Re 9/11 2001
I returned to NYC in the late 1970s from teaching for a year in Europe. Had to find a place to stay and a job. Luckily I quickly found a post with the state government, Workers Compensation agency, located on a number of floors of #2 World Trade Center. The 2 huge sky scrapers were the tallest in the world for a time, so impressive, that Hollywood made a new King Kong film to show the world the new structures, that were higher than the Empire State Building which still stood further north on Manhattan. the WTC was right by the southern tip of Manhattan, and the treat of where I worked, in winter the sun would set in the background while we could gaze down on the Statue of Liberty on the small island to the south.
Perhaps around 1982 the Workers Comp agency, of about 5 floors, had a fired drill on the 35? floor. I worked on the 38th. We all gathered round the expert who spoke to us by the elevators. I recall little of his discussion of what to do in case of fire, - except one very important point. The elevators for the new buildings included an easier method to call the elevators. Instead of pushing buttons, just the heat of your finger was sufficient to call the elevator to your floor. Then the catch - the instructor informed us, in case of fire Never use the elevator as the heat of the fire would bring you to the floor with the fire. A shocker. Not too bad as we were on the floors of the 30s; what do you do if you work on the 110th floor? I did not ask; but was happy I worked on the 38th.
This is a problem we can assume the authorities knew of, and must have fixed before other problems drove in or flew in.
All humans are much alike, and yet, we are all different. I admit, I am somewhat off the beaten track. It was the early 1980s, and sometimes, rather than take the subway to work, I would walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and the sun and clouds would engulf the 2 twin towers sometimes, sometimes making the appear almost purple. Other days I took the tube for a short, hot, sweaty, smelly ride across the East River to the WTC stop. One day got out the subway, went to the lower floor of the WTC to get a "local" elevator (for higher floors, there were other banks for those express lifts to the higher floors, fast. This day, none of the elvators were working, and the area was packed with all the people wanting to get to their jobs up stairs; I looked. How long would it take for all the people waiting ahead of me before I could get near an elevator. On occasion, I had walked down the 38 flights, so I knew where the stairs were. Should I walk up? I might be really late for work if the elevators begin to work. Or stay? I chose to walk up. All was usual, until I reached the 9th floor; I looked up and there seemed to be no lights above me. I kept walking up. By the 11th floor, I put my hand in front of my face, and could not see it.
On ground level there were many eateries for tourists and workers, but many who worked in the WTC chose to save money by bringing their own sandwiches and soda and ate on the stairs, which were no wider than average stairways. Often paper plates and soda bottles were left on the stairs. Now in total darkness, I had to use my foot and try to make sure each step up was safe. To fall in this darkness could be catastrophic. Meanwhile, I could still hear the swaying of the tower with the wind, a sound not heard on the floors, but in the stair wells, you knew it was not a ship but the tower build to sway.
When I reached the 38th floor, I had not trouble opening the door. When I appeared, the early bird group, who had arrived prior to the elevator problem, was working normally. Phones, everything was going smoothly. The elevators were still not running, and I was the only one from the 9am group to arrive. But I was shocked - how can the elevators be out, and there areno lights in the stairs? To me this was dangerous.
Workers Comp was about to move to a different location, one I wanted to avoid, so I planned to leave the job. I spoke to our union rep about contacting OCEA and hoped both of us would write them about this problem. I left in 1983
MORE TO COME
