Reflections in 9/11/01

9/1/01 – It was my official 1st day as an independent Executive Producer. We were scheduled to begin shooting on my 1st TV show, but I was laid up in bed with the flu. I lived only about a mile north of WTC and heard the sirens racing up and down Broadway. I just assumed it was a fire—standard stuff in NYC.

Then my mother called to see if I was ok and asked had I heard the news. I turned on the TV just in time to watch the 1st tower fall. I went outside, walked around, and saw life at a standstill as people streamed up Broadway by my apartment, with ashen covered suits, dresses, etc. and handkerchiefs over faces. It was eerily quiet…some were crying, but most were like me, in shock.

I don’t remember too much else other than glimpses of the smoldering buildings from Washington Square and the realization that people in my apartment building worked at WTC and likely would never come home. Since I didn’t know their names, only their faces, I’d probably never know who. I just wouldn’t see them in the elevator anymore. Disappeared.

A buddy of mine from New Jersey couldn’t get home, so we had sushi. It was surreal this bit of normalcy in an abnormal day. He finally made it home.

For weeks after 9/11/01, I smelled the burning embers and flesh. But when I went uptown, it was as if it never happened. Folks went about their lives, eating out, laughing, having a good time. I wondered about how humans can do such everyday things when near so much suffering of neighbors.

But at least the country was united, and George W. Bush, a Republican President, didn’t care that most of NYC didn’t vote for him. He came and tried to soothe and tried to lead. It got a little political, of course, as it should. Who was to blame? Who’s watch did this happen on, and why? Why did Saudi Arabia get off so easy when their fingerprints were all over the dirty deed? Legitimate questions.

 But mostly, people were united. Whenever I traveled down south or out west, for the next 2 years, distributing my new show, people would often ask me where I was on 9/11 and express their horror, sympathy, and support.

Today, the Covid 19 pandemic has claimed almost 10x as many NY Lives and nearly 67X US lives. In many ways, the covid 19 experience in NYC was much more terrifying and definitely more devastating.

But the most devastating thing of all is the lack of unity. The response I received from a few (but certainly not all) when sheltering down south and on social media was an offensive scoffing, snorting, and pretending Covid 19 was a joke, a hoax, or an exaggeration. It was hurtful and disheartening in a way I may never be able to forget. Forgive, yes, but not forget.

I always thought to myself that the next time a tornado tears through, I’ll be sure to pass along some conspiracy theories and comment on how they always are asking for a hand out when tragedy strikes. But the reality is, I am not wired that way. I can’t sit by and be callous when someone else is so obviously suffering.

New York sends far more money to the Federal Government than it receives back. NYC is crucial to this country’s economic prosperity. Undoubtedly more crucial than Tennessee or Kentucky. That’s a hard truth for some to swallow, but it’s true. Try recovering without NYC.  But in reality, it’s not about that. It’s about being only as strong as our weakest link. Even if NYC wasn’t the powerful economic engine it is, should we just let the people there suffer because we don’t share their political beliefs? In the UNITED States of America?

But some politicians stated that rather than federal aid, NYC should go bankrupt because a majority of its voters didn’t vote for their particular party or see the world as they see it. Pathetic. Not only do plenty of Republicans, and, like me, Independents, ALSO live in New York, but the more significant point is also we’re all Americans.

Again, try recovering with a bankrupt NYC. Let’s see them crow about their “best economy ever” con-game then?

As we remember the folks who died on 9/11, let’s also remember the country we once were, actually the UNITED States of America. Not some colors on an electoral map to be manipulated.