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My heart breaks today thinking of my friend, Welles Crowther, my classmate FDNY Firefighter John Florio and mentor Fr. Mychal Judge and all those lost that day or from related illness since. Please remember the sky with me today; the perfect, glorious, beautiful sky that was above us all, peaceful, undisturbed,  and making us glad to be alive, appreciating September... before all the awfulness began. Celebrate all the tiny, person to person acts of kindness and sacrifices that are woven into the tapestry of this day by ordinary people who became extraordinary heroes. Let their stories and legacies live on.  I have too much to say and the words won't come. Only that. #NeverForget911 

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My heart breaks today thinking of my friend, Welles Crowther, my classmate FDNY Firefighter John Florio and mentor Fr. Mychal Judge and all those lost that day or from related illness since. Please remember the sky with me today; the perfect, glorious, beautiful sky that was above us all, peaceful, undisturbed,  and making us glad to be alive, appreciating September... before all the awfulness began. Celebrate all the tiny, person to person acts of kindness and sacrifices that are woven into the tapestry of this day by ordinary people who became extraordinary heroes. Let their stories and legacies live on.  I have too much to say and the words won't come. Only that. #NeverForget911 

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I was in the 9th grade in 2001. At that time, most of the people in my country used to listen to a small radio to keep in touch with international news.I still remember the radio broadcast the news of terror attack .When I heard the news,I was shocked, and prayed for those innocent people. I deeply honor the lives lost and affected by the attacks on September 11, 2001.

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"Reject war, pray for peace"

It is the responsibility of every country and the first citizen to maintain world peace and tranquility. Let us stand on the stand of justice and justice and realize peace and a better tomorrow for all mankind by opposing aggression and war.
Harmony is not only a contribution to the United States, but also a contribution to the world and a contribution to mankind.
World peace concerns the whole world, every country, and even everyone.

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My recollection of being at BMCC on 9/11

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My recollection of being at BMCC on 9/11

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I was at 199 Chambers St when I found out that a plane had hit the WTC.  Then, on my way to teach a course at Fiterman, I was crossing the landing to get to the ramp when I looked up and saw the jet smashing through the other tower.  I stayed in the area for a while because my wife worked near the towers and I was hoping to meet her.   I witnessed so much trauma and saw both buildings collapse.  I will never forget the victims or the stench of burning iron as it was loaded into barges right outside my office window.
Thinking back, one prior moment frequently recurs in my memory. One starry night long ago, I was walking across the George Washington bridge late at night (there's an incredible story as to why.. but not for now...). As I looked at the WTC shimmering on the skyline a French phrase came to mind: "Ce dont l'homme is capable." This is what humans are capable of! Those buildings were not just aesthetically appealing, but also represented to me the concept that we can a living, and a beautiful life, with our minds. No one made any THING in those buildings, all just traded in ideas. I think this is a part of our mission at BMCC- to strengthen the minds of students so they need not endure lives of tedious physical labor, but can make a living, and a good life, using mainly their minds.

Our proximity to the WTC is significant.  One contribution of BMCC to this ideal is that we ensure that the opportunity to pursue that kind of future is available to all regardless of race, economic status, religion or how one’s first interaction with formal schooling turned out.

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Blessings:

My interview for WBAI-FM, 99.5, with BMCC's Student Government Association (SGA) following 9/11, led to the restoration of millions of dollars in proposed capital budget cuts (for at least 10 years), the rebuilding of a BMCC building which was damaged on that day. & the freezing, or delaying of tuition increases

Working with Quinton (forgot his last name) aka Q, the then President of the SGA, & his team, we brought on board, NYC Council Member Charles Barron, who utilized his Chairmanship of Higher Education, not only to reduce the proposed budget cuts, but to also have the damaged building rebuilt.

My program's Technical Director, Roberta Walker Kilkenny, suggested that since prestigious K-12 schools in the immediate area were featured in the media, BMCC must also receive media coverage.

My initial interview on WBAI's Telling It Like It Is, resulted in 2 afternoon drive-time interviews with Hugh Hamilton, Host of Talkback, also on WBA.

