Thousands on foot as New York area shuts down
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, September 11, 2001
By Tim Molloy
Associated Press
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Thousands of workers jammed onto ferries or walked for miles Tuesday to flee lower Manhattan after the attack on the World Trade Center.
But stepping off their ferries in New Jersey, many commuters had nowhere to go as railways and highways were shut down.
Those with cell phones found them useless because of overloaded networks, and commuters lined up to use pay phones or wrangled rides with strangers.
Some relief came by early afternoon, when limited train and subway service resumed from Manhattan to the other boroughs, Long Island and New York City’s northern suburbs.
B.L. Ochman, who lives five blocks from the twin towers and saw the explosions, had boarded the first morning ferry she’d seen. She stepped off in Jersey City, asking, “Where are we?”
Mike Kozakaewicz, 29, who lives in the Wall Street area, jumped onto a water taxi with only a backpack and a bottle of water.
“Right now, I am a refugee. I have nothing but what I could carry out,” he said.
Jersey City police tried desperately to clear the roads and keep onlookers away. One officer directing traffic screamed: “Get out of here! We have to bring dead bodies through here!”
Some Staten Island residents who made it to New Jersey began hiking south to the Bayonne Bridge, which leads to their homes.
Thousands more pedestrians streamed up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and other thoroughfares to get out of the lower Manhattan financial district after several subway lines were halted. Others walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn, many with hair streaked with gray ash.
Some workers sought safe haven in downtown buildings, seeking information about the attacks from television, radio and the Internet.
Mark Bishop, 39, stayed at his downtown office until 12:30 p.m., when police evacuated his building for fear of gas leaks.
Bishop was hoping to catch an afternoon ferry home to Hoboken, N.J., to see his wife and twin 2-month-old daughters.
“I’m numb,” he said. “This is a defining moment in American history on a scale of Pearl Harbor and Lexington and Concord.”
Andy Thornley, who works for a downtown insurer and saw the second plane crash into the center, took shelter in a bar with co-workers until it became clearer how they should get home.
“I took the bus in to work this morning and it was a beautiful summer day,” said Thornley, 43. “I looked at the Manhattan skyline and thought there’s no more beautiful place in the world, and now it’s gone.”
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
