DEP Press Advisory on Deer Hunting Cancellation, October 2, 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Circle Line Somberly Views Altered Skyline By DAN BARRY On Sept. 20, Mr. Mason was the tour guide on the first post-attack With its foghorn sounding farewell to Midtown, three-hour cruise around Manhattan. the ship edged away from the pier and pushed south It was a gray day. he recalled, with along the Hudson River. The waters that surround only about 100 passengers, many of Manhattan Island are uncertain these days but life whom were interested in where he must go on, and so must the Circle Line. There are was when the planes struck the tow­ things to point out, things to see. ers. Like so many others in the re­ The Coast Guard cutter Tahoma, for example, gion, he explained, he was in the guarding the mouth of New York Har^r. And the midst of the mundane: sitting in his wave-skipping patrol boats, packed with armed sol­ home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, listen­ diers. And the military helicopters whock-whock- ing to traffic reports on the radio whocking from above. And, of course, the standing before he commuted to the city. remnants of the World Trade Center, including the As that first ship glided past the silvery skin of the south tower — the building you site, Mr. Mason said, “I did sort of a saw in all of the pictures,” as Chris Mason tells moment of silence.” tourists. “Now, we’re getting on three weeks later, and there’s more of a What had once been an ooh-and-aah celebration getting over the tragic part of it,” he of Gotham in its glory has now become a somber glide said. “They’re taking lots of pictures, past a communal burial ground, as well as a dramatic and they should go for it, because it’s reminder that for all its skyscraping splendor. New definitely part of history.” York City is so naked and vulnerable that it needs On Monday afternoon, 151 tourists soldiers and gun turrets to guard its shores. — one-quarter of the ship’s capacity These are awkward times for Mr. Mason, a tour — lined up in the drizzle to board guide for Circle Line, the city’s oldest and perhaps Circle Line XVII for a two-hour tour. best-known sightseeing cruise operation. For the last They were immediately greeted at 15 years he has generally followed the Circle Line the gangplank by an armed security script in describing the landmarks that can be seen guard, who checked their bags and, from the Hudson and East Rivers; historical summa­ in some cases, patted them down — ries of the Empire State Building and the Woolworth all part of new Coast Guard restric­ Building, tributes to the Brooklyn Bridge and the tions, explained Peter Cavrell, the Statue of Liberty, a couple of New York Wisecracks, Circle Line’s senior vice president and he’s done, ' ' for sales and marketing. But now a centerpiece of the stand­ Once on board, they were greeted ard tour is gone; in its place is a by the knowing and mellifluous voice seamless cloud of smoke rising from of Mr. Mason, whose father, John, Lower Manhattan. And Mr. Mason, has been a Circle Line tour guide for 38 years old and a son of Brooklyn, four decades. Wearing a white shirt has to rely on words like “devasta­ tion” and “attack” to touch upon what the sightseers already know. Sometimes, he said, mere silence works best. “It depends on the mood of the trip,” he said. WTien the second tower of the World Trade Center collapsed on that sunny morning of Sept. Il, the 1 Circle Line was one of several ferry j and sightseeing operations that spon,- ' taneously began to take panicked people across the Hudson River free. By nightfall, the Circle Line had fer­ ried about 30,000 people — 600 at a time — to Weehawken, where they set foot on suddenly blessed New Jersey soil. For several days after the attack, the company’s ships remained moored at Pier 83; it was not the time for sightseeing, no matter how respectful. Even the upbeat Circle Line brochure had become a glossy remnant of the time before, with its NtVTimGS 10 pictures of the twin towers and its promotion of a “sea and sky pack­ age” that included a trip to the top of IO b Ol one of the towers.

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