September 11, 2001 was primary day in New York City’s mayoral and city council elections. The sky was bright blue with nary a cloud. Then, two hours and 46 minutes after polls opened, that day turned into one of the most horrific days in American history. And today, a quarter of a century later, 9/11 remains a watershed moment with countless stories. To mark the anniversary, The Rockaway Times spoke to four everyday people about that day. These are their firsthand accounts, and why we should Never Forget.
Scott Ruscillo
Rockaway Park
“It was primary day, and I remember my mom waking me up early before school to place an oak tag sign, ‘Vote Lou Simon For City Council,’ in front my aunt’s house on Beach 134th and Cronston Ave. Then two hours later, I’m in art class at J.H.S. 180. It was on the third floor, so we had the best view of the bay and NYC skyline. We watched the whole thing transpire. As a kid in school, ’Shock,’ ‘Disbelief,’ and ‘Why’ are three words that came to mind. We lost a lot of locals that day. One person that comes to mind is Lisa King-Johnson, who was working on the 89th floor of the South Tower when one of the planes hit. That hit me hard, seeing her little kids now without their mother. The boardwalk and Beach 124th Street is named after her: Lisa King Johnson Promenade.
“Even for local kids who weren’t born yet, they understand the significance of 9/11 from hearing it from their parents, other family members, friends, and neighbors. We live in a community known for a lot of city workers, especially firemen, police and Port Authority, who lost their lives that day and even in the aftermath with 9/11 cancer-related illnesses.
“So, September 11 is very close to our hearts because that’s how Rockaway is designed. A lot of families stress on their kids what sacrifices were given that day. Other communities may not have the same emotion or personal connection. I’m not saying they don’t care, they may just look at that day a little differently. Even before 9/11, I wanted to be in law enforcement. In college, I got into counterterrorism, which was the big game changer in the law enforcement world after 9/11. From communication systems to the way they handle potential attacks or threats, all of that changed.”
Ellen McCarthy-Coyne
Breezy Point
Ellen McCarthy photo near here
“I worked in #2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) for 12 years, from 1989 until September 11, 2001. I met my husband there. I was working there on February 26, 1993, the date of the first WTC terror attack, when radical Islamic terrorists drove a van into the basement garage, murdering six innocent people who were going about their daily lives. I’m convinced that the 1993 attack was a rehearsal for September 11, 2001.
“The physical effects and emotional scars from my experiences that day will remain with me always. They remain with all of us, who by God’s grace made it home on September 11. The single tear in my sleeping two-and-a-half-year-old son’s eye when I picked him up at almost midnight after my long journey home and gave him the hug and kiss I had been holding in all day, is seared in my memory forever.
“On September 11, every year for the last 25 years, I post on Facebook the events of that day, and about dear friends and family that we forever lost. Among them, my best friend Susan Miszkowicz, who had just started working as a Port Authority engineer; my Stella Maris high school classmate, Florence Gregory; my husband’s close friend, FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, who while ministering to the firemen died when someone jumping from the building landed on him; and eight firefighters: Lt. Joseph Agnello, Firefighter Vernon Cherry, Firefighter Scott Davidson, Firefighter Leon Smith Jr., Firefighter Peter Vega, Lt. Robert Wallace, Lt. Robert Regan and Captain Martin Egan—all from Brooklyn Heights’ Engine Company 205/Ladder Company 118.
“That day also set in motion toxic environmental impacts that have continued to wreak havoc on people’s health in the years since the attack. So many first responders doing recovery work in the rubble and other innocent people, who lived or worked in the Ground Zero area and surrounding neighborhoods that day or in the days, weeks, months, and even years after the attack have developed cancer and other debilitating and fatal illnesses. My mother-in-law, Helen Coyne, was an executive secretary with the NY Stock Exchange. Sadly, she succumbed to 9/11-related cancer in March 2019. In 2021, we lost another dear friend, Gary Gunning, to 9/11-related cancer. I was invited to this year’s ceremony, in which a new seventh moment of silence was added to honor those who died from 9/11-related illness and injury. The photos here are of the people my family knew and loved. Please remember their names. Please remember their faces. Please remember them.”
Christy Schmitt
Breezy Point
“That day I was on my way to work at Peninsula Hospital from my home in Broad Channel. You could see the smoke from where I was driving. I pulled over by Bungalow Bar and saw the second plane hit the second tower. I said to myself, ‘What in the hell is happening?’ I was listening to 1010 WINS on the radio, and by the time I got to work all the television news was on. We still saw patients, but it felt like everything was happening in slow motion as we’re just watching everything unfold in downtown Manhattan. My then husband, John, was a Port Authority policeman. Just as he was suiting up in his bunker gear to go into one of the buildings, the second building fell. He had to dive under one of the firetrucks to avoid getting hit. He was so shook up when he saw what happened. He then walked with his group to shower off at Borough of Manhattan Community College, then return to Ground Zero to save anybody they could. Meanwhile I’m at work in Rockaway, and I couldn’t reach him the entire day, and was going crazy. I was pregnant with my first child and called my mom, who said, ‘Get some Valium in you.’ I said, ‘I’m pregnant. I can’t take Valium.’ By then it felt like the world was collapsing.
“After 9/11, it felt like all we did was go to funerals. My ex-husband lost 37 of his best friends that day. One was his best friend, Mike Cooley. Every 9/11, when the city shines the light at Ground Zero, we would tell our children, ‘That’s Mike Cooley’s light.’ And John would tell them about everyone we lost. For the next two years after 9/11, he worked incredible hours. He was never home as he worked 16-hour shifts, seven days a week. Every year on September 11, the kids, who are now in their 20s, make it a big point to get in touch with their dad just to take his mind off that day. And every September 11, at 8:46 a.m. and then 9:03 a.m., I always pause to reflect as those are the times the planes struck the buildings. I think what happened should be taught in our history books that there was a devastating terroristic act that happened on U.S. soil that resulted in thousands of lives being lost, not just first-responders, but civilians. Everyday people.”
Harold Paez
Belle Harbor
“I was on my way to work that morning to a clinic in Bushwick and was listening to 1010 WINS on the radio in my car when I heard something about a plane crash. When I heard it was an attack, I remember being on Beach 129th Street and thought maybe I should go home and grab my camcorder. Everyone was looking towards Manhattan and seeing the smoke. By the time I got to work, everyone is screaming at the horror unfolding on television. I’m not a first responder, but the hospital that I was attending as a medical foot specialist organized a group of medical volunteers. I did the night shift at St. Paul’s Chapel in downtown Manhattan, famously known as ‘The Little Chapel That Stood’ because it survived the 9/11 attacks completely undamaged despite sitting directly across the street from the World Trade Center. The area was like a scene from a war, just a mountain of twisted steel, dust, smoke and the smell of death.
“All of New York became like a small town because everyone was focused on one thing—helping one another. With human nature, you try to concentrate on the positive things—the way that New Yorkers came together and the heroic ways that everyday people were saving others. So, with 9/11, it’s a mixed bag of feelings. However of course, there are impacts, and the ripples continue. For instance, my high school, Brooklyn Tech, just had its 40th reunion. Twenty-three graduates died on 9/11 working in various capacities as first responders or working in the towers. I only learned recently that one of those who died was in my 1985 graduating class. Losing the towers felt like losing a compass because they were visible from everywhere in NYC. So, when they fell, it felt like New Yorkers lost a psychological compass for our lives. No one thought they could ever fall, but because of a horrific act of terrorism, they did.”
