| from
Manhattan
I was just evacuated from downtown and walked, along with
thousands and thousands of others, to the East Village. It’s important
for everyone to know what I saw.
Immediately outside of my building on Water St. NYPD and
FDNY had units staging and people directing the confused and scared evacuees.
“No, that’s not running.” “Yes, you can walk across the
Brooklyn Bridge.” “Please head north before trying to go west.”
“I’m sorry sir, can I get you on the other side of the street.”
These fine men and women had just lost perhaps hundreds
of members their own close fraternities when the towers collapsed. There
were a few tears, but each and every one of them was working their hardest
to help people and prevent further tragedies.
Walking up South St., the guys at the fish market were
handing out paper towels for people to breathe through.
As we got to Chinatown, we started to run into street vendors.
Did they jack their prices? No, they lowered them. They were selling bottled
water for $1, and giving it away to people who didn’t have the cash.
By the time I got to Canal St. and 1st Ave., there were
trainees from some police academy that was not NYPD. I didn’t get a
chance to see who they were, but someone somewhere came into New York to
help direct traffic, freeing up NYPD for duties downtown. Think about that.
All along the way, people were helping each other remain
calm, encouraging folks to press on and telling them that they were out of
danger.
Whoever did this can collapse our buildings. They can kill
thousands. But they will never, never beat us.
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