September 11, 2001 As It Happened (Audio): From WCBS Newsradio 880 in New York

Publisher's Note: This post was originally published on this site on 19 August 2009. 

For those who have forgotten what Sept. 11, 2001 was like, here are "As It Happened" recording from WCBS, Newradio 880 New York. The recordings span initial word of the North Tower being hit from helicopter traffic reporter Tom Kaminski and end after the South Tower collapsed, several hours later. Allow a few seconds for audio to load on high-speed connections; several minutes for dial-up. Warning: Some of these recordings may be difficult for some to listen to. Also, please allow some time for the audio files to load as they're somewhat large in size. 

The First Report:

The Second Tower is Hit

The aftermath

September 11, 2001: As It Happened

9.11.01 — Eight Years Later

What follows are four videos — from 8:30 a.m. to about 11:15 a.m. — from Sept. 11, 2001. The first video starts with a striking look at Good Morning America before the first tower was hit by an airplane. It was that last TV segments before the world changed dramatically. The videos progress through the fourth one, which leads through after the collapse of the north tower. These videos were made available by a special 9/11-related media project and come from the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. You'll notice they break away from some of the New York coverage for local coverage of the attack on the Pentagon. Warning: These videos may not be suitable for all viewers. Also, please allow time for the videos to load after pressing the play button — the files are very large in size.

8:30 a.m. to 9:12 a.m.

9:12 a.m. to 9:53 a.m.

9:53 a.m. to 10:35 a.m.

10:35 to 11:15 or so

It's Time for All Americans to Truly Remember What Happened on Sept. 11, 2001

In just a month, America will pause yet again to remember the tragic day that gripped the world on Sept. 11, 2001.

Lest we forget — and sadly, there are many who have already forgotten this — on that fateful day, 2,974 lives were lost, including 343 New York City firefighters, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers. Lest we forget, we will pause to remember the more than 200 people who decided that rather than burn to their death in fires that some estimate were in the thousands of degrees, it would be a better option to jump more than 1,000 feet to their ultimate death.

Lest we forget, we will pause to remember the more than 650 people from just one company — Cantor Fitzgerald — who lost their lives on that day. We will pause to remember the pilots, flight attendants, innocent children, business travelers, vacationers who boarded planes in Boston, Portland, Maine,  Newark, N.J.  and Washington, D.C., and never returned home to their loved ones, to their jobs, to their daycare centers, to their friends.

Lest we forget, we will pause to remember the brave men and women of Flight 93, who knew they were going to be the missile that launched either into the White House or the Capitol — and who instead decided their own fate by taking over that United Airlines airplane, bringing it down into a field in that small Pennsylvania town whose name we’ll likely never forget, Shanksville.

Lest we forget, we will pause to remember the rescue workers who have since died because of their selfless work, looking to find the remains of those who perished before them.

We are eight years removed from that awful day, and yet somehow, many Americans — including some New Yorkers — pass by the site that once held the Twin Towers as though it were any plot of land being “built upon,” and not a sacred space where all those lives were senselessly lost.

We are eight years removed from that terrible day, and yet somehow — this blows the mind — there is not a permanent memorial yet built where the World Trade Center Towers once stood.

We are eight years removed from that day of carnage, and yet somehow, the mastermind of the entire plot, Osama bin Laden, still has not been captured and brought to justice for the lives he took without just cause. Yet still, there are some who fail to remember this. There are some who have completely forgotten about bin Laden and what he did that day.

We are eight years removed from that day of terror, when more than 10,000 people were able to escape the fires, falling debris, broken glass … only to become covered with that grey dust from head to toe — that same dust that turned day into night twice as both towers crumbled into shredded pieces of steel.

We are eight years removed from that day when so many, to save their lives, fled up streets, ducked into doorways and stores, hid underneath cars and inside cars, not knowing if they’d make it out alive — how could they know whether they’d be hit with fallen steel or other debris?

Yes, we are eight years removed from Sept. 11, 2001. And while there hasn’t been a terrorist attack on American soil since that day, we are a nation filled with so many people who forget what that day felt like — for those who lost someone and even for those who didn’t, but who nonetheless lived through the day’s events. So many have forgotten about that car ride or ferry ride home that Tuesday afternoon that took what probably seemed like an eternity. So many have forgotten about that awful smell that surrounded Ground Zero, Lower Manhattan, Jersey City, Hoboken and parts of Brooklyn for months after the attack — a smell which a combination of burning metal, debris, paper, wood, other elements and yes, human flesh.

In just an instant on Sept. 11, 2001, so much changed. Many said the day was one they’d not only never forget, but it was a day they’d grow from. This writer, who was just a few miles away from the World Trade Center that day — in Downtown Jersey City, N.J. — hasn’t forgotten a single detail about that day, down the most minute details of what I was wearing that day, what I had to eat and drink, what I listened to on the radio, what I saw and smelled.

