September 11, 2001. - "My Day Ten Years Ago..."

SPECIAL TO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS-- American Airlines aircraft sit idle at the gate at Boston's Logan International Airport, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Logan was the airport where two of the four hijacked planes took off from, both hitting the World Trade Center in New York. (Chet Gordon for the NY Daily News/THE IMAGE WORKS)

Everybody remembers where they were on this date, just as folks from an earlier generation can recall where they were on November 22, 1963 when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was gunned down in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Since I couldn't get any further south than Yonkers, NY by car while the events were unfolding in lower Manhattan, (I was living in lower Westchester County near the CT border at the time), I was instructed by the photo desk in New York to "Go to Boston...!" I can still hear those frantic orders from the photo editor at the time, on a gas station pay phone - as there was no cellular service. I'll never forget how quickly I made it to Boston's Logan airport for the back story of where two of the hijacked American Airlines jetliners took off from, and eventually crashed into the World Trade Center towers in lower Manhattan. I was able to make a few images on an original Nikon D-1 series camera from the paper, but back then I had no way to transmit or email my images back to New York. There was no readily available wi-fi or hotspots to access the internet. In fact, I don't think I had all the proper software on my Apple G3 laptop to edit and transmit images remotely anyway. I'd only been shooting and scanning film negatives to email via a phone DSL modem. I had to find the Boston office of the AP, so they could move my images. I think we moved only three or four images from the airport and the following press conference at one of the big name hotels near the harbor. Then after winding down in Boston that evening, I was told to head back to New York, and "Be ready to go to work tomorrow..." Talk about a day. Nothing near what some of my colleagues in the business experienced, saw, and photographed, but it's a day seared in my memory as well... ~cg.

September 11, 2001. - "Now It's Been Ten Years..."

An American flag flies atop the crumbling facade of the south tower of the World Trade Center's South Tower on Monday, September 24, 2001. A terrorist attack on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 destroyed to the two worldwide known icons in lower Manhattan when two jetliners struck the towers. The facade was brought down by construction crews on Tuesday, September 25, 2001. © Chet Gordon/THE IMAGE WORKS

When I finally made it downtown to the site known as "Ground Zero", two weeks after September 11, 2001, I remember thinking I didn't really need to make a lot of images. I wasn't competing with anyone or racing against some imaginary deadline in my head. I just needed to see and witness the scene. I remember the unnamed attorney who tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I'd really like to see the view from his 44th. floor office (below), the horrid smell of death rising like a cloud through the sewers, the eerie calm of an area of Manhattan that was always bustling during business hours, and the overcast rainy day it was on that day ten years ago when I made these images. There isn't even a need now to seek out any more of my outtakes from the day or subsequent visits downtown through the years. It's been ten years since that day and look where we all are in this world... ~cg.

Smoke still rises from the rubble and the crumbling facade of the World Trade Center's South Tower can be seen from the 44th. floor of an office building at 140 Broadway on Monday, September 24, 2001. A terrorist attack on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 destroyed to the two worldwide known icons in lower Manhattan when two jetliners struck the towers. © Chet Gordon/THE IMAGE WORKS

New York Army National Guard soldiers and an NYPD policewoman gather together a few blocks south of the crumbling facade of the World Trade Center's South Tower A terrorist attack on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001 destroyed to the two worldwide known icons in lower Manhattan when two jetliners struck the towers. The facade was brought down by construction crews on Tuesday, September 25, 2001. © Chet Gordon/THE IMAGE WORKS

September 11th. - Ten Years On... Highland Falls, NY 11•Aug.•11

Detail of a 7 foot, 1,500lb. I - Beam section from the wreckage of the World Trade Center, after it arrived at the Village Green in Highland Falls, NY on Thursday, August 11, 2011. The beam will be formally dedicated during a ceremony on September 11th. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

"The Ground Zero Mosque..." New York, NY 24•Aug.•10

Matt Sky (26) of Manhattan's East Village during the eighth day of his demonstration at the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 Park Place in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Yesterday's assignment(s) called for a drive into lower Manhattan for two separate stories. One reporter is writing on the national controversy on the proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks north of the former World Trade Center, now of course known as Ground Zero. The other story was some 10 blocks away at the U.S. Federal Courthouse where the trial of the "Newburgh Four", the suspected home-grown terrorists who were caught last year as they attempted to blow up synagogues in the Bronx, and shoot down military cargo aircraft at nearby Stewart Air National Guard Base. Since I knew getting to the city by car is usually a drag during the morning rush, it meant leaving home by 6AM or so, and channeling any good karma to the parking gods to play the "let's see if I can find street parking" downtown scenario. No such luck on street parking, so after finding a reasonably priced lot at $18.00, my day of pounding the streets could begin in an intermittent rain. The day's assignments called for a bit of walking between both sites, as well as venturing down to Ground Zero to make a few location "filers" (right) and for me to personally get a feel of the scene there again. Nothing panned out at the Federal courthouse picture-wise, as it was only the first day of the trial, and by the time I'd spent about two hours between the mosque site and Ground Zero, I was able to leave the city and make it home by 2PM or so. The office had images by 4PM, and everybody was happy. Our take on the proposed mosque story is scheduled to run tomorrow (Thursday). Here's a few favorites from my "parachute" assignment into the city. Ironically, all my favorite images from the day were made with one camera (Canon 5D-MKII) with the 16mm - 35mm zoom. ~cg.

Tourists view ongoing construction at Ground Zero, the site of the former World Trade Center in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. A proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks away has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record
Pedestrians cross Church Street at Vesey Street at Ground Zero, the site of the former World Trade Center in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. A proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks away has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Mounir Bouabane at his falafel cart on West Broadway near the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

The site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 Park Place in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Matt Sky (26, center) of Manhattan's East Village during the eighth day of his demonstration at the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 Park Place in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Stephen Patti (83) of Brooklyn with his placards at the site of a proposed Islamic center and mosque at 45 - 51 Park Place in New York, NY on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. The mosque is being considered in the former Burlington Coat Factory, two blocks from the World Trade Center known as Ground Zero, and has caused a heated national debate. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record