“View from Williamsburg,” a controversial photo by Thomas Hoepker. While he initially chose not to publish the image because of the group’s relaxed demeanor, it was eventually released in 2005.
By Geoffrey Cobb | news@queensledger.com
As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, those of us who lived through the terrible tragedy recall that awful day. I was teaching at Newtown, High School in Elmhurst, Queens, which had such a huge population that we had three shifts of students. I was on the late shift and about nine in the morning I left for school, driving East on the Long Island Expressway. I was listening to a rock radio station when the announcer mistakenly reported that a small plane had struck the Word Trade Center.
When I got to school there was complete pandemonium and real fear. I was teaching English as a Second Language and my Muslim students were particularly frightened, believing that New Yorkers would single them out for reprisals, which thankfully never happened. When I got a break I went straight for the school’s roof, which offered a clear view of Manhattan. One of the towers had collapsed and another one was burning, a sight that is seared in my memory.
When I drove home to Greenpoint, the Long Island Expressway was crowded with fire vehicles trying to get to Manhattan. The exceptionally clear skies accentuated the huge plumes of smoke, which bellowed from the wreckage of the towers.
We were close enough to the Twin Towers that documents from the buildings were blown across the East River and landed locally.
For days after the attack, you could smell the distinct odor of burning material that emanated from the smoldering pile.
I recall pictures of missing loved ones appearing on the walls of the Union Square subway station, a haunting witness to the personal loss many New Yorkers felt.
At least eight people with Greenpoint connections died in the tragedy, but the figure is probably higher. After the attack, local residents erected an impromptu memorial at at the intersection of Conselyea Street and Graham Avenue with the names of eight residents.
Among the firefighters who perished that day were Greenpointers. Lt. John A. Crisci of Haz-Mat 1 perished on that day. Lt. John Napolitano, forty-four-year-old firefighter Thomas E. Sabella, Lt. Carl J. Bedigian of Engine 214, who grew up in Greenpoint and Lt. Andrew J. Desperito of Engine 1 were all firefighters with local roots who died that day.
Saint Cecilia’s parish erected a plaque to honor the victims, one of whom was Catherine Fagan, a widow and a mother who lived on Haussman Street. Debbie Manetta was just thirty-one years old and worked for Cantor Fitzgerald when she perished. Computer technician Paul Ortiz was just twenty-one years old when he died.
There was another tragedy after the attack. The Department of Environmental Protection mistakenly assured fire fighters and others working on the smoldering rubble that it was safe to work without a respirator. More fire fighters died from inhaling toxic fumes after the disaster than initially died in the attacks.
For Greenpoint and many other communities across the country, the attacks left a profound legacy of loss and sadness. Time has not diminished the loss and pain many of the victims’ families still feel more than a quarter century after the disaster.
Geoffrey Cobb is the author of “Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past.”
