asked for anything in return. She didn’t go out much. She didn’t travel. She stayed home and took care of her two boys."
One boy is 20, and the other is 11. Both currently live in Secaucus, and Reoch said it is her aim to make certain that the boys are taken care of financially. She is currently seeking benefits through the Port Authority, and may set up a means by which people can donate.
Reoch said she has searched for her sister extensively, putting up posters throughout New York City and in sections of New Jersey. She has checked the missing persons’ centers in the New York Armory as well as the New School in lower Manhattan.
"I live in that area, not far from the explosion," she said, although she noted that she had to walk eight miles during her initial search because there were no buses and trains in the area.
"I feel very angry," she said. "Part of this was the responsibility of the airline. These men didn’t just get onto those planes. They had to pass through security, and if security had been adequate, this would not have happened."
Krista Lennon, a student at Secaucus High School, said her uncle, John Lennon, also worked for the Port Authority, and was also missing.
Several of those missing worked for Cantor-Fitzgerald, a financial firm with offices in the upper floors of the World Trade Center tower.
Councilman Robert Kickey said Port Authority police Lieutenant Robert Ceires is also missing.
"He helped set up RACES communication system in our Office of Emergency Management," Kickey said. "He did not live here. He had nothing to do with Secaucus, but he helped us."
Kickey said Ceires often spoke of his experiences during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
"He was stationed at Journal Square this time. But I think because he was a trained emergency medical technician, he rushed back to New York when the first plane struck."
Steven Strobert is actually a Ridgewood resident and not a Secaucus resident, but his mother served a term on the Board of Education in the 1990s. Strobert had a wife and two kids, according to people familiar with the Secaucus family.
Bob Zibowich said he used to bowl with Michael Tanner and described him as a great athlete. He played football, and was "a strapping big man." Zibowich said he was struck by the tragedy when he saw Tanner’s picture flashed on Fox TV.
"I hope he’s okay," Zibowich said.
Steven Simon, a resident of Harmon Cove, previously worked in Jamesway before moving onto Cantor Fitzgerald.
Services were held in Harmon Cove and Buchmuller Park
Memorial services were held both in Buchmuller Park’s Little League stadium and in a wooded section of Harmon Cove on Sunday, Sept. 16. Ribbons have appeared on telephone poles and trees throughout the town. Flags hang from storefronts and houses in tribute to those missing and the heroes in New York struggling to find people in the rubble.
"We grieve for children who lost their parents, for husbands and wives who’ve lost their spouses, for parents who have lost their children," Mayor Dennis Elwell said during the ceremony at Buchmuller Park, "for firefighters and police officers who lost their lives going up the steps of the World Trade Center into the face of fire and danger, so that others could go down the steps to safety. We grieve. We grieve as a nation and we grieve as a community."
Nearly 2000 people attending the memorial service gave the Secaucus fire department a standing ovation, indicating their renewed respect for the efforts firefighters played in the rescue efforts in New York City as well as the day-to-day efforts local firefighters made in helping residents here.
Although volunteer firefighters were discouraged from going to Manhattan to help, two firefighters from Engine Company No. 1 in the Plaza Firehouse went anyway.
Changes in events
The town has scheduled a candlelight memorial service nearer to Thanksgiving. Many of the usual fall events, such as the hoe down, the Library mini fair and the three-church concert have been canceled.
Local businesses also showed their support in refusing to take any money for their efforts in putting on the town’s memorial service in the Little League stadium. Cliffhanger Productions of Rutherford, which supplies most town’s public events such as the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, the Easter Egg Hunt and the Forth of July festivities, donated American flags, doves (which were released as part of the memorial) and the red white and blue bunting that hung around the stadium. The bagpiper from the Hudson county Bugle Corps. donated his services, as did the two printers, Royal (which printed the posters) and Impressive (which did the program). Michael Snuffer donated the sound system, and all the local florists donated flowers.