I visited NYC for the first time on September 10, 2001.
I flew in from LA, where I was chaperoning 2 viewers who had won tickets to see Madonna in contest. It was also my first time in LA, and it was nice to see everything that, until then, had only existed on TV and in the movies and magazines. My friend Stevie (who had flown in from NYC) and his best friend Ron (from San Francisco) rented a car and we drove around LA and listened to a lot of Eddi Reader.
Oh and when we were in the Hollywood Hills neighbourhood, we attempted to locate Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston by shouting their names like tourists on crack. Great plan, huh?
There was also a 4.5 quake (my first!) that happened while we were shopping on Melrose. There were no reports of serious damage but I was shaken up.
So I got into NYC around 6pm - it was raining, traffic was bumper to bumper, and I had to get to a Jamiroquai concert at the Hammersmith Ballroom with Stevie and his flatmate, Mitchy, who I had also worked with in HK. I was thrilled to be in the capital city of the world, and after the concert, we headed to Korea Town for supper and made plans for the 4 days that I was gonna be in NYC for. Exciting stuff.
The next morning, everything changed.
The plane that crashed into the 2nd tower flew by Stevie's apartment building and the engines thundered above us. When the 1st tower came down, the building we were in shook.
I was scared, I was stressed out of my mind and I couldn't believe that this was happening. Over the next 2 weeks, we stayed with Stevie's friends (when we couldn't get back because they cordoned off the downtown area), Stevie's aunt's house in Connecticut (when the winds changed directions and smoke blew into Stevie's apartment), and finally, back in the city for a few days before I had to catch my rescheduled flight back to HK.
It was surreal, it was kinda weird and I got to see the city at its best and worst.
I still get flashes of what I saw in NYC that September and will remember it all for a long time. It was also a turning point of sorts for me - I began to feel more connected to the bigger world, and I also took steps that eventually led me to KL and to this moment when I can look back and say "Boy, that was some trip."
I am so overdue for a return visit. In more ways than one.
2 comments:
I remember when you told me about being in NYC when Sept 11 happened - I believe we were talking about Hedwig at the time.
I think almost everybody can remember where they were when it happened - I remember seeing it all happen on the news.
There's a lot I can say about it, all involving things such as the world being so small, humans being so stupid and so fragile, trying to detach one's self from the horror of it all .. but I don't see the point in a ramble right now. ;)
I'm just glad you made it back safely. I can't imagine being in that situation, much less being in the building itself.
I had a strange moment two days ago flying in from the Toronto in which I was on a small plane heading to LaGuardia Airport.
The plane route turned out to go from the west side of Manhattan, all the way down south, past central park, past chelsea, past my apartment, past the space where the world trade towers used to be...we made a u-turn and went into brooklyn only to land at laguardia a few minutes later.
The sun was shining in my face and the music on my ipod was a mix of Beirut (as you know my favorite band of the year), jose gonzalez, paddy casey and jamie scott.
I had never seen the island like this. Small, clear and totally vulnerable. For a brief second I thought that this was probably the view that the passengers saw that day. The weather was similar even...
It has been 6 years and though much has happened in everyone's lives, I have to say that I'd never felt more happy to be in New York City than that day.
You need to come back Jeff. New memories are awaiting you.
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