My friend Bernadette Hoban was attending a business meeting at 120 Broadway, near the World Trade Center, when the first plane hit the first building. She worked for a large insurance company. She never told the full story of what happened that day. Until yesterday when she posted this account on her Facebook page.
The sky was blue, the air was crisp, by all accounts it was a beautiful day. I parked my car on the roof of the Battery Park garage facing the twin towers. I called a friend and remembered telling her how beautiful the Twin Towers looked against the blue sky. I then walked up to broadway in line with others hustling to work. I Slipped into 120 Broadway and up to the 11th floor and into Lebenthal & Co to hold a breakfast presentation to their brokers just like I did every second Tuesday of the month. Halfway through the meeting, the door blew open, the lights flickered and someone shouted that a plane hit the WTC. Everyone scattered, some ran to the windows to see what happened, others ran to their desks to call loved ones. Being that I was an office visitor, I went out to the reception desk and tried to make a call to my sales desk in NJ. Phone service was already spotty but I finally got through to speak to my business partner Antonette Roig. We immediately started talking over each other with questions, she was asking me where I was and me asking her what’s going on! The last thing I said to her was that I felt like the whole city was blowing up and then the phone went dead. It would be hours before we would speak again. Looking back, it wasn’t the best way to end the call.
My only thought was to get out of NYC and back to Brooklyn. Walking back to the parking garage it felt like I was zig zagging through statues of frozen people but I kept going, I just needed to get back to my car. For some reason I felt safer if I was in my car and driving.
In the elevator of the parking lot, I met NY Knick star Charles Smith. He was so tall and I remember looking up at him and saying “you’re a NY Knick”, you’re Charles Smith. He smiled and “yes I am”. He then asked me where I had to go? I said Brooklyn and he said he needed to get to New Jersey. We chatted about the best way out, we wished each other well and went to our cars. We were the only people in the place, it was so eerie.
Once out of the garage, I saw a woman I recognized from Bay Ridge. Her name was Marilyn and she was taking a break leaning up against a wall trying to catch her breath as she suffered from asthma. I told her to get into my car and I will get her to Bay Ridge. By now, debris was filling the sky falling onto my car and streets. It was complete chaos with sirens and first responders coming from all directions.
My first approach home was the tunnel but when I got to the entrance via driving down the street wrong way, I saw that the inbound lanes of the tunnel were filled with abandoned cars. People just left their cars and ran blocking additional traffic to enter the city. This caused the first responders to drive through the outbound lanes to the city.
I made a wild U-turn and headed north towards the towers. My new friend Marilyn thought I was nuts but I had to go north a few blocks so I can turn around on West Street and head back towards the FDR. Red lights didn’t mean anything, we just kept moving and I found myself heading up on the entrance of the FDR and towards the Brooklyn Bridge.
It was us and another car heading north and then a NYPD highway car came up behind us. I went faster because I felt he wanted to shut the bridge that I wanted to get over. I think the the guy behind felt the same way and even though the lights and sirens were on, we kept going. Once on the ramp, the cop was still behind us and then he stopped and blocked the ramp to traffic. We were the last two cars allowed over the bridge!
People were already escaping on foot over the bridge. There were hundreds and hundreds of people walking over the bridge. On the ramp we encountered three women, two who ran out of their shoes. We stopped and persuaded them to get in the car. They were visibly upset and just wanted to get to Brooklyn. I promised them I would get them there.
Driving over the bridge was a crawl, visibility was very poor and you can feel the crunching of the debris under the tires. By this time the first tower had fallen, it was really bad, the smoke was rolling everywhere and you could see it literally turning corners around the buildings and down the streets.
Halfway over the bridge, we heard loud noises and felt vibrations. I thought someone was going to blow up the bridge. The entire car was screaming and praying out loud, God Help Us, dear God Help is was the chant of my passengers.
Then from the south side of the bridge we saw F16 fighter jets. I didn’t know who they were until I saw the USA Star on the tail. I was so relieved that it was the USA but then quickly saddened to think we were officially under attack. Until then I wasn’t sure but seeing the F16’s I realized this wasn’t a terrible accident but rather an attack. I remember saying out loud over and over again “who would want to do this to us?”
We got over the bridge and dropped the three women off on Flatbush ave. Somewhere along the line, my friend Vince called me to see if I can find his wife who was on a bus in the tunnel but started to walk back towards Brooklyn with some of her bus buddies. His wife was a chemo patient and he was very concerned about her walking in the tunnel.
What are the chances of finding anyone on a day like this? Well, I circled back to the tunnel entrance and noticed a few people resting on a wall near a gas station not far from the tunnel. Sure enough, it was Nan and her bus buddies. They loaded into the car and I took them to my house as it was impossible to get to Staten Island at this point.
Back at the house we sat in silence watching the news trying to make sense of it all. It was probably 8 PM by the time Vince was able to get to my house to pick them up and get back to Staten Island.
18 years later and I still sit in silence trying to make sense of it all.
-B Hoban
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I was downtown that day and I have the full range of stories, spanning from the horrifying to the comic. (Yes, gallows humor was in supply that day.) Many years later, my father died. I remember the uncanny feeling when I saw expressions of grief all over the Internet; I thought for a moment they were addressing me. Then I realized it was 9/11.
Kudos to Ms. Hoban for keeping her cool and having enough presence of mind to help others get to a safe place. She is very fortunate that her meeting was on the 11th floor. 9/11 was a “day of infamy” that we can never forget.
I was in NYC in the Spring, following 9-11. I saw the hole in the ground from the improvised ramp for visitors. I saw the tributes and missing person photos. I watched the bulldozers, the cranes, the workers clearing debris.
I also saw thousands of daffodils. Here is that story in case you missed it.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ten-years-9-11-10-million-yellow-daffodils-bloom-remembrance-article-1.945803
Taking stock of the intervening 18 years –
The 9-11 attack was caused by the secularization of America, according
to Jerry Falwell Sr. Falwell Jr.’s family was partying at a Miami night club (Politico has the photos), fewer than three years later.
Falwell Jr. grew his father’s “university” (and, it’s real estate holdings) into a 100,000+ student body (mostly on-line). BTW, Liberty U. stands against drinking and co-ed dancing and punishes students with demerits who engage in the activities.
Falwell Jr. was a huge and early supporter of Trump e.g. John Gauger’s activities.
Falwell Sr. said, “labor unions should study the Bible instead of asking for money”.
The working class hasn’t seen a raise in 40 years. All of the workers’ productivity gains went to billionaires. In typical GOP hypocritical fashion, Falwell Jr.’s university bio., says “Liberty U. fights for the oppressed.” The moral majority twists the truth to serve the wealthy. That should, instead, be Liberty’s motto.
60% to 80% of Christian (white) congregants voted for Trump. All of us should understand that the man who coined the term moral majority was an ardent Catholic (Paul Weyrich) and his ideological twin, Leonard Leo, who is stacking the courts with conservative judges is Catholic with 7 kids.
Bill Gates’ ed organization advised reformers to reach out to churches to achieve the goals. Gates and the Cassin Education Initiatives Foundation gave almost $20,000,000 to a single Catholic school network for expansion, now in about 1/2 the states. Cassin “intends that its grantees bring Catholic or other faith-sponsored education”.
in an interview, Gates said he participates in the Catholic Church that his wife and kids attend. A think tank linked to the Koch brothers praises Catholic schools to the hilt.
Whether expediency drives billionaires’ religious leanings, only they know. We can speculate.
Q: Why are Baptists against premarital sex?
A: They are afraid it will lead to dancing.
A reasonable fear.
In general, it seems that the Almighty, the creator of the universe, is very concerned about apes touching their body parts together or moving around excitedly.
Flerp-
Degeneres burnishing the Gates’ image just like Oprah does.
You think they will interview him and ask about Epstein?
After I published “The Language Police,” which criticizes censorship by both left and right, the publisher booked me to be interviewed by Ellen. At the last minute, the interview was canceled because “Ellen doesn’t like controversy on her show.”
It’s the way democracy’s heroes are treated by employees without conscience in corporate-owned America. Ellen thought controversy was noble when she campaigned for specific rights- not so much concern for the dignity of the people who want to hold common goods.
Diane,
You are owed unreserved respect for your grace while unconscionable slights are heaped upon you by billionaire minions. One day that list of slights will be read as a badge of courage and fortitude.
I’m really sorry to hear that, Diane. I suspect that Ellen and you would have hit it off famously!!!
Gates has made it quite clear that he is not himself a believer but that he thinks that churches sometimes do good in the world. In general, he is evasive about questions regarding religion, preferring not to wade in there.
One summary of a Gates’ interview- Gates said he didn’t know how religion influenced people to act differently – if true- very telling.
He is more than willing “to wade in” to finance a Catholic school network expansion.
Given the targeting of political ads to phones that had been in Catholic churches, Steve Bannon (Catholic) evidently views religion as political.
The “Christian” component of the attack on common goods is ignored at the nation’s peril.
I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 9/11. I always got up early to do exercises. Usually I put on Oprah and then CNN. I saw the planes and wondered what had happened. [This occurred when I was asleep. There is a 10-11 hour time difference.] I called one of my girlfriends back in the States and she told me what had happened.
When I got to school, the International School of Kuala Lumpur, the teachers were pulled into an early morning meeting. We discussed what had happened and what to say to children.
Eventually the school received a grant from the US and used it to put in bullet proof glass windows. Gates were installed on the first floor steps so that if needed, children would be put on the second or third floor and the first floor would be totally evacuated and the gates closed.
There were gates put up at the entrance to the school and teachers had to show a pass to enter. We were all issued ID cards and had to wear them all the time. Guards checked every car underneath and looked inside trunks. People had to leave identification cards, such as a driver’s license at the newly built guard houses.
The US embassy had agents come and give lectures on how to spot a terrorist.
I always carried a photo copy of my passport in case there was an emergency to haul all Americans out of the country.
At one point, all the phone lines to the States had been cut. I felt freaked out because I couldn’t talk to people back home.
It was a freaky time to live in a Muslim country. I only had one episode in which a taxi driver wanted to know why Americans hated Muslims.
Powerful tale. Thanks for posting this. I have been telling my students today that it would be a good time to start collecting oral histories of the memories of this event.
Diane: A few years ago I copied what you wrote recalling your experiences that day now 18 years ago. When I got through reviewing for a quiz tomorrow, I ended class by putting an excerpt on the screen for them to read, then casually suggesting they might find it interesting. Most passed over it quickly, but two girls sat intently hanging on every word you wrote. These two immediately sensed the depth of your experience. Thanks for sharing these things with us.
By the way, I assume it is OK to use your words in class without paying you. Am I out of line?
Roy,
When I post anything here, it is free for use.
Harrowing story. I was in the neighborhood that day, too, and remember every minute. Just curious why you identified your friend as being in the first building hit (One WTC). She says in her opening paragraph she was in 120 Broadway, a few blocks away from the trade center.
This is a beautifully written and moving account, especially in recounting how many people were reaching out to help others — many of them strangers — that day.
I think from the introduction, some readers may mistakenly think that Ms. Hoban was in one of the Twin Towers. But as Ms. Hoban writes, she was at 120 Broadway – The Equitable Building — which was very close to the World Trade Center but was not one of the Towers. I don’t think that makes any difference to the power of her account, but I thought that might be worth clarifying.
I thank you for posting her recollections of her experience that awful day.
For me the most painful part of 9/11 anniversaries is thinking about those who lost parents, husbands, wives, and all loved ones. The second most painful memory is of the faces of the people running and crying in the streets. The third most painful thing is remembering George Bush telling people to go shopping.
My brother was in building 4, and MY son, down the block, trying to escape the cloud by running into a building and going to the top floor.
I was in at Long Lake in the Adirondaks, and during the 3 hour drive home — thought they were dead!