Sept. 11, 2004 was the third anniversary of a tragic day that changed the lives of dozens of Hudson County residents as well as Americans all over the country. The death count from the plane attacks on the World Trade Center, the hijacking in Pennsylvania, and the crash into the Pentagon ended up at 2,948, according to www.september11victims.com.
Jersey City lost 37 residents – 36 in the WTC and one on Flight 93 – and was also the first destination from New York for those injured as a result of the attacks, with medical personnel stationed at Liberty State Park. Many Jersey City residents look back several years later with memories that are still fresh and painful.‘If I went back for another cup of coffee…’
Among them is Michael Nestor, the inspector general for the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey for the past seven years, who was in his office located on the 77th Floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center for only a few minutes when the first plane hit.
“I had just come back from breakfast at the Windows on the World restaurant on the 107th Floor when only a few minutes passed until I heard a loud boom,” said Nestor, who has lived with his wife in the Newport area in Jersey City for the past five years.
Today, Nestor works out of a spacious, cozy office located in the Marine View Plaza in Hoboken. Behind him, hung on a wall, is a color photograph of him helping an injured person, and there are also medals in cases. To the side of these items is a pair of red boxing gloves autographed by pro boxer Arturo Gatti.
The memorabilia can be seen as a depiction of Nestor as a survivor and fighter who has conceded that he is a much different person than he was before Sept. 11, 2001.
When the plane hit, he thought it was one of the many helicopters and small charter planes that he saw passing by the World Trade Center constantly.
“I figured, ‘One of those idiots finally did it’ since it wouldn’t have shocked me that a plane would go into the building sooner or later,” said Nestor.
Nestor was then met by at least 20 people from other offices on the floor who also wondered about the noise. As it turned out, American Airlines Flight 93 had crashed a few floors above his office.
Soon, pieces of the ceiling began falling and there was a great deal of smoke.
“I began to organize to get us out of there,” he said. “So I looked for the safest exit, and there turned out to be a stairway that was accessible.”
Nestor and many of his new-found friends were making the harrowing trip as fast as possible down 77 floors. Along the way, a young woman in his group fainted, and Nestor had to carry her down many flights and over the mounds of rubble that had formed in the lobby of the building.
Nestor would sustain a back injury that required several pins placed in his body.
Nestor, like many others that day, made his way uptown, looking back only to see the World Trade Center buildings collapsing into a pile of charred concrete and twisted steel.
Nestor eventually would be picked up by a fellow Port Authority employee, who drove him through the Holland Tunnel and back to his home.
Looking back three years later, Nestor shrugged off what he accomplished on that day, even though he was a recipient of several medals for bravery by the Port Authority in 2002.
However, he realizes that he is a changed man, even though he wouldn’t hesitate to move back into the site of his old office if the opportunity arose.
“I don’t get upset at the little things like I once did,” he said. “When I look back, if I went back to the restaurant for a another cup of coffee, I wouldn’t be doing this interview right now.”