The World Trade Center Diary
Marilyn Goldberg is a North
Shore Towers resident and the
author of “My Memoir” in which
she recounts memorable events
in her life. Her book includes a
personal diary she kept in the
days following the 9/11 terrorist
attacks. Below is an excerpt from
her journal. ~ Editor
BY MARILYN GOLDBERG
Friday, September 14, 2001
Today is a Day of Remembrance
throughout our country and the
world. On Tuesday, September 11,
2001, just three days ago, there
was a terrorist attack on New York
City and Washington D.C.
At 8:48 AM a hijacked plane
slammed into one of the twin towers
and 18 minutes later another
plane flew into the second tower.
In less than one hour the second
tower collapsed to the ground--
all 110 stories and within a short
time the first tower also imploded.
Incredulous! Impossible!
Unbelievable! But, true! It is all
very difficult to comprehend.
Television was knocked off the
air except for Channel 2. The other
stations must have had their
antennas on top of the World
Trade Center and so were gone
until cable was able to pick them
up later. We don't have cable and
so rely on Channel 2 for the news.
News coverage has been ongoing
24 hours a day. The New York
Times has devoted its entire first
section to the tragedy. We have
been glued to the TV and have
read the paper from cover to cover
each day. There is nothing else to
discuss.
Sunday, September 16, 2001
Yesterday afternoon my husband
Irving and I went to the
Promenade in Brooklyn Heights to
see the view of lower Manhattan.
We had tried to find a pier on the
Brooklyn shorefront, but all those
we went to were roped off and not
allowing access onto them.
We were unprepared for what we
saw on the Promenade. The area
was filled with hundreds of people
but it was eerily quiet. There were
many candles burning in clusters,
notes attached to metal railings,
American flags tied to fences, a
crying woman lighting a candle
next to a photograph.
And although we
could not see the site
of the World Trade
Center, we could see
the billowing smoke
that is still rising
from the spot of the
destruction. That view
of lower Manhattan is
quite spectacular. The
skyline is filled with
beautiful buildings
and we always could
see the upper stories
of the Twin Towers as
a backdrop of it all.
Now all we saw was a
huge rising cloud, and
as the sun lowered on
the horizon, that cloud
turned pink. If we did
not know the horror
of it all, it looked very
beautiful.
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
Today the figures were revised.
Less than 200 were found alive,
230 are dead, 5,400 are missing
and hope for them is only based on
a miracle. Even if someone managed
to be wedged in a space, the
fumes from the ongoing burning
would be asphyxiating.
When this atrocity occurred I
was at home, Irv was in South
Orange, New Jersey, taking care
of a sick baby granddaughter.
Alan, the baby's father, was the
only one in the family who worked
close to the Towers. His office was
destroyed from the impacts but
he was able to leave the streets.
He ran uptown, and although he
couldn't phone through to Louise,
he managed to call me. He was
physically all right but so understandably
upset.
Phone service became very erratic
immediately, but somehow I was
able to get some calls and after
many tries to make some calls. So
on that day I was the conduit for
information and it was all good
news for our family.
Friday, September 28, 2001
We have had our Jewish New
Year holiday this week. And it
was a very important one for me.
Except for Vince and Steven's family,
we were all together. I needed
to see them all and hold them.
Compared to what was happening
in other families we were so lucky
to be well and intact.
The rabbi at our temple on Kane
Street, Sam Weintraub, was very
affected by this disaster. Although
he was very circumspect in his sermons
as to his own role, he was
called into duty very quickly for
his pastoral tasks. Hearing stories
of his affected congregants and
advising and consoling them had
to be very painful. The temple is
in Cobble Hill, close to the city,
with many congregants who work
in the city.
Tuesday, October 2, 2001
Sunday was a very sobering
day for us. Irving and I went into
New York to a memorial service at
Central Synagogue on Lexington
Avenue. We thought it was a general
service for Jewish people who
were killed. It wasn't. It was for a
young firefighter, David Weiss. It
was a beautiful service with hundreds
of firefighters from the city
and from Freeport, Long Island.
Three of his 'brothers' spoke, his
stepfather, Mayor Giuliani and
others. Well it seems that David
went to Baldwin schools and was a
classmate of Ellen's. So this service
became all the more meaningful to
me because I did have some sort
of connection to David.
Then Irv and I went down to
'ground zero.' It was a very rainy
and chilly day. And maybe that
was fitting for what we saw.
We were able to walk on
Broadway, which is one block
from the site. By looking
between the buildings of the
cross streets we were able to see
some of the devastation. Since
it was about 6:00 and such a
gray day the strong nightlights
were already on. We saw piles of
rubble, beams standing upright,
a metal burned out frame of
what was a smaller building on
the plaza, now only about four
stories high.
We did see part of the recognizable
facade of the World Trade
Center standing askew. We could
hear the pounding of machinery
and Irv counted a dozen trucks go
by filled with debris in the short
time we were there. There were
other people looking also and
many, including me, taking pictures.
And, as at the Promenade,
it was quiet. There was very little
to say.
There was a large paper that had
been sent from a church group
out west filled with condolences
for the lost people and New
York. In one empty spot someone
had penned in, "Larry, I just
came to say good-bye. Joe." How
heartbreaking...
10 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ September 2019