I was walking from Grand Central Terminal (GCT) to Times Square where my office is. I saw people looking down 6th avenue — I looked over and remember seeing smoke. I could hear sirens in the distance. I walked into times square and was transfixed for minutes watching the big screens show what was occurring.

I went up to my office and we started to having a meeting. I work in a trading area so TVs were everywhere. We saw the second plane hit.

At the office were starting to discuss leaving while at the same time looking outside and a little worried about a plane coming into Times Square. Pretty soon after we saw the Pentagon get hit, the markets closed and we all started leaving. I did not want to go back to GCT thinking it could be a target, so starting walking uptown to catch the Metro North at 125th street. I stopped to buy a walkman near 68th street and Lex to know what was going on. Thousands of people were in the street — some looking downtown, others walking. I stopped in a bar and with others silently watched what was happening. I continued up to 125th street. A train was there and packed (I just wanted to head north, didn’t care where) — they held it for a while to apparently check the bridge over the East River for bombs, then let us go.

I picked up my child from daycare, as they had closed the bridges and my wife couldn’t get home from visiting her parents. I remember seeing garbage trucks blocking entrances to the nearby US Post Office.

I watched for the rest of the day and went that night down to the Hudson river to look back at the trade center.

I found out that night that one of our management team (that hired me) was at Windows on the World for a breakfast meeting. I also later learned I had a relative on United 93.

I now work downtown. I sometimes walk by Ground Zero, as well as the church which has a nice memorial. I still get emotional walking around the city, sometimes not even sure why.