Sadly, though, eight years removed from Sept. 11, 2001, there are those who have completely forgotten about that day and what it meant to this country.

Take a look at the pictures posted around these words — and if you’re one of those people, ask yourself “how?” The pictures don’t lie — nor do the words that recall that day. It’s a day no one should ever forget.

And it’s a day, the likes of which we should never have to face again. Yet the more we forget history, the more we are likely to repeat it, as the old saying goes.

It’s time for everyone, in all walks of life, to truly remember what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.

That time starts now.

Click here to read my reflections on the seventh anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, from 2008.

If the World Trade Center site rebuilding ever finishes, security at the site will be unprecedented

While it has been announced it may be some time before rebuilding at the World Trade Center site is complete, police announced recently that security at the site will be designed to help prevent a third terrorist attack, the New York Times is reporting this morning.

The security measures will prohibit many cabs and limousines from approaching the site. Security posts will be set up in 16 locations. And buses picking up tourists won't be called to pick up passengers until everyone has arrived at the pickup center.

To read the entire report from the New York Times, click here.

Thank heavens for David Paterson

The day he was sworn in as New York's governor, I immediately realized there was something very special about David A. Paterson. Despite his limitations with vision, he has an incredible sense of humor — and an incredible sense of honor to be serving as the state's governor.

So when we learned this week the World Trade Center rebuilding project was moving along at a snail's pace — you'd have to be living in a cave not to realize this though — and when he demanded answers as to why it was taking so long, and when he demanded to know how long it was really going to take and cost, I wasn't the least bit surprised.

You see, David Paterson isn't like his predecessor. He's not like Gov. Jon S. Corzine. He's not like Jim McGreevey. He's not like the weasel we now know as George Pataki. No, folks, he's not like any of these men. Because he's shown, in a small period of time, what it means to be a true leader, what it means to have honor, what it means to be truthful with the people — something none of the aforementioned men know at all.

Paterson was disgusted to learn the project at Ground Zero is well behind schedule and above budget. And yet, unlike Pataki and company, instead of giving a half-ass excuse, instead of standing before a podium making excuses for the builders, the Port Authority and any others responsible for this mess, Paterson stood up, said this is unacceptable — and demanded ... that's right folks, demanded ... accountability.

For the first time in memory, a sitting governor demanded to know how it's possible this happened. He demanded to know how Pataki allowed all of this bureaucratic crap to transpire for years.

And I don't know if there's anything more refreshing than this from a political standpoint.

It's nauseating to think that when the United States of America pauses to remember the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on Sept. 11, 2011, there won't be a permanent memorial built to recall the lives tragically lost that awful day.

And David Paterson isn't pleased.

He shouldn't be.

Earlier today, I spoke with my dear friend and colleague on this site, Sean McDonald. He told me of his journey to Manhattan today and the time he spent, in transit, near Ground Zero. He, too, couldn't believe what he saw. Nor could he believe what he heard.

While he stood looking at the site, he noticed a group of tourists who clearly didn't know what was going on with the site. He says the mom in the group said: "Wonder when they'll rebuild here?"

Sean's response to me was priceless. He said: "You know, I wish George Pataki was standing somewhere close by. I would have gone up to the family and told them to ask him that very same question."

Why?

Because Pataki truly and apparently could care less — nor did he ever care — about what happens at the World Trade Center. If he did, would we be in this mess right now? Would we be struck with the realization it'll be perhaps 11, 12, 13, 14 years after the attacks before a memorial is built? What does Pataki care? He's getting his $10K a speech on the speaking tour.

Sean and I also discussed what it's like to lose a relative. Both of us have had too much experience with these things. It hit me: Imagine if any of us had lost a relative, and the cemetery caretaker told us we'd have to wait 13 years before we were able to put up a headstone.

We wouldn't have it.

Yet George Pataki, for the hundreds of people whose remains were never identified, and whose final resting place is Ground Zero, allowed something similar to happen by ensuring it'd be more than a decade before a memorial was built at the site.

Disgraceful, George. Disgraceful. How can you look at yourself in a mirror and be proud of anything good you accomplished as New York's governor? Because as good as the good things were, this one bad element trumps it all — and I mean everything.

Yet in the same breath, it's comforting to know we've got someone who truly does care in David Paterson.

Perhaps the saddest part of all of this is that it took a governor who made it into office by fate.

Perhaps we'll learn from the mistakes of the likes of George Pataki, and do whatever it takes never to elect him — or anyone like him — to public office ever again.

Then, folks, and only then, will any kind of justice be served.

I defy you to tell me — or the relatives of a 9/11 victim — otherwise.