These programs took live on-air calls from across the NY Metropolitan area.  Callers gave exceptional strategjc guidance to these BMCC students.

Council Member Barron, now NYS Assemblyman, led the charge by counseling SGA's President Q & his team on how to politically maneuver.

At a BMCC rally at City Hall, Mayor Bloomberg's response to my question about the proposed budget cuts to CUNY & SUNY was, that he'd done everything possible, that it's now in the hands of the State Legistature, that's where the focus must be.

Charles Barron held an all-day hearing at City Hall.  Every Council Member attended.  Attendees' speaking time was 2 minutes per person.

CUNY's & SUNY's staff, faculty, students, former students, union members, & concerned individuals testified at this day long hearing.

After time for the hearings expired, Higher Ed. Chair. Barron continued the meeting in another room, until everyone had spoken.  Yours truly being the last.

One SGA student remarked, that he always thought that the only time he would have to testify was in court, & how unbelievable it was for him to have testifie before the city's most powerful governmental body.

Council Member Barron, at a later event, excitedly informed me that millions of dollars had been put back into both CUNY's & SUNY's budgets.  And that BMCC's budget cuts had also been reduced by millions of dollars, for a period of 10 years.  Thank you Sir for your stella leadership.

BMCC's SGA honored Council Member Barron, along with WABC TV's Gil Noble, Host of Like It Is, and me, Stephen Howard, WBAI Radio's Producer & Host of Telling It Like It Is, for working diligently to better inform the public of 9/11's devastating impact on SUNY and CUNY.

Much respect to BMCC's then SGA President Quinton, every Member of the Student Government Association. Who drew up a petition, coordinated with SUNY's & CUNY's campuses, to get thousands of signatures, especially with the overwhelming synicism which had to be overcome regarding their ability to really succeed in rolling back millions of dollars of proposed budget cuts, rebuilding the destroyed building, while freezing, if not reducing, proposed tuition increases.

Special thanks and great appreciation to Roberta Walker Kilkenny, without whose insistence, those interviews would not have been conducted, and may not have so effectively amalgamated SUNY's & CUNY's collaboration, to make the aforementioned a reality.

Thanks again for demonstrating that we are, indeed the ones, that we've been waiting for.

Respectfully,

Stephen, The Road Warrior, Howard

Former Executive Producer/Host/Engineer

Telling It Like It Is

WBAI Radio 99.5 FM, in NYC.

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If you were there - please check the BMCC website for information regarding how to preserve a claim for medical care and/or compensation, should such a claim arise.  https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/about-bmcc/9-11-and-bmcc/911-victims-information-resources/

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If you were there - please check the BMCC website for information regarding how to preserve a claim for medical care and/or compensation, should such a claim arise.  https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/about-bmcc/9-11-and-bmcc/911-victims-information-resources/

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At a College Wounded on 9/11, Memories Endure 20 Years Later

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At a College Wounded on 9/11, Memories Endure 20 Years Later

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An article about BMCC from Inside Higher Ed.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/09/07/college-wounded-911-memories-endure-20-years-later?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e93eb9421a-DNU_2021_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e93eb9421a-197519129&mc_cid=e93eb9421a&mc_eid=9554ac4aab

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On 9/11, BMCC was evacuated. I approached the long ramp as students and faculty ran out, yelling at everyone to "Head North, Head North!" We all bonded in our communal fear as thousands of us walked across the Williamsburg Bridge, eager to get home to family, praying for survival. Families had to wait patiently for their loved ones, as cellular communication was lost.
Then, in October, we returned to BMCC determined to give our students the education they deserved. We had all lost so much on 9/11, we didn't want to lose our semester. The whole downtown area was eerily transformed. Power had been out for a long time so the roads and sidewalks were like a movie set with cables and wires taped down. I walked through the white powdery dust each day that lined the curbs. The whole area smelled like chemicals as the fire continued to burn, for months and months! During those months, it was so difficult to look at those giant metal pieces of the Towers still in piles, still burning. My eyes stung from the smell and the pain. Signs and photos for missing persons filled up all available spaces on poles, walls, everywhere. The campus was transformed. With the loss of Fiterman, classrooms had to be accommodated everywhere. I was in awe of how the staff redesigned the campus. Richard Harris Terrace was now classrooms with doors and all. The lobbies and hallways on each floor became classrooms. Outside, red trailers held two classrooms in each and they lined the whole side of the long BMCC building, facing the water. Then, there were the barges, all lined up in the river right to our west. The debris would be hauled to them and cranes would fill the barges. Our teaching voices competed for attention amidst the loud clangs, booms, and thuds.

