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ARTICLES > September – one year after (1/3)
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PART 1 | 2 | 3 |
Terror:
September 11 – one year after
Shocked. Proud.
Looking Ahead. (I)
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Oliver Weiss
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T E R
R O R & B E Y O N D – S T A T E M E N
T S O N 9 - 1 1 |
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Edward I Koch
Lawyer & Former
New York City Mayor
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We Passed the Test
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n September 11, 2001, shortly after 9:00 a.m., my secretary, Mary Garrigan,
rushed into my office and said, “I’ve just been told that a small plane has hit
the World Trade Center. May we turn on your television set?”
When I turned it on there was no picture. I realized that the transmission
antennae on the tower were destroyed. Surprisingly, the picture came on within a
few minutes, and we saw the televised views of the north tower in flames. We
learned that it was no accident and that New York City and other parts of the
country were under terrorist attack. We also learned that President Bush had
taken off in Air Force One, on orders from the Secret Service, to protect him
from harm. Shortly after that a second plane struck the South Tower. By 10:30
a.m. both towers had collapsed.
I have the only TV set on my floor, and by that time my office was filled
with members of the firm – partners, lawyers, associates, secretaries – and many
were weeping. I felt tears racing down my cheeks as I thought of the hundreds of
deaths that would undoubtedly occur. I recalled the 1993 attempt to bomb the
towers which resulted in six deaths and more than 1,000 injured. This latest
incident was clearly far greater in impact. We stayed glued to the TV for
another hour and then people began to return to their offices. The TV remained
on throughout the day, and while listening to the updates, I returned to my
regular office work.
In addition to the destruction of the World Trade Center, the picture that
will always remain with me is Mayor Rudy Giuliani walking north on West Street.
He was televised live talking to people along the way saying, “Come with us.”
Behind him whirled great clouds which we now know consisted of atomized steel,
concrete, flesh and bone. It looked like a scene from the hoary Japanese horror
film, “Godzilla” or Dante’s “Inferno.”
The next day, I went to St. Vincent’s Hospital which is in my Greenwich
Village neighborhood. Doctors, nurses and ambulances waited outside the hospital
but no patients arrived. We now know why. Nearly 3,000 men, women and children
were killed – New Yorkers, other Americans, and foreigners of every race,
ethnicity and religion.
Americans throughout the nation, including President Bush, concluded that the
response of New Yorkers was outstanding. Our courage and resolve made everyone
proud. In the days following the attack, the city and country responded, through
the President and his administration, making it clear that our country would
never submit to terrorism. The President’s statement to the world, “Either you
are with us, or you are with the terrorists,” rallied the country and our
friends around the world.
September 11 was the day New Yorkers and all Americans were tested. We passed
the test.
 Ed
Koch served as the 105th Mayor of New York City for three terms from 1978
to 1989. Today, alongside his law practice, he is a newspaper columnist,
radio and television commentator and movie reviewer. Mr. Koch is an
Adjunct Professor in the College of Arts and Science at New York
University and has appeared on the daily television series "The People’s
Court" from 1997 to 1999 as the judge.
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Keeping Out of Harm's Way
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eptember 11. The date does not
even need a year. Like D-Day, everyone knows and will continue to know,
probably forever, what year is signified by the date. September 11 is the
day that America lost whatever remained of its innocence. Acts of pure
evil had finally come to American soil, and we learned there is no place
that is completely safe.
A few scant days before we
learned this, on September 5, 2001, my son, Jaden, was born. It will be
years before he realizes the momentous times in which he arrived. Like
most parents, Ashley and I want only to keep our son safe. But on
September 11, it was Jaden who kept me safe.
I had left my previous law
firm to write. My first book,
Manhattan on Film, was published in early 2000 and I was hard at work
on
volume 2, when Jaden came along.
With a deadline from my
publisher and knowing that free time would be scarce, I set aside the
morning of September 11 to scout locations for the book. Had all gone
according to plan, I would have been out the door around 6 a.m. and,
judging by previous excursions, been in the vicinity of the World Trade
Center around the time the first plane hit.
But Jaden, being new to this
world, was too excited to sleep. In fact, he kept Ashley and me up the
entire night. By six a.m., feeling as if a truck had hit me, I decided to
put off my trip for another day. Thanks to Jaden, I was tired - but safe -
at home on the morning of September 11, rather than downtown. Only six
days old, my son had protected me.
For many people, even those
whose lives were not directly and tragically altered by the events of
September 11, life changed quickly. It is now one year later. We just
celebrated Jaden's first birthday, in a park in our suburban town where we
have since moved. We feel safer out there (although a bomb scare at the
town's train station the first month we moved there confirmed that no
place is truly "safe" anymore).
Coincidentally, and somewhat
ironically, Manhattan on Film 2 is due out in stores any day. And I am
back in the legal field, having signed on with the 500-lawyer firm Duane
Morris LLP, returning to the practice of public finance law.
In a world where it is
harder to find comfort than it was before, we all have done what we must
to restore some normalcy to our lives. I have traded in the flexibility of
a writer's lifestyle for the stability and comfort of a solid law firm. I
have replaced the quest to find the streets and buildings that have
appeared in films with a public finance practice devoted to assisting in
the rebuilding of such streets and buildings.
In life, there are always
tradeoffs. On his sixth day of life, Jaden kept me home and out of harm's
way. In return, I have sought out greater stability and comfort for my
family, as a way to restore a bit of each in a world where finding either
has gotten harder and harder.
Charles D.
Katz is a partner with Duane Morris LLP in New York. He is a public
finance attorney and has worked on financings of schools, hospitals,
airports, power plants, etc. He has also authored the book series
"Manhattan on Film."
With
nearly 500 attorneys, Duane Morris offers a full range of legal services.
The firm currently has 18 offices in the United States (Philadelphia, New
York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Miami and
others) and an office in London.
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Enjoying the Best of Times after Living Through Some of the Worst
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he events of September 11, 2001 were
indeed tragic, but the loss of several colleagues and friends made it more
personal and more difficult for everyone at Harris Beach. Our New York City
office on the 85th floor of Two World Trade Center was destroyed in those
attacks, and with it we lost six of our colleagues. Those individuals were
a tremendous part of our Harris Beach family and they are deeply missed.
And while the events of that day
affected us in ways difficult to put into words, they did not destroy the
strength, the perseverance or the resolve of our New York City attorneys and
staff to move forward. Our New York City operations have fully recovered and our
business has grown despite the challenge of fitting into interim office space on
Fifth Avenue that was half the size of our former World Trade Center office.
However, with a continued commitment
to maintaining a strong presence in New York City, Harris Beach recently secured
new long term space in which to operate. We will be moving into a new office on
September 9, 2002 located at 805 Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The new
space affords us the opportunity to start new and grow the office in a very
controlled, strategic fashion.
Everyone in our New York City office
is excited to be moving into the new space and leave our crowded and less than
ideal conditions behind. And despite all the challenges we faced, our clients
not only stuck with us but increased the level of business we were receiving and
we have gained many new clients throughout the year. It has been a long year,
and one that has presented many personal and professional challenges for all of
us. But the entire firm has hung together in the best way possible, and we are
now looking forward to enjoying the best of times after living through some of
the worst.
If this last year has taught us
anything, it is that the spirit and resolve of everyone at Harris Beach –
particularly our New York City colleagues – is alive and well. Overall, we are
approaching the future with a strength of tradition and a renewed spirit of
optimism and pride. We have rebounded well, but 9/11 will be a day that will
never be forgotten, for any of us.
Allan
Fudim is a partner in the Medical & Life Sciences and Mass Torts &
Industry-Wide Litigation Practice Groups of Harris Beach LLP, and Managing
Partner of the New York City office. His practice focuses primarily in the
areas of pharmaceutical and medical device liability and environmental and
health care litigation.
Harris
Beach LLP is among the top 250 largest law firms with offices throughout
the Northeast of the United States: Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York
City, Plattsburgh, Rochester, Syracuse, Newark, New Jersey, and
Washington, D.C.
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It Was Our Duty to Do Whatever We Could
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fter the September 11th
terrorist attacks, we at Chadbourne responded the way all New Yorkers did
– and, indeed, the way so many people around the country did – by asking,
What can we do to help? We felt it was our duty to do whatever we could to
assist, both as a firm and as individuals.
When we learned that
the New York City Corporation Counsel’s offices – located one block from
Ground Zero – had been rendered uninhabitable, we rearranged our midtown
offices to make room for more than 100 attorneys and staff of the City’s
Law Department. We provided office space, computers, telephones and other
essentials for nearly eight months to help our colleagues get back to work.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg honored the Firm for helping the Corporation
Counsel’s office by proclaiming May 17th “Chadbourne & Parke Day.”
On September 26,
2001, the Firm hosted a first meeting to organize the New York legal
community’s response to September 11th. The meeting was sponsored by the
New York City Bar and Probono.net, and attended by representatives of more
than 100 law firms and legal service provider organizations. In the weeks
following September 11th, Chadbourne attorneys met with the families of
victims at Pier 94’s Families Assistance Center to help them in expediting
the process of obtaining death certificates. Attorneys also were trained
as facilitators and took on matters involving benefits, landlord/tenant
problems and estate administration issues.
To cite one
additional example of our attorneys’ September 11th-related work, a
Chadbourne associate organized the first legal clinic (for
Spanish-speaking limo, car and taxi drivers) for New York Taxi Workers
Alliance members whose business was adversely affected by September 11th.
She also researched and wrote the intake questionnaire that has since been
used in all such clinics under the aegis of the City Bar.
I am proud of the
way our attorneys responded, using their legal skills to help those in
need – and am equally proud of how our support staff and legal assistants
likewise came forward to assist with the recovery effort. To make it
easier for them to volunteer, the Firm adopted a policy allowing non-legal
staff to work on Firm-approved relief projects during business hours.
The Firm also
created a foundation, initially funded with $500,000, to alleviate some of
the suffering caused by the tragedy. The Chadbourne & Parke Foundation has
made donations to the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees (HERE) New
York Assistance Fund, the Safe Horizon-World Trade Center Fund, Episcopal
Charities of the Diocese of New York, and The Bridge Fund of New York –
all charities that serve people who otherwise might not get the financial
assistance they need, such as hotel and restaurant workers and illegal
immigrants.
As we mark the
one-year anniversary of the attacks – reflecting not only on the horrible
tragedy, but also on the tremendous heroism shown by many Americans –
Chadbourne attorneys continue to be involved in on-going World Trade
Center/Pentagon pro bono matters, including estate administration cases,
custody cases and cases assisting clients in filing claims with the
Federal Fund. On an on-going basis, Chadbourne’s trusts and estates
attorneys serve as mentors to firms that are providing assistance to 9/11
victims and their families, but do not have trusts and estates lawyers.
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The world has
changed after September 11, 2001, when terrorists destroyed the
World Trade Center and devastated the Pentagon. Oliver Weiss has
asked former mayor Ed Koch, and twelve legal professionals in
New York City to give us a personal account of their
recollections of 9-11.
