The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11

Coast Guard and civilian boats evacuated between 300,000 and 500,000 people from Battery Park and nearby piers; many boats made more than 10 trips from Manhattan to Jersey, Brooklyn, or Staten island. Some displayed handwritten signs on sheets to indicate their destination, like “Brooklyn” or “Jersey.” NYPD Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers pulled shards of glass out of Terri Tobin’s back before she boarded a boat; she also had a piece of concrete embedded in her head. Babies and children were thrown down to people in boats to catch. People waited in line for hours to get out of Manhattan, some experiencing dust-inhalation or other injuries. The day was clear on the Hudson, and people looked back at Manhattan in shock. Ambulances waited at Jersey City. Civilians on one boat asked students of Arabic ethnicity to open their backpacks so that they could look inside.

At the WTC ruins, emergency workers noticed clean-shirted people arriving. NYPD officer David Brink entered a church and washed his eyes using the holy water. Richard Eichen reached Beekman Downtown Hospital, where he received stitches for a wound on his head.