In the fray in New York--Part three
published October
10, 2001
written by Jia-Rui Chong / New York
photographed by Lia Chang / New York
The days after
High School of Art and Design, corner of E.57th St and 2nd Ave, September 13, 2001
Devin Palomo, 18, was doing orientation at West Manhattan Outreach down on 31st St at 10:30, when the school officials informed students that a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers, but that they didn’t know the extent of the tragedy. The school-wide announcement also told them to stay put.
“Everything stopped,” Palomo says. Some girls started crying. Radios were flipped on in every classroom. Classmates disappeared one by one as their parents came for them. “I kept to myself,” says Palomo, who was more interested in listening than talking.
When his father came to get him, they walked together for 130 blocks and then caught a bus to the Bronx. “Everyone was out there. It was a big migration.” When they got home, they switched on the TV immediately. “I just sat there waiting for my mother and brother. They were at a school down the block. My mother’s a first-grade teacher and she was saying how the younger kids were reacting. They couldn’t take it.”
The days after
Upper East Side, September 18, 2001
Part one | Monday, October 8, 2001
Part two | Tuesday, October 9, 2001
Part three | Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Part four | Thursday, October 11, 2001
Part five | Friday, October 12, 2001