Repercussions of Sept. 11, 2001 | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Richard Mason’s Sept. 11, 2001 recollection describes traveling into New York shortly after the attacks and the immediate ripple effects on daily life. Mason flew from Little Rock to New York on American Airlines, noting the airline had an iron bar securing cockpit doors from the inside. He landed at Newark International, then rode a cab that gave a view of Ground Zero from Manhattan. At the Four Seasons, a discounted rate was offered for rooms above the 11th floor, his early sign that the city’s rhythm had changed. He recalls people walking out of Manhattan for hours when public transit was halted, and a Brooklyn Tabernacle Church response that included handing out cold water to stranded pedestrians.