By Nelson A. King
In an emotional reflection,
first responder, retired Barbadian
born New York Police
Department (NYPD) detective
Dr. Judy Newton on Saturday
told her story about her experience
during the September 11,
2001 terrorist attacks on the
United States.
“We are freedom fighters. My
purpose was to get to the squad
car,” Dr. Newton told a ceremony
on Saturday commemorating
the 20th anniversary of
the attacks, at Seaview Park in
Canarsie, Brooklyn, organized
by Guyanese-born Sen. Roxanne
Persaud, representative for the
19th Senate District in Brooklyn.
“Eight officer perished,”
added Dr. Newton, a former candidate
in June’s Democratic Primary
for the 36th City Council
seat in Brooklyn. “And I will not
have to tell the tale if it was not
a harrowing couple of weeks. We
were looking for the bad guys –
the terrorists. We were confused
at this point: Where are the bad
guys?
“We think we know people,
but we’re not as observant as
we think we are,” continued Dr.
Newton, founder and president
of the Brooklyn-based Newton
Foundation. “The only thing
I found was some cancelled
checks…and two large spoons
from Windows of the World.
“We took our hands and
formed the ‘Bucket Brigade’”,
she said. “One of the guys who
perished was a probationary
officer, Ramon Perez.”
Subsequently, in a Caribbean
Life interview, Dr. Newton, who
was assigned to the Manhattan
District Attorney’s Office,
Detective Squad, said she had
just exited the voting booth
when she received a call from
her friend, only identified as Ted,
who informed her that a helicopter
had flown into the World
Trade Center.
“I said, ‘impossible Ted, it’s
a no-fly zone’, and I asked if it
was the shadow 7, Eyewitness
News chopper,” said Dr. Newton,
who was honored, among other
first responders, on Saturday, at
St. Bernard’s Church in Bergen
Beach, Brooklyn.
“I blurted out ‘terrorism’, and
Caribbean Life, S 8 EPTEMBER 17-23, 2021
Ted replied, ‘Ya think?’”, Dr. Newton
added. “Without fully comprehending
the magnitude of
upcoming historical moments, I
headed towards the Manhattan
Bridge and was briefly stopped
by a uniform officer, who notified
me that the bridge was
closed to vehicular traffic.
“I placed my red bubble on
the roof, showed my department
issued shield and identification,
went around the officer and
sped over the bridge hoping that
there were no explosives along
the way,” Dr. Newton continued.
“As I drove through China
Town, enroute to the Squad, I
realized that everyone was running
towards me, and I was the
sole individual heading towards
danger.
“As I approached #1 Hogan
Place, the entrance to the Squad,
a court officer on security watch
advised me that the elevators
were off limits and that I could
not go up to the 9th floor, where
I quickly changed in to my suit,
grabbed a radio, extra batteries
for the radio and my cell phone,
peered out the window at the
burning towers, and vacated the
Dr. Judy Newton (center) with framed photo of fi rst responders
during 9./11 terrorist attack on World Trade Center,
fl anked by Sen. Roxanne Persaud and Fr. Edward Kane,
Holy Family Roman Catholic Church. Photo by Nelson A. King
building with my co-workers,”
she said.
At that moment, Dr. Newton
said they noticed about eight
court officers, who they knew
were on their way to the World
Trade Center for search and rescue.
Retired Barbadian-born NYPD
detective reflects on 9/11 experience
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