NY Daily News all over WTC mess

The New York Daily News are all over the news of the disgrace which is the rebuilding project at The World Trade Center. Click here for information about the changes to the project. Click here for a tremendous editorial from The News, which began on Page 1 of its editions today. The one question that still remains: How could this happen? I wish there was an answer.

May be 3 more years before World Trade Center rebuild is complete

Here's a story update from The New York Post via the Associated Press on the progress at Ground Zero. The report indicates there could be as much as a three-year delay, as if it hasn't already taken long enough to rebuild there.

Taking much longer than expected at Ground Zero

The Canessa Corner
By Kevin Canessa Jr.

This morning, when I woke up, my routine was no different than usual. I made a pot of coffee, and sat down at the computer to read the morning news.

As I normally do, I went to the New York Post's Web site as one of my first stops. And when I saw the headline I am about to discuss, it instantly made me sick to my stomach — literally. The headline read: "MASSIVE WTC COST OVERRUNS LOOK GRIM." The headline was enough, but the story itself was extremely painful to read. And I can only wonder what the people who directly lost someone Sept. 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center must think in reading such an incredulous, yet brilliantly presented story.

The piece, written by New York State Editor Fredric Dicker, explains that the cost of rebuilding at Ground Zero will far surpass the originally estimated costs. But worse, the story reveals what we all sort of already knew: The rebuilding project is way off schedule, and it may be many years past the originally projected 2012 completion date before everything is said and done at the site of our nation's worst-ever terrorist attack.

Here are some absolutely alarming new projections, courtesy of The Post:

• The massive transit hub, originally slated to open last year, may be scrapped completely.

• The Freedom Tower, scheduled for a 2011 opening, may be pushed back to 2013.

• Towers 2, 3, and 4, scheduled for a 2012 opening, have been pushed back "months," according to The Post.

• The 9/11-World Trade Center Museum, slated for a 2009 completion, may not be done until 2013 or 2014.

• And finally, and perhaps most disturbing, the planned Sept. 11 Memorial, scheduled for a 2009 completion, may not be ready until 2011.

On this very same Web site, I have lamented, over and over, about how Ground Zero, a place of such great horror, a place of final rest for thousands of Americans and people of many nations, is void, to this day, of a remembrance or memorial to honor those who died that day in 2001. It is difficult to even walk anywhere near Ground Zero, because a once-sacred place is now being treated solely as a pit and a construction site.

Those who died there — the innocent office workers, the cops, the firefighters, the EMTs, these heroic people who woke up one September morning in 2001 — are now an afterthought. And though we've invaded two nations since the attacks of that fateful day, nothing, nothing at all, recalls the lives that were lost. There's barely a plaque. The original names that donned the perimeter of the site exist no more, thanks to construction. The fences around the site close off this once-sacred place from the view of the people who might want to come there to remember their lost relative.

And now, June 29, 2008, we learn that in all probability, it will be 10 years after the actual attacks before a long-overdue and fitting memorial to the victims is complete and ready to accommodate visitors.

Is this even possible?

We are the United States of America. How on God's great earth could it take 10 years — 3,650 days or so — before a memorial is built? After all, it only took a few months to rebuild the Pentagon. There's a memorial there.

There's some semblance of a memorial in Shanksville, Pa.

Yet in New York, the site of the largest number of casualties, there isn't a thing to remember the victims. Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all.

A lot of the blame here, according to the Post, belongs with former New York Govs. Eliot Spitzer and, moreso, George Pataki.

Pataki did a terrible job ensuring the pace of the project moved along adequately.

How terribly sad this is.

In 2001, when America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani gave us all comfort after the attacks, always by his side was Pataki. When Pataki spoke, you felt a sense that he cared. You felt a sense he, too, was in pain over the loss of so many people.

And yet, we now know he allowed bureaucracy to slow this rebuilding project down to a snail's pace.

In my lifetime, nothing comes close to being more horrendous than the actual attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But this new news comes very close. Pataki dropped the ball here like no one else ever has for just about any reason.

And the next time you're around or near Ground Zero, stop for just a second. Take a long, hard look at the site where two majestic Towers once stood. Then ask yourself: "How is it possible that seven years after the attacks, there has barely been an inch of progress?"

Then think George Pataki. And then, continue to wonder. Because no answer, no reason, no explanation would or could ever be good enough to explain why there's still no memorial and still very little progress — and how it is possible that it will be 10 long years after the attacks before a memorial is built. Just think of how many who survived the attacks — or many who are surviving relatives — might never, ever get to see the memorial for a plethora of reasons.

For that, Pataki should always be remembered as the governor who said he would — be who never, ever did.

That, my friends, is one of the biggest disgraces in our lifetime.