In our classrooms, we became therapists and healers, trying to figure out how to address the terror and the pain we all felt that day. On the first day back, students told their stories. One of my students came to class with his head bandaged, as falling debris had hit him when he escaped from Fiterman that morning. Students told stories of being stuck in the dark tunnels of the subway for hours and hours as the city shut the system down and there was no electricity in some subways. BMCC students displayed their perseverance, endurance, and determination; they were eager to get back to their education and to save the semester. We had longer classes, an extended semester, and almost no days off to get that time back. At the end of the semester, as we turned our grades in, we all felt we had accomplished the impossible.
Caroline Pari-Pfisterer, English Department

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9/11, The clear morning Blue Sky turned into smog in a matter of minutes.

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9/11, The clear morning Blue Sky turned into smog in a matter of minutes.

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“The attacks of September 11th were intended to break our spirit. Instead we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic and religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human life. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom.”

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Never Forget .

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last month i was able to go to the 9/11 memorial at WTC. while being there i saw family members crying while running their hands over the names of their loved ones, or either inserting an American flag or a rose into the name. although i was not born when the attacks happened. hearing the stories and POV's of others who remember what they were doing, where they were and how they felt in the moment they saw the scene always impacted me. being at the memorial and seeing the freedom tower in person felt peaceful in a way...i think its because seeing people know that they loved ones are resting in peace. to anyone who lost friends or family that day my condolences go out to you.

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Fitterman Hall was destroyed on 9/11/2001 and rebuilt, pic attached

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Fitterman Hall was destroyed on 9/11/2001 and rebuilt, pic attached

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https://www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/college-destroyed-on-9-11-reopens-to-students

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Chilling Transcripts during last moments in hijacked planes. 

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Chilling Transcripts during last moments in hijacked planes. 

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https://youtu.be/DYBhgEm3j7A

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9/11 ATC Transcripts & Audio - FAA NORAD Tapes

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On this day, I was in fourth grade. I remember this day as if it was yesterday. I remember a teacher announcing to the class that a plane had crash into one of the Towers. My mind was so confused on what was going on. I remember asking the teacher if I can go to the bathroom and she said yes. As I walked to the bathroom you can see the Twin Towers in this small window in the hallway. I saw the first Tower in flames as I was standing there in ultimate shock. I saw as the second plane hit the second tower. I could not believe my eyes and what I was watching. I was with a friend, we looked at each other and gave each other a hug. As it felt like seconds at that time of my life, we saw how the first tower fell to the ground. I would never forget the sight of that image. My classmates and I was so scared and afraid. I will forever have the victims that got affected by 9/11 in my heart. God Bless America Always

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This year commemorates 20 years since the Twin Towers collapsed on 9/11/01. As a veteran, and son of an NYPD officer who supported those in need - I stand strong with my fellow New Yorkers in saying, "We will never forget!"

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On September 11th, 2001 4 planes were used as missiles as an attempt to aggressively attack the U.S. Almost 3,000 people were reported to have been killed. An additional 2,000 have been killed with the numbers still rising as a result of developing some kind of disease. With somewhere around 25,000 people in total being injured. If you wanna know what I think about the situation, then I'd say the craziest thing about it isn't that happened, but simply that it could've been avoided. 9/11 is far from being the first attack on the U.S. But it's certainly the most prominent. Although on a smaller scale 6 attacks or at least 6 attempts like this had already occurred before 9/11 just years before. It doesn't help that the gov't had been warned multiple times prior to the incident. The Gov't was warned and knew that this could have happened. And what did they do? They did nothing. Absolutely nothing. And as a result of that complete failure of leadership at the time, all those people died.. for nothing. Many people lost their loved ones, and too many victim survivors suffered a great deal. While we do have the terrorists to blame, some of the blame still falls back on the governments complacency with these terrorists. 20 years later, we're finding ourselves in same situation with the Talibans. A situation like this could occur again when it shouldn't. The gov't needs to do better. And more people need to know about this, so I'd thought I'd shed some light.

