I was working in New York City on September 11th, 2001.  It was three months after I graduated college, and I was a production assistant on “The Ananda Lewis Show.”

I lived in Jersey City, with two college friends, and my cousin.  I would often walk down to the waterfront at night, admiring the twin towers from the other side of the river, and think how incredible it was to live that close to the World Trade Center.

I took the PATH train into New York every day.  There are two PATH options from New Jersey:  The 33rd Street train or the World Trade Center train.  After arriving at either of these stops, passengers can transfer to the NYC subway, and travel to anywhere in the city.

Every day I took the 33rd Street train, as it was more direct route.   However, for some reason, on 9/11, I hopped on the World Trade Center train.

I arrived at the World Trade Center, transferred to the subway heading up town, and was on my way.

Ten minutes later, I exited at 55th Street, and walked to the CBS building on 57th and 10th.  As I was walking to work, I sensed a weird energy in the city, and people were talking about the World Trade Center.  I still had no idea what was going on.  For those of you unfamiliar with New York, 57th Street is a few miles north of the World Trade Center.

When I got into the office, I went straight to the newsroom.  There, everybody was watching the news coverage.  It seemed like a crazy, surreal situation, seeing a plane hit the first tower.  Then we watched the second plane hit, and immediately everybody was talking about terrorism.

The city went into a lockdown, and Ananda Lewis, the host of our show, was stuck in a tunnel heading into the city.  We were still supposed to tape a television show that day.  Media never stops.

I called my family to let them know I was okay, as I started to worry about my cousin and roommates.  They all worked near the World Trade Center.  After a few phone calls, my roommates were fine, but I still hadn’t heard from my cousin, Jason.  By the way, cell phones did not work at all…the networks were too busy.  Landline phone calls were the only option.

Working for a daytime television show that focused on current events, our office was buzzing.  With a decent amount of camera experience, I was sent to the streets to get footage of what was going on.  Again, I was a few miles away from the World Trade Center, but started walking towards Ground Zero.  I captured video of New Yorkers on the streets, scared, screaming, and crying.

As I walked closer to the World Trade Center (still over a mile away), I become anxious, and had to turn around.  I went back to the office and made sure my cousin was okay.

I did get in contact with Jason, and he was safe.  His experience was unforgettable, though, and something that he still can’t talk about to this day.  Jason was on the PATH train to the World Trade Center ten minutes after me, and upon arrival, had to run outside due to smoke everywhere.  While outside, and standing below the second tower as it was hit, Jason had to run for his life as chunks of the building, debris, and bodies landed around him.  Jason survived.

Back at the office for “The Ananda Lewis Show,” we sat in the newsroom, and watched the towers fall.  This was unexpected, and proved that we really were in a city under attack.

The executive producers sent us home, but getting to New Jersey was no easy task.  The trains and bridges were shut down.  There was only one ferry which was heading back to my home state.

I waited in line for the ferry for over three hours at 42nd Street, along with a couple of my co-workers.  The mood was eerie, and people started yelling at others who were trying to cut in line.  Not many people were crying, everybody was just in shock.  From where we stood, we just saw the entire downtown part of New York in smoke.

The ferry dropped me off two towns north of Jersey City, and with most public transit shut down, I walked about four miles to my apartment.

I arrived home around 5PM, and my roommates were there.  My cousin had not made it back yet.

My roommates and I took a walk down to the waterfront, and looked across the Hudson River at smoke.  We could not see any resemblance of a city, just smoke.

On our way back to the apartment, we ran into my cousin Jason who was soaked with water.  The fire department had hosed down anybody that was near ground zero.  We all went back to the apartment and watched the devastating news coverage for the rest of the night.

Working for a TV show, the next day I was back to work.  Not in New York City, but in a hospital in New Jersey, filming some of the survivors and their families.  The most devastating part was watching other families arrive, desperately searching for their loved ones, but not finding them.

Within a few more days, we were back in the studio taping shows focusing on survivors of 9/11.   On my way to and from work, I passed the National Guard on every corner, armed with automatic weapons.

Around this time, I was given the opportunity to start “warming up” the audience, which was near impossible given the circumstances.  I remember being on the microphone one day when I had to announce that they had found anthrax in the building.  That day’s show was postponed immediately, and the audience left frightened.

Slowly the days, weeks, and then months passed, but New York was never going to be the same.  We will always remember.

Here we are, 10 years later, and our prayers stay with the families of all of those lost.

But it sure did feel good a few months back when we found Bin Laden, didn’t it?