My late wife (Sarah Clingain Puri) and I are from New York City – having moved to Cleveland (south side of Jefferson Park) in 2001 -- after living there for over 30-years.

 

I have had a long-mixed relationship with the World Trade Center’s twin towers – almost from their birth to death and aftermath.

 

*Visited the construction site of the towers – in the late 1960’s.

 

*Worked for the structural engineers who designed the towers.

 

*Worked for the owner of the twin towers for 10 years.

 

*Was trapped in a smoke-filled elevator for over 3-hours during the first terrorist attack in 1993 and survived with seven others. It was touch and go. (See reference at end for a personal account).

 

*Saw the towers collapse on the morning of 9/11 from a skyscraper on 34th Street – next to Macys – when I was working for another employer.

 

*Walked from midtown to the collapsed towers and then over the Brooklyn Bridge – to home in Queens – a 10-mile walk.

 

*A number of my former co-workers died – they stayed inside -- they miscalculated -- they thought like the 1993 event -- the towers would not come down – but they did like the Florida condo (2021) – a case of progressive collapse.

 

*A peacenik like me – a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King -- was shadowed by the FBI for a number of years – they thought I was part of a sleeper cell. The FBI interviewed me twice. However, they have no record of the interviews.

 

On Thursday, September 9, 2021 – Cleveland’s WCPN 90.3 FM Ideastream station aired a radio show, with Rick Jackson as host, in the 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. slot titled:

 

“Remembering Where We Were During The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks”

 

I am a regular listener of the M-F radio program.

 

Listeners were encouraged to call in – which I did.

 

The entire program is very interesting and worth listening to.

 

My comments start shortly after the 11:30 minute mark.

 

Here is the link to their website.

 

Please open the audio recording by clicking on the start button.

 

Link to Audio Recording of “Remembering Where We Were During The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks”

 

The first photograph of downtown Manhattan showing the ‘Tribute in Light’ is courtesy of Keith Burke (shuttercock). The second photograph of downtown Manhattan also showing the ‘Tribute in Light’ is courtesy of Anthony Quintano (flickr.com).

 

 

“The ‘Tribute in Light’ is an art installation created in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. It consists of 88 vertical searchlight arranged in two columns of light to represent the Twin Towers. It stands six blocks south of the World Trade Center on top of the Battery Parking Garage[ in New York City. 'Tribute in Light' began as a temporary commemoration of the attacks in early 2002, but it became an annual event, currently produced on September 11 by the Municipal Art Society.of New York. The 'Tribute in Light' was conceived by artists John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian LaVerdiere, and Paul Myoda, and lighting consultant Paul Marantz.

 

On clear nights, the lights can be seen from over 60 miles (97 km) away, visible in all of New York City and most of suburban Northern New Jersey and Long Island.”

 

TRAPPED IN AN ELEVATOR DURING THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING OF FEBRUARY 26, 1993: A PERSONAL ACCOUNT