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9/11 was a tragic day and I pray that anyone that loss love ones on that day may they find the strength to heal and find peace. It’s a day that we all wished never happened. Love and blessings may all the souls that was loss Rest In Peace. We are NY strong.

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Rest in peace to all the lives that we lost on this tragic day, 9/11 🙏🏼🕊️ . Never forget. 

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Rest in peace to all the lives that we lost on this tragic day, 9/11 🙏🏼🕊️ . Never forget. 

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It was a regular school day for me as i got up, put on my uniform and made it on time to my 1st grade class. I was in art class when this happened. I saw a panic in the teachers eyes, all the adults around me were unsure of what was happening and i knew by the looks on their faces something was up .

we were told we would be picked up by our parents , we were going home early!.
as a young child you go home early from school and its usually a good day but that day. i got home and what i saw on tv i could not comprehend fully. i thought deep down inside that the entire world was in danger as this was happening. i thought wow ,..is this it? im only 6.

from my window i could see the city. usually i would see tall buildings, and the sun gleaming on them it was so beautiful.
but today it was gone. there was no sun, the tall buildings were not there anymore but the smoke took its place.

i will never forget the fear i felt, and the loss we all experienced.

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I was not present in NYC on that day. I can't believe that such thing happened in NYC. Imagine how unpredicted it was for all those people.. Imagine being trapped in a building, or looking out of the window and seeing a plane heading straight for your building. Now, passing by the One World Trade Center when heading to Fiterman Hall, I think about twin towers.

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I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday because that’s the same day I came to the United States. To me 9/11 is something I would never forget. All the lost lives on that day the terror they must’ve felt. It was just heartbreaking and unfortunate day. But their names will never be forgotten not to the people that got to see that horrible day but also their families.

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To the lives lost may their soul continue to rest in peace 🕊️🕊️💐💐

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To the lives lost may their soul continue to rest in peace 🕊️🕊️💐💐

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It is hard to believe that 20 years have already passed since that infamous day. May you rest in peace, and we will see you again someday in Heaven.

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I remember being at home in Brooklyn and getting sometime after 8 AM to turn on the tv - a plane had hit the WTC tower. Shivers still go down my spin as I recall this. I turned on the tv and only a few minutes later the 2nd plane hit the 2nd town. I started sobbing uncontrollable. I don't remember ever crying spontaneously and with such force before that moment. To know that thousands of people were coming and going to work in that moment, wrenched my heart. I was stunned and sad as so many marched out of the city day since subways were immediately shutdown in case of other attacks. People covered in ash, barefoot, and trying to support each other walked across all the bridges trying to get home. The smell of burning even in Brooklyn lingered for what felt like months. These days before the pandemic, I volunteered to make meals for thousands to try and turn the date into a one of service and hope. I'll do something like that this year to try and console my heart. **Bless the families and friends who lost so many**

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I Was Only Two When This Happened, My Mother Watched It In School, I Couldn’t Imagine What A Mother , Father Brother , And Sister Could Be Going Through After This, I Pray For Those Families And There Angles. A Day Of Remembrance For Those That  Lost Their Lives. And All Those Who Gave Their Lives ! We Remember. All These Names Are Brave And Strong , We Remember, We Love You <3 Solomon 2:16: I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine

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I was at CCNY CUNY the morning of 9 11. I watched the buildings burn from the NAC building at CCNY. I watched fighter planes zooming past my window.

The CCNY campus was quiet like a funeral on 9 11. Students, who were stranded without transportation, were sitting around a TV in the student union watching the news about the attack. I drove my engineering professor to pick up his daughter at school as the subways had shut down and I had a car.

For days you could smell the stench of the burning rubble, even in Queens. Lower Manhatten was quiet. Silent. No cars. Cars were mostly banned from lower Manhattan. There were police and military check points to keep people and cars away. By the check points there were often huge construction trucks.

