About 8:50 AM on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, my secretary alerted me to the smoke streaming from the World Trade Center tower. I had scheduled a weekly review, and staff members were assembling. They pondered the bizarre scene wondering if it was an errant traffic helicopter or an amateur’s Cessna.

From the Citicorp Building at One Court Square, Queens, my 26th floor corner office windows faced south by southwest and down Jackson Avenue. Sitting behind an oval shaped conference table, I could raise my arms and then extend vertically my pointer and middle fingers to approximate the height of the two iconic buildings that stood six miles away. It was a wonderful panorama bounded by the 59th Street Bridge on the north and all lower Manhattan to the south. The East River’s constant barge traffic added to the scene’s dynamic energy.

The dark smoke billowed out and rose westward. With naked eyes you could see the diagonal scar caused by the impact of the yet to be determined projectile.

Just after 9........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)