I Love New York
Growing up in New York is one of the things I hold most dear to my heart. I am Caribbean, but really, was raised a Brooklyn girl. No matter where else I move, New York is my home.
The hustle and bustle, the culture, the folks from all walks of live, the blunt realities, the craziness, the toughness, the arrogant swagger, the love. It's all in me and I take it with me wherever I go.
On this date, five years ago....NY lost some of it's treasures. Some people were on their grind, trying to get to work, grabbing a bagel and coffee on their way to the largest buildings in the City when tragedy struck.
My mom and I love downtown Manhattan. The Wall Street/Fulton Street area. Whenever I came home for a visit, we would hit up our favorite stores...Century Twenty One or Syms and shop, then grab lunch at the Seaport. We were always walking the streets in Downtown Manhattan. It was our personal slice of the City.
When I got to work that day in Philadelphia, I was pregnant with my first son. I had stopped to get my breakfast.I am always the first one in my office. So I came in, logged on and was drinking some decaf. My co-worker came in and had been listening to the radio in her car, she told me to turn on the TV, a plane had hit the World Trade Center. As my office slowly dragged in....each one of us was drawn to the conference room, where we watched that morning's events unfold. We were watching LIVE as the 2nd plane struck the 2nd tower. I remember tears running down my face as they then announced that a plane had struck the Pentagon. Lastly, Flight 93 had gone down in Pennsylvania. We were under attack.
I walked out of the office and drove home in a daze. I wanted to be home, safe and sound. The images of people jumping out of the Towers was embedded in my psyche.
I needed to carry my unborn child home, protect him. The ride home was eerily quiet as I tried unsuccesfully to reach my mother and brother in NY. I did not get through to them until later that night. The rest of my family in NY all made it through. Including both of my cousins that worked on Wall Street.
My brother had stories about his walk home from Midtown Manhattan to Brooklyn. About the ice cream trucks and food vendors that just gave food away to the crowds of people walking that hadn't eaten all day. About the sneaker stores giving out sneakers to the women walking in heels. About the policemen and firemen that he saw. About the average citizens helping to hold each other up as they carried each other over the Brooklyn Bridge. New Yorkers rose to the task of holding our City together when outsiders sought to bring us down.
I will be home in the city tomorrow on business. Once again, I will walk past ground zero as I walk amongst my fellow New Yorkers.
Know that your lives have not been forgotten. Your tragedy is our tragedy.
More than ever before, I love New York. Rest in Peace.
The hustle and bustle, the culture, the folks from all walks of live, the blunt realities, the craziness, the toughness, the arrogant swagger, the love. It's all in me and I take it with me wherever I go.
On this date, five years ago....NY lost some of it's treasures. Some people were on their grind, trying to get to work, grabbing a bagel and coffee on their way to the largest buildings in the City when tragedy struck.
My mom and I love downtown Manhattan. The Wall Street/Fulton Street area. Whenever I came home for a visit, we would hit up our favorite stores...Century Twenty One or Syms and shop, then grab lunch at the Seaport. We were always walking the streets in Downtown Manhattan. It was our personal slice of the City.
When I got to work that day in Philadelphia, I was pregnant with my first son. I had stopped to get my breakfast.I am always the first one in my office. So I came in, logged on and was drinking some decaf. My co-worker came in and had been listening to the radio in her car, she told me to turn on the TV, a plane had hit the World Trade Center. As my office slowly dragged in....each one of us was drawn to the conference room, where we watched that morning's events unfold. We were watching LIVE as the 2nd plane struck the 2nd tower. I remember tears running down my face as they then announced that a plane had struck the Pentagon. Lastly, Flight 93 had gone down in Pennsylvania. We were under attack.
I walked out of the office and drove home in a daze. I wanted to be home, safe and sound. The images of people jumping out of the Towers was embedded in my psyche.
I needed to carry my unborn child home, protect him. The ride home was eerily quiet as I tried unsuccesfully to reach my mother and brother in NY. I did not get through to them until later that night. The rest of my family in NY all made it through. Including both of my cousins that worked on Wall Street.
My brother had stories about his walk home from Midtown Manhattan to Brooklyn. About the ice cream trucks and food vendors that just gave food away to the crowds of people walking that hadn't eaten all day. About the sneaker stores giving out sneakers to the women walking in heels. About the policemen and firemen that he saw. About the average citizens helping to hold each other up as they carried each other over the Brooklyn Bridge. New Yorkers rose to the task of holding our City together when outsiders sought to bring us down.
I will be home in the city tomorrow on business. Once again, I will walk past ground zero as I walk amongst my fellow New Yorkers.
Know that your lives have not been forgotten. Your tragedy is our tragedy.
More than ever before, I love New York. Rest in Peace.
posted by 1969 at
5:54 AM
7 Comments:
i didn't know you was from planet brooklyn...damn!!
that's why you're so cool!
9/11 changed my life forever I should maybe post my story from that day..but it's also a sad sad tale.
I was in California. I moved here and worked across the street from Ground Zero....
You know I am a big ol' cry-baby...I cry when I think of 9/11. A tear fell this morning as I watched the news. A tear fell last night when I knew that the country was preparing tributes for today...
I think because it's my home and I always associated it with being pregnant and preparing to bring an innocent baby into the world. It really affected me in a major way. I will never forget that day. Even now when I walk past ground zero...I get choked up. At least it served to unite us all....we really will never forget.
Miss Ahmad...I lived in Brooklyn my whole life. Went to Grammar, High School and College in NYC.
It is home.
This was a beautiful story...
It saddens me that 9/11 happend-
and you were there to witness it. But I love
to hear the stories of how we came together to help
one another in a time a tragedy.
Where was I...OOOOH I was on the 1 train traveling towards The World Trade Center. When the first Plane Hit..The train stopped all of sudden and went back to 42nd street...They told us we were under attack!! I was like WHATEVER people always overreacting..Then I looked at those big screen T.V.S In times square and saw the second Plane HIT!!! My cell phone went DEAD at that moment. OOOOOH SHIIIT!!! Tried to run but my feet wouldn't move. I just kept looking up at the sky to see if anything was going to come tumbling down... Walked over a 120 blocks that day straight to the bx...Never tired, Just scared and vunerable...
I'm with Cocoa. I tried not to watch tv and read a paper yesterday. I have enough memories about that day to last a lifetime.
BTW, Don't come back up here and not tell anyone. Especially if you're gonna be downtown near my job.
I will be on sales calls tonight (Dinner apt) and tomorrow, all day sales calls and then a customer event at the Rainbow Room. Work, not fun. Sorry guys. I will let you know when I am up there with some free time!
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