People gathered in parks for candlelight vigils. It was so quiet but the air was polluted with smoke, burning plastic. Photos and notes were taped to buildings desperately asking for help finding a loved one who never came home.

There was dust everywhere in lower Manhatten.

I lost one of my best childhood friends, David Defeo. I also lost a cousin who was a fireman.

I hate the 9 11 memorial. What a waste of space to build a tourist attraction - the ugly pit fountains. Less and less people care about 9 11. The fountains are useless and waste electricity.   A better memorial would have been to create a beautiful park, like Central Park on the site.

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On September 11, 2001 I was in the custody of New York City Department of Correctional Services on my way to the Manhattan Supreme Court when I saw with my own eyes, live, a plane crash into one of the World Trade Center's buildings, and the officer driving the bus froze like he saw a ghost and so did everyone else. After the attack N.Y.P.D. became super hero's and their word priceless, which led to officer's false testimony forcing me to please guilty to attempt murder and robberry for 17 years rather than 25, and since I never submitted to the system I did a total of 20 years straight, rather than 17 and half of that time was in solitary confinement, and that's my most memorable experience from September 11, 2001.

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its been more the 2 decades , 2 decades were innocent lives were taken away from us . Maybe you Rest In Peace -Lourdes Coyotecatl

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20 years ago & I remember it like it was yesterday. 7 year old me stood blocks away, 5 to be exact & witnessed that 2nd plane hit the building. 20 years ago and I still can still play the day back in my head so vividly as I ran from a black cloud. I get anxiety every time I see a video or cross the water into Manhattan. It’s a day I’d rather not remember, but will never ever forget.
My heartaches for those who lost friends & loved ones. You all are always in my thoughts & prayers .

To PS 234, Thanks for everything you did for me and my peers during that time.

-JDS

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I can’t imagine what it must have felt like standing around the World Trade Center on that day. I couldn’t believe what had happened in a place like New York. I was only a year old in Brooklyn at that time. Knowing that I even existed on that day not too far from the attacks is really unbelievable. As I got older, I learned more about that day. But seeing Ground Zero today, 20 years later, I feel that New Yorkers are so resilient and hopeful for the future. It makes me proud to be a New York native and resident. I feel a sense of hope and happiness when I walk through Ground Zero, but also sadness due to what had happened. It’s extremely personal. It’s important to be optimistic and strong through tough times. The first responders and fellow citizens who bravely supported people in need and made huge sacrifices will be forever in my thoughts and prayers as well as the family and friends to those who were lost. We may never forget.

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Americans standing on the ledge of a building a mile high in the air like frightened bumble bees, something you don't expect to see in America. Culturally, we like to deny death, not have to face death by either jumping, going back inside, or waiting for the building to fall. ...People jumping off buildings looked like disposable candy wrappers that day. It took me a couple days to realize what I was seeing... -Professor Fischer

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This is from my poetry collection Tracks (Broadstone Books, '19). It first appeared in The Hawai'i Review. I loved how people came together in that moment ...

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A 9/11 poem New Yorkers might relate to ...

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A 9/11 poem New Yorkers might relate to ...

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I remember crying, the smell of death and a cloud of smoke for days.

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I remember crying, the smell of death and a cloud of smoke for days.

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A blog about teaching 9/11 to criminal justice students at BMCC.

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9/11. How does one teach this subject? Perhaps most faculty aren't faced with such a task, it being too outside their curricula. This is certainly not the case for me. Teaching criminal justice with a specialization in policing, I am confronted with this challenge every semester, most acutely in early fall after the humidity of August breaks, leading to those few weeks of blissful September weather that descend upon the New York area. The clear blue skies, 70-degree temperatures, and city streets buzzing with activity as the masses have made their return from summer vacation. The first Tuesday after Labor Day is the real start of the new year in New York. September in the city begins in full, and the cascade continues: parades, the U.S. Open, back to school, primary elections, San Gennaro, and the U.N. General Assembly. Tucked away in there is a date that is becoming more and more an event in our rearview mirror, relived through fuzzy TV images and tributes to ageing responders and affected family members regarding something that occurred a generation ago.

