Night fell on the city.
I decided I had to go nearer to the site. I could see the bright lights illuminating the smoke, and I wanted to see what was happening in this oldest neighborhood of New Amsterdam where I work. I said good-bye to my friends and rode my bike home. I borrowed a Swiss press pass from my roommate Frank, who works for a Swiss Press agency. I cut out a picture of myself from a MELOMANE poster and stuck it over Frank's photo.
To complete the disguise, I put on Frank's Swiss army watch. I was ready. I was a Swiss Journalist.
I was drawn to the crash site with a mixture of horror and fascination. Less than a mile away from my home is the scene of one of the the worst disasters to ever occur on American soil. I could smell the smoke and see the eerie glow from my kitchen window. I had to go closer. I hope that I do not offend anyone who may be reading this who may have lost someone close to them. I meant no disrespect by going to the attack site. I just needed to see it.
I rode my bike along South Street and parked it Catherine Slip. The street was crowded with police cars, ambulances, garbage trucks, and all kinds of military vehicles. I was able to walk west along the water without being stopped. I walked straight ahead as if I belonged there. The smoke was pretty thick and it was hard to breathe. I managed to get all the way up to Maiden Lane without being questioned by any policemen.
At 180 Maiden Lane, the Goldman Sachs building where I sometimes work, I started to realize just how bizarre the scene was. The entire lobby of the building had been turned into a military camp. There were men in camouflage laying on every square inch of the floor of this posh Wall Street building. At first, I was horrified, thinking these were dead bodies lying strewn all around. As I crossed South Street and took a closer look, I saw they were soldiers. It was here that the first soldier stopped me and asked for ID. I put on a French accent and told him I was a Swiss journalist. "No press allowed." I walked further west, and then cut up Old Slip.
I began walking along the deserted streets of the Wall Street area. Words can not describe how eerie it was. A fine layer of dust made everything white, like after a snowstorm.
Every time I saw policemen, I either turned down another street or showed my bogus pass. Some seemed to believe it, others made me turn around. I was able to get closer and closer to "ground zero" this way. I found a worker with a truck full of supplies and asked him for a face mask. I put it on and it was harder to breathe, but cleaner.
Eventually I ended up on Broadway. There was a massive conglomeration of rescue workers, policemen, military personnel, and doctors and nurses.
I turned a corner and I could see the wreckage. My heart was pounding and I was slightly hyperventilating. I felt like I had stumbled upon a spaceship or the last living dinosaur. It was the site of a heavily guarded secret, and the entire world's focus was HERE.
This is the subway stop across from the World Trade Center, in front of what used to be Century 21.
An ATM machine on Broadway, not too far from "ground zero." It was dusty and battered but still flashing, a symbol of capitalism. This is what the perpetrators were aiming for, the almighty dollar and its power.
I took one last picture of this terrible sculpture and then walked away. I hate to say this, but it was almost beautiful. The stark lighting and the smoke everywhere made it look like a movie set. In fact, that is how this whole thing felt, like a movie. As a person raised in the comfort and safety of the West, I have never been exposed to this kind of calculated destruction, except in films. That is my only frame of reference. We have been raised not to react to the pictures and videos of destruction and misery we see on the news. It happens in other places, not here. The reason we don't react to it is because we are partially responsible for the wars and struggles going on around the world. Our government supports systems and leaders who wage wars in other parts of the world. Our government supported Osama bin Laden in his "holy war" against Russia.
I rode my bike back to the East Village and met some friends. My friend Mike took this picture of me with my fake Swiss press pass and my clothes covered with dust. You can also see the Swiss Army watch I had on tO complete the disguise.
Now we have to mourn the innocent victims of this tragedy, and we must try to put an end to terrorism. But we must also use this as a learning experience, to try and understand why the current balance of power on earth would motivate a group of fanatics to such extreme acts of violence. I don't believe violence is the answer. I believe humanity must evolve out of violence. One major priority is to outlaw the combination of religion and politics. When military decisions are made in the name of a religion, mass violence occurs. According to our Constitution, church and state must be separate. Let's try to keep it that way. No ideal is worth the killing of innocent people. Wouldn't it be great if the US started a new trend in foreign policy and didn't go to war over this? I think we should try to find out who did this and put them on trial, but I hope that we don't have to kill innocent civilians to do it.