Student essay on 9/11 photography, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Cummenntnliw edition by the students of Shiyvtsant 1 ii^h Scluxil

45 Smoke Descended, Truth Blurred Patrick Mangan Are Stuyvesant students missing? Are the are cooked in the cafeteria and served on the sec­ I first found out a plane hit school’s windows blown out? Was the tragedy of ond floor. The first floor and theater are used as when Teitel made the September 11 predicted hundreds of years ago? meeting places and information centers, while announcement that "a small These are just some of the questions being hallways upstairs are stocked with donated goods. 5 asked, as rumors fly and confusion abounds in the wake of the terrorist attacks. The Spectator has compiled a list of seven myths that have been Rumor: Stuyvesant and the TriBeCa Bridge, which crosses West Street, suffered structural damage dur­ ing the terrorist attack. plane has crashed Into the World Trade Center," but the way he said it he made it circulating. While occasionally rooted in truth, the Truth: Teitel and head custodian Peter Lopa sound like some moron in a rumors generally prove to be outlandish exagger­ have both confirmed that Stuyvesant has not suf­ 2-person charter plane forgot ations or falsifications. fered any structural damage. In addition, both to pull up on his stick and it Rumor: Two Stuyvesant students are missing. city engineers and the PA’s own engineers ana­ was a complete accident, so Truth: “Each and every one of the Stuyvesant lyzed the building and found it structurally sound. everyone started laughing students was brought to a place of safety,” said Photos do show that the area is littered with dust and we thought nothing of it. Deputy Superintendent of Manhattan High and debris, but the school has suffered no broken — Rocksheng Zhong, sopho­ Schoofs, Joan Perez, in her address to the windows or other damage. Rumors that the Stuyvesant community at Brooklyn Tech on more TriBeCa Bridge has been damaged and even col­ September 20. lapsed may stem from confusion with other col­ In Principal Stanley Teitel’s letter to students lapsed pedestrian bridges that once spanned the We walked briskly in the and parents on September 16, he commended West Side Highway, further south. halls, looking for people we students for their mature and responsible behav­ Rumor: Sixteenth-century French philosopher, knew to walk with, watching ior, allowing a “successful evacuation.” Michel de Notredame, or Nostradamus, predicted all the people in hysterics Assistant Principal Eugene Blaufarb also gave the September 11 tragedy. holding each other, everyone credit to faculty members for walking "with kids Truth: Numerous Stuyvesant students received was terrified, a lot of people for miles. Our staff was there for theldds.” The an e-mail that read: “In the year of the new cen­ administration has not received any reports of tury and nine months/ From the sky will come a had family in those buildings. missing students or faculty members, so all those great King of Terror/ The sky will burn at forty-five God. My friends had family in who were not in school at the time of the evacua­ degrees. Fire approaches the great new city/ In there. tion are also presumed safe, according to the city of York, there will be a great collapse/ Two And we're all ready to burst Blaufarb. Uvin brothers torn apart by chaos/ while the and cry and we all are run­ Rumor: Physical Education teacher William fortress falls the great leader will succumb/ third ning into each other, and Clemmons is missing. big war will begin when the big city is burning.” we're scrunched up against Truth: Clemmons explained how this rumor may have started as he sat outside of Brooklyn the whole world, and every­ one's wanting to get out! Tech on Friday afternoon. His first class is not until third period, but he usually gets off of his Ever play the game 'Telephone'? It's a terrible situation, every­ express bus around 8:45 in close proximity to the one is talking about every­ World Trade Center. However, “it just so happens -Principal Stanley Teitel thing, my friends are making that I was running a little late that morning,” said pages for the students to Clemmons. He missed his usual bus that would According to The New York Times 18), this mes- post messages about what have just arrived in Manhattan at the time of the sage comnines sentence fragments from various we think and what's going on attack. Clemmons’ express bus came to a halt in passages by Nostradamus with words that he did the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel as traffic was stopped not write, creating a provocative but phony pre- now. After it happened we're after the first tower was struck. Students and fac- diction. all realizing all the things we ulty aware of his daily commute worried that he Rumor: Since the attack on The World Trade liked about that area. might have gotten caught at Ground Zero as the Center, Arab-Americans have been murdered in the Everyone had their special tragedy unfolded, but *I never made it in,” he streets. spots. We loved to go to the said. Truth: In his speech to the packed Brooklyn "faraway deli," as we called it, Rumor: Stuyvesant has been used as a military Tech auditorium of Stuyvesant students and fac­ for lunch. We loved to go to base and a morgue since the time of the attack. ulty members on Thursday, September 20, Truth: According to The New York Times (9 /12). Student Union Vice President Himanshu Suri said the "Cinderella stairs" and emergency management officials originally that Arab-Americans have been the targets of hate walk across the mirrored { II intended to use Stuyvesant as a triage center. and violence following the attack on the World bridge, and we'd see the ll Trauma surgeons were on hand, and a makeshift Trade Center. In many instances, this has been orchid show, and hang out in hospital had been set up. However, many doctors true. The New York Times (9/17) reported that a the bookstores, and there waited in vain, as they had only rescue workers Sikh gas station owner was shot to death in were just so many things that with minor injuries to treat. Arizona. The F.B.I. is also investigating two other we will miss... When asked if any deceased victims of the shootings as possible hate crimes. disaster had been moved to Stuyvesant, Teitel However, Suri went on to say that “a man was —Meghan O'Halloran, junior said, “No way. Never.” He and Assistant Principal beaten to death in public.” and “two women in Steven Satin reentered the building within 48 Flushing, Queens were killed,” in connection to I really didn't expect all that hours of the attack and verified its use. the tragedy. Suri said that he got this information to happen.... I didn't expect Stuyvesant was later used to house emer­ from friends, but a reporter at the Daily News City the buildings to fall down. I gency workers and was one of the area’s three Desk said that there have been no reports of such think it's too hard to compre­ command centers, according to an e-mail from retaliatory murders. hend. Seeing it on TV is Just the office of Chancellor Harold O. Levy. The Rumor: Stuyvesant received a bomb threat shortly not the same, I can't under­ building was under the auspices of the City’s after the attack on the World Trade Center. Some Emergency Management Office, not the U.S. mili­ say that a bomb was detonated outside of the stand the magnitude of it. tary. school. —John Mui, guidance As reported in the Newark Star Ledger (9/17), Truth: Teitel said that Stuyvesant did not counselor a team of nearly 100 volunteers have worked receive a bomb threat and that a bomb definitely around the clock to provide rescue workers, never exploded near the school. However, “down police officers, and fire filters with gourmet the street, a pipe had been ruptured,” he said. meals, hot showers, sleeping cots and both men­ “Somebody heard about a gas leak a few blocks tal and physical therapy. Some of New York City’s away, and now we have a ‘bomb threat’.” top chefs serve nearly 1,000 meals per day, which Teitel asked, “Ever play the game ‘Telephone’?”

The Spectator • Fall, 1001 15

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