Editor’s Note: For the 15th anniversary of 9/11/01, we are reprinting our coverage of that day. This article originally appeared in a slightly longer version in a special countywide edition of the Reporter on Sept. 16, 2001 called “A County Copes,” with cover designed by Jennifer Martiak featuring a photo by Tom Jennemann.
As hundreds of residents gathered Tuesday morning along the Hudson County waterfront to watch the tragedy unfold across the river in lower Manhattan, concern turned to horror, grief, and then sickness.
Commuters wandering past Hoboken’s Pier A Park as part of their daily routine to get to the train station altered their path and began sprinting across the lawn to catch a glimpse of one of the World Trade Center towers on fire after a plane crashed into it.
“I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” said a visibly shaken Robert Morgan of Hoboken. “It’s like a movie. My aunt is in that building. My God.”
Just then, the sound of a large explosion darted across the river. At 9:03 a.m. a passenger jet that had been hijacked from Boston crashed into the second World Trade tower. Morgan’s aunt had escaped, but he didn’t know that then.
“What’s going on here; what’s going on here?” yelled Barbara Sabado of Garden Street. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s Armageddon; it’s the worst thing that I’ve ever seen.”
It wasn’t Armageddon, but at that point, there was no telling whether it might come close. The attack that morning included the hijacking of four planes, two of which crashed into the World Trade Center, one that went down near Pittsburgh, Pa., and one that crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Observers crumble to their knees
In Secaucus, Mike Altilio, a staffer at the Secaucus Housing Authority, had heard the news in his office and rushed up to the roof of the Lincoln Towers, the 12-story senior citizen building and one of the highest in the county.
“I was looking at the tower of the World Trade Center smoking when I saw another plane flying towards New York from the direction of Newark,” Altilio said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘What is that idiot doing?’ and a few minutes later I saw a ball of flame.”
Shortly after 10 a.m., the south tower crumbled to the ground. A thunder of screams rushed across the pier, some coming from residents who at that moment were trying to call relatives in the tower on their cell phones.
Some people dropped to their hands and knees to cry.
Some vomited. Others prayed or hugged complete strangers.
Several impromptu prayer circles formed on the lawn as neighbors grabbed hands.
“The only thing that I could think to do is pray, pray for the victims and their families,” said West New York resident Natalie Wilson. “We also have to pray for all those people who are here in this park and parks like this who know people that work in those buildings.”
Not long after the south tower fell, the north tower fell at 10:28 a.m. and similar cries of terror came from the crowd.
“There’s no way you can ever prepare to see such an amazing building tumble to the ground,” said resident Juan Gomez. “We’re sitting here only miles away and we are witnessing thousands of lives come to an end right before our eyes. We are all going to be changed forever. That’s for sure.”
Hoboken police started to clear the park so it could be used as a possible staging area for the injured. By 11:15 a.m., it was nearly empty.
Anger and shock at WNY, JC schools
Further up the river, at least 300 parents, grandparents and other relatives were lining up outside of Public School No. 1 on 62nd Street in West New York, demanding to take their children out of school after a bomb scare was called into the school.
“Something can happen to them,” said Claudia Salinas, who was waiting on line to pick up her three nephews.
“They can’t guarantee that there are no problems,” said one parent who had just found her son. “I’d rather have my child in my home.”
Principal Lawrence Riccardi made sure that the parents or other relatives singled out each student before leaving the building.
“We wanted to make sure we knew who the students were going home with,” said Riccardi.
According to Police Director Joseph Pelliccio, a bomb scare was called in at 10:55 a.m. The caller falsely claimed there was a bomb near a mailbox outside the school building.
Elsewhere in Hudson County, students of Jersey City’s Dickinson High School witnessed the second plane hitting the World Trade Center from their classroom windows during first period.
Alex Cruz, a junior, was worried about his grandmother who works in a building adjacent to the World Trade Center. Andy Rodriguez, sophomore, said five students in his class were “crying because their parents work in the World Trade Center.”
