I was on Beaver Street at the time of the attacks. I remember standing on Battery Place looking up Greenwich at the burning #2 WorldTrade Center. I was thinking that I worked from 1974 throught 1986 on the 80th floor of 2 WTC (which was one of the floors that took the direct impact from the b0eing 737).

After thinking things couldn't get worse I started to walk east on Battery Place toward Broadway when I heard a big what I could only describe as a thunder clap. Looking up Broadway I saw this tremendous tidal wave (15 to 20 stories high) of smoke and soot headed straight for me. I, like everyone else in the area headed south to a Staten Island Ferry.

I got about 20 steps before I was engulfed. Day had turned into night (except, unlike night, I could only see about 5 feet in front of me). The ferry was, of course, overloaded with about 5 times the number of passengers. We were wedged in like sardines (those with a seat all had life jackets on). Everthing was dark. After about 10 minutes crossing the Narrows there was bright sunshine. We had exited the cloud.

Getting home from Staten Island after taking a Jersey commuter Bus was another adventure. Hitchhiking on the Staten Island Expressway (Illegal), West Shore Xpressway (must be illegal) and Garden State Pkway (very Illegal) was interesting to say the least.