During one of my policing lectures in the early days of spring 2020, I was discussing events from the year 2000 when a student remarked in a way that only a young person would: "2000...that was like so long ago, I wasn't even born then." This prodded me to reflect on 9/11. The early 2000s don't feel that long ago from where I stand, nonetheless, I understood this student's perspective.

For me 9/11 isn't some distant historical event. I was a 26-year-old NYPD officer who was working in Manhattan at the time of the attack. I am both privileged and unfortunate for having experienced firsthand the enormity of 9/11 in its spectacular horror. Consequently, when students become aware of my relationship to 9/11, the questions range from the merely curious, "Where were you?" to deeply personal and inquisitive, "What was it like for you seeing that?"

I cannot say that I've come to a conclusion on how best to address 9/11 in class, but I think I've come to a place where students understand its importance in the context of policing. This requires that I depersonalize it so to speak. One cannot understand policing and public security in America in the 21 st century - the emphasis on militarization, technology, and restrictions on movement - without an understanding what came before. To accomplish this, I must pull a trick, replace them with me in the 9/11 equation. I do this by first introducing attributes of major terrorist attacks in the U.S. during the decades leading to 9/11, with a focus on those in New York City, of which at least five have occurred south of Canal Street - where our college is located. Next, I describe in intimate detail the events surrounding the first WTC attack in February 1993, an event that few recall, and too many are unaware. This leads to what anchors the lesson, a gut-wrenching, deeply emotive film of two brothers, posthumously referred to as the "Twin Towers," one NYPD the other FDNY, the former the source of documentary filmmaking prior to 9/11. This video depicts the officer and his colleagues traversing many familiar parts of the city, engaging in high-profile and dangerous operations, executing warrants, assisting the sick and injured, the subject officer even rescuing a family trapped on a sandbar when he was a young child - uncommon heroism - with his adoring family beside him as he's honored. The sights and sounds are so familiar to a city resident that the mind fills in the smell from images of wafting air.

I don't need to tell you how that story ends, but when the film is over, the telltale signs of difficult to restrain emotion indicate that this has been a success. I then allow a few moments for the students, and me, to gather ourselves. And with that, the lesson on policing in the 21 st century at the only institution of higher education physically damaged on 9/11 begins.

Direct emotional connection aside, I believe what matters most in teaching this significant piece of history is to convey that it wasn't some event that occurred in some distant past. It shapes the world that we inhabit, the places we frequent, and even the air we breathe. I am reminded of this every time I pass a police subway checkpoint, go through a metal detector, or see officers on our city streets donning military gear or carrying radiological detectors on their duty belts. All unfortunate necessities that even our students who have no direct experience with 9/11 come to understand.

So, as September begins the year anew in New York, a new semester begins. This one, however, is unlike any that has come before as we negotiate many uncertainties and unknowns. How the dual ruptures of 2020, pandemic and protest, affect higher education, criminal justice, and our way of life is something that we will hopefully figure out, and work to heal from, together. In the meantime, I will continue to do my best to keep the relevance of 9/11 alive for today's criminal justice students since this history isn't just something that happened long ago, it makes us into who we are today, and will continue to do so, even 20 years from now.

An updated version of this essay can be found in the September issue of ACJS Today.

About Jason Ostrowe

Jason is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at BMCC, and former fourth-generation NYPD officer. He is a NYS Master Instructor and Evaluator, member of ACJS, and certified 9/11 first responder. His academic interests involve criminal justice education, policing, and federal intervention and reform of police departments.

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Teaching 9/11 in the Age of Pandemic and Protest

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9/11. How does one teach this subject? Perhaps most faculty aren't faced with such a task, it being too outside their curricula. This is certainly not the case for me.

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Although 20 years has passed, it is impossible to forget 9/11, the despair and uncertainty on that day in New York City.    But I especially remember the weeks after when staff and faculty joined a phone bank.  Our charge was to call every BMCC student to ask, "How are you?"  We heard their stories, offered what comfort we could and provided the reassurrance that we were still here for them.  I have been at BMCC for over 30 years and it has always been "about the students" even in the most difficult times.
Vanessa Rozzelle
Counseling Faculty
College Discovery Program