Public Employee Press

2001-2011
"People were dazed, panicked and terrified"

With mouths agape and tears streaming down their faces, horrified New Yorkers gazed in disbelief as two jets crashed into the Twin Towers Sept. 11, 2001, sending toxic smoke billowing against a cloudless azure sky.

They soon learned that terrorists had hijacked two jetliners and flew one into the North Tower and, 17 minutes later, the second into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Flames, glass shards and jet parts rained onto crowds in the streets below. The odor of jet fuel permeated lungs.

"Ten years later I can still smell the towers burning," said Park Enforcement Patrol Capt. Tanya Prince of Local 983. "We quickly evacuated people from Battery Park City and worked closely with the National Guard to evacuate neighborhoods surrounding the World Trade Center."

The South and North Towers collapsed within two hours, engulfing the lower tip of New York City in mushrooming plumes of dust and smoke, choking and blinding pedestrians and first responders.

Thousands fortunate enough to find their way out made haste across West Street into Battery Park City. With bridges, tunnels and highways closed and no subway or bus service into or out of Manhattan, many felt helplessly trapped.

PEP Officer Sam Hendricks said, "People were at the esplanade and on piers hoping to be rescued. We had the responsibility to lead people to safety."

The U.S. Coast Guard and, gradually, an armada of private boats, fishing and party boats, Police and Fire boats, Staten Island ferries and tugboats sailed in. Dozens of sea craft converged on the East and Hudson rivers to take people to safety. In the weeks following the attacks, Prince clocked 16-hour tours patrolling the area and escorting people into and out of the frozen zone to collect personal items from their homes.

"For a long time I was in shock, in a state of disbelief," she said. "People were dazed, panicked and terrified, so to keep them calm I'd talk to them and help them see they were not alone."

Scores of DC 37 members played a vital role in the evacuation and boatlift of 350,000 to 500,000 men, women and children. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, it was the largest sea evacuation in U.S. history.

—Diane S Williams