Self Portrait after 9-11

Remembering this day as the Paris Attacks are still so fresh.

I had just gotten off the red-eye from Oakland CA the morning before. I was on my way to work riding my bike to FIT west on 9th St when I noticed the one tower on fire and could not believe it. I was wondering what the hell had happened and how the hell they were going to get that fire out. I got to 6th Ave and had a clear view and watched with many others as the second plane flew into the towers. That was when people really started freaking out as it was then obvious that this was an orchestrated attack. People were jumping out of their cars and running all over the place. I continued north on 6th ave still thinking I should get to work but I kept stopping to look back. More and more people were starting to realize what was happening.

When I got to FIT the classes were quickly being canceled. A lot of kids were trying to call their parents who worked in the towers or in the downtown area. I rode my bike back downtown and went to see Adrienne Droogas who was working on W 13th St at a health food store. She took me up to the roof and we watched in shock as first one tower came crumbling down and then the second. It was horrifying and surreal. I heard this deep rumbling and the tower just folded straight down in seconds. there was a big black cloud that came rolling toward us like a tidal wave. It was rolling over the entire Island. Then a few minutes later the second tower came down. 

The whole city was in complete shock. Ground Zero burned for days. The toxic fumes  engulfed the entire downtown area for months as well as blowing into Brooklyn, New Jersey, or Uptown, as the wind prevailed. Everyone was wearing masks. I got very sick from the fumes.

It was heartbreaking in the days after the attack to see hundreds of posters and photos put up by people looking for their lost loved ones. So many memorials.

I remember going to Union Square a few days after the attack and it was full of thousands of people holding candles and it was so quiet.

I feel for the people of Paris.

There is too much fear and hatred in the world today on so many levels.

Teaching comics at the Lower Eastside Girls Club makes me really happy although so much turmoil in the world. We talk about world events and make comics about it and make up our own stories. These girls are amazing and they give me hope for the future