Note from Max Schmid of WBAI to fellow Shep fans.
 

I had dismissed the idea of a deliberate plane crash, because looking at first hole on fire, it didn't seem possible that a plane would fly straight over the city like that - they usually go over the rivers.  Even when the second plane hit it took a while for it to sink in that this could be intentional.

We started to make calls to round up information about train service, etc, but the phone lines were all jammed, and then went dead.  Once I made sure that we had tape rolling on our coverage, I decided to head up the street to see what I could see.

Outside, smoke was visible to the west up Wall Street.  People were heading east to the river to get ferries back home.  I cut up a long parallel street heading toward the WTC, and just as I approached the upper end, hundreds of people came running around the corner in my direction, with one guy yelling "The building just fell down!"  I turned and ran myself, imaging chunks of debris raining down and getting crushed; it was a hell of a long block!  Once around the corner I turned to see black clouds filling the streets.  I went back to the station.

The news director wanted someone to get some sound, so I took the portable tape gear and headed back out.  Now the ash was falling over everything, leaving a gray veil on cars, the street, and the people, now hurrying, some running, towards the river.  The air was acrid and thick, and most people had dust masks over their faces or towels or other clothing over their heads.   I could only see two blocks west up Wall Street, due to the dark cloud coming down the street.  I stopped to interview several people who were covered with dust and had obviously been closest to the collapse.  I started to head west up Wall again, but a group of police were urging everyone to head toward the river and north to evacuate the area.  I got some sound down by the East River, then decided to try to head back towards the scene.  In the fifteen minutes I was outside, it seemed to be starting to clear a bit, but when I headed back up Wall Street, there was a new thick black impenetrable cloud with some bright bits of fluttering paper riding a few stories high at the front of it, and I realized that the second tower must have come down. Depressed, I headed back upstairs, now covered myself in a veil of ash. 

After I made my report on air, I finally headed home shortly after noon, and joined the long march of humanity heading uptown.  I had no idea how I was going to get home to Queens, but I had heard that some subways were running somewhere. 

National Guard were directing traffic along the way.  I passed a church, where they were offering cold drinks and phones, and damn near went in to pray.  I walked through Chinatown and through the East Village.  I heard about bus service running from 14th Street to 59th, where I could walk across the bridge to Queens and get an R train home.  At 14th, no busses, and we were directed to 23rd street.  I continued up 3rd Avenue, and ran into an old WBAI colleague in front of his business, a welcome rest.  Finally at 23rd, I looked at all the stalled traffic heading north, and realized that it would take hours more on the bus, so I walked across town to the West Side where the E train was supposedly running.  And it was.  I got home around 3 pm, a mere 15 hours after reporting for work the night before.  Tuned in to WBAI, where the remaining crew had vowed to stay until they were ordered to evacuate.  Shortly after five we went off the air in mid-sentence, due to either the lines going down or the power going dead (our power was coming from the #7 building at WTC).  Took a hot shower to remove the stinging residue from the dust, and slept for twelve hours.  Now we are busy trying to get WBAI back on the air, hopefully in the next few hours.  I don't know when we will get back into the Wall Street studios, but after listening to Stern this morning, I realized how much WBAI is needed on the air.