Enrique Encarnation, a senior, volunteered to enlist in the armed forces if necessary. “If Uncle Sam needs me,” he said, “I’m there.”
Mark Kohler, a junior, said, “If there is another war, there are bombs that could destroy the whole world.”
Refugees ferried to Hudson County
By 11 a.m., Hoboken’s emergency management coordinator, Police Lt. James Fitzsimmons, was well on his way to helping establish a triage center in front of the train station. Around noon, flocks of people from downtown Manhattan started emerging from the Hoboken ferry terminal. Their suits were rumpled with ties missing, and they were covered in layers of dirt.
“When I saw the ferry there, I got on it, ’cause I knew anywhere was better than there.” — Michael Sandjaby
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They were hosed off by emergency management personnel and handed a blanket to dry off. Volunteers assisted the personnel in their duties and gave water to the commuters.
While some refugees lived in New Jersey, others were from New York and had no way to get back across the river.
“I just ran,” said broker Michael Sandjaby, who lives in Nassau County and had worked on the 14th floor of 110 Wall St. “People were crying and running down the street. There was a lot of panic, but people were helping the injured and those who had fallen. Everyone was covered in ash and dust, and when I saw the ferry there, I got on it, ’cause I knew anywhere was better than there. But now that I’m here, I have no idea how I’m getting home.”
There were hundreds like Sandjaby wandering the streets of Hoboken with blankets over their shoulders and no transportation home.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to feel safe again,” said Ringwood, N.J. resident Molly Simmons in front of the PATH station. “It was like it was out of some horrible movie.”
Donald Hoffman, a securities broker on the 26th floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower who lives in Glen Gardner, N.J., also experienced the disaster firsthand. “It was unreal, something outside of reality,” Hoffman said. “We heard [the first plane] hit, and the building shook violently and swayed back and forth. We knew something wasn’t right and headed straight for the stairs. On the way down we were passed by firefighters that were headed up. There’s no way they could have gotten out.”
Hoffman added, “Once we were outside, we ran. It only seemed like minutes, and then building fell behind us. Dirt, dust and debris were everywhere. As far as I know, everyone on my floor got out. But I worry about those firefighters.”
Stranded in New Jersey
Some of the New York refugees slept overnight in Weehawken High school. The last two people in the shelter left by ferry to Manhattan at 8 a.m. the next day.
“As fast as they came in last night, they left this morning,” said Weehawken Councilman Robert Sosa. “We just wanted to make them as comfortable as possible.”
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner reported an eerie sight late Tuesday night: 100 to 200 cars that were still parked in the ferry terminal parking lot, which is normally empty by then. Those may have represented residents, he said, who’d commuted to New York in the morning and had not come back.
Slowing down at twilight
By Tuesday evening, the frantic pace slowed down in Hudson County, and restaurants and liquor stores were filling up with patrons.
“Look at my shelves,” said Daniel Lugo, the owner of Garden Street Liquors on Garden and Newark streets. “There’re buying cases, all kinds of liquor.”
Lugo said he understood why. “A lot of people are depressed,” he said.
At 8:30 p.m., there were more than 100 people gathered at Sinatra Park in Hoboken, drinking and gazing at the smoky melange that was downtown Manhattan. Some were listening to handheld radios as President George Bush addressed the nation about the tragedy.
“Never in a million years would I ever think I would be sitting on Sinatra Park listening to the president speaking about the terrorists that just blew up the World Trade Center,” said new Hoboken resident Trey Hooker. “It’s going to be many, many days before I’m ever going to believe that it is real.”
Note: The original story can be found at hudsonreporter.com. Jim Hague, Eugene Mulero, and Caren Lissner also contributed to this story. Condolences to the families of the victims, and thank you to the brave responders, volunteers, and everyone who helped out that day, including our beat reporters Tom, Al, Prescott, and Christine who spent much of the day covering the tragedy.
Email editorial@hudsonreporter.com.