For my second interview I talked to Barbara Goodstein, a former JP Morgan Chase employee who also happens to be my mother. She had started working for JP Morgan Chase on September 6th, 2001. Barbara worked two blocks away from the World Trade Center.
Where were you on 9/11?
I was taking my 6 year old son to his first day of Kindergarten on the Upper West Side. If I hadn't been taking him to school I would've been at the JP Morgan Chase office at Chase Plaza which was two blocks away from the trade center.
What happened to most of the people in Chase Plaza?
Due to the proximity of the Plaza to the Trade Center, Chase decided to lock everyone in the building because of all the falling debris. It was more dangerous to be outside than inside. They were literally trapped in the building until 5 P.M. that day. Almost all the exits to the building were blocked by debris when people were finally allowed to leave, so there was almost a mini stampede of people trying to get out of Chase Plaza. A lot of people ended up lying on the floor with towels over their faces because the building was filling up with smoke.
Do you remember how you felt that day?
I was in shock. I remember hearing people crying and screaming all over the school building. It was like a bad dream. What was going on didn't feel real. When I brought my son home, my neighbor told me the towers were gone. I was just in total disbelief.
How did 9/11 affect you in the coming days and even years?
Well in the days after I had to go back to work a week later. Most of lower Manhattan was closed and it was smoldering; the remnants were still sitting there and there was smoke everywhere. I literally went right past the Trade Center site since my office was 2 blocks below it. So they reopened Chase Plaza a week later, and the chairman of the company was standing at the door welcoming everyone back and telling everyone 'don't worry it's safe to come back'. It still smelled like smoke and there was black water coming out in the bathrooms. Of course the chairman didn't work there, he just was there greeting people and telling us that we had to come back to work there. He worked in Times Square and never came to Chase Plaza again. I felt sick everyday working there; I had horrible headaches, and it smelled like smoke at all times. That's why I think I got Kidney cancer two years later.
It seems a little insensitive that they made you go back to work only a week after 9/11 right, especially if it was that dangerous to be around there?
It was ridiculous; there were still fires, and all the workers were still down there trying to still find bodies. It wasn't just insensitive, it was bizarre. I really think it's why I got Kidney Cancer because I shouldn't have been in those buildings then. It was dangerous, the air was cloudy, the water was dark... There was something very wrong. But the focus at Chase was still get back to work and be productive because Chase couldn't afford to lose any of our time. The reality is I don't think anybody actually knew what was safe and what wasn't. No one actually knows if those fumes gave me cancer, but I'm pretty sure that they did. JP Morgan Chase definitely pushed people to go back to work too early because they wanted to make money. I had started working for Chase on September 6th of that year, but I seriously considered quitting when September 11th happened. It was just so traumatizing being so close to the Trade Center site. Looking back on it, I should've quit my job. Luckily I beat the Kidney Cancer and am fine now after two surgeries. But I am convinced that the cancer was by being around all that smoke and dirty air for so long.
Last question, would you ever work in the new World Trade Center One?
Well I actually was offered a job to interview for TheBeast.com in the old World Trade Centers on the 84th floor of one of the towers. I remember turning down the interview because I said I don't want to work in the Trade Center, I don't wanna be on a floor that high up, I don't like the elevators, and I just don't wanna be there. A friend of mine did work for that company that wanted to interview me, and she ended up getting out. She got out of the first tