A NY State Court Officer Remembers 9/11

www.nycourts.gov

On 9/11 2001 I was a NY State Court Officer, to be exact I was a NY State Senior Court Officer having been promoted several years prior.  Before I was promoted I had worked in NYC at Manhattan Family Court not far from the World Trade Center.  I was working at Family Court the first time 'they' attempted to bring down the World Trade Center in 1993.  I remember that day very well.  The constant sirens and Police cars and Fire trucks passing the courthouse.  When we got out of work the streets were more congested than usual and the subways were sporadic at best - we walked the nearly 3 miles to Penn Station. 
On 9/11 2001 I no longer worked in NYC and was actually on vacation getting ready to go outside to do some painting on the house.  The phone rang and it was my friend, a State University of NY Police Officer with whom I had worked before becoming a Court Officer.  He told me to turn on the TV that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.  I turned on the TV and it remained on all that day and the next.  I thought the phone would ring telling me to report to work, but it didn't.  Eventually I would learn that 3 of my colleagues perished when the towers fell.
In October and November I was back working in NYC assigned to a security detail on the west side piers.  OEM (Office of Emergency Management0)  had set up operations there where all city, state and federal entities had representatives thereby making it easy to manage and coordinate all aspects of response to this massive 'crime scene'.  We were there to provide security to the site, and to ease the burden on the NYPD.  We were also to keep a lane open for emergency vehicles and all vehicles working at Ground Zero.  Huge trucks would come through to remove the debris.  I remember when we were driving to and from work over the Queensboro Bridge you could see that 'the site' was still burning.  I have since retired and moved from New York.  I could probably write pages about what I remember from 9/11, I know it is something I will never forget. And I will never forget my 3 colleagues that perished that day.

Tomorrow I will write about Captain Thompson, SCO Wallace and SCO  Jurgens.

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