I lived in Jersey City in Avalon Bay directly across from the World Trade Centers. Every morning I would drop my daughter off at pre-school and then take the Path Train from Jersey City to WTC. I was working for an internet startup at the time located at 20 Exchange Place in the financial district. For whatever reason that day I was about 10-15 minutes early dropping my daugther off. I took the Path Train like normal and exited through the WTC and walked the 4-5 blocks to my office. As I walked into my office I heard the explosion of the first plane and saw our windows bow so much I can’t believe they didn’t shatter. At first I thought it was a sight seeing plane or helicopter as I could see the Tower but on the back side where the damage was smaller. We scoured the internet for a news story but saw nothing. I called my father back in CT, a police officer at the time, to tell him something was going on and then as we talked I witnessed the second plane hit. I told him what was happening and that we were under attack and headed down the stairs to get to street level.

Being worried about bridges/tunnels etc… I headed for the middle of Manhattan. As I walked from lower Manhattan and could see the towers, I witnessed things I would never wish upon anyone. By the time I hit 25th Street the towers had collapsed and I lost communication with my family and wife and children back in Jersey City. Eventually I was able to establish communication by one person who could call my cell and relay my messages to my family. I ended up trapped in NYC for over 24 hours before I could get home to Jersey City. There were 4 people, including myself, in our office that day – Chuck Russell, Emad Bibawi and one other person. We walked to Emads apartment on 83rd street I believe and waited it out until we could all get home.

If I wasn’t early dropping my daughter off that day I would have been in the Towers when the first plane hit. I don’t know why I was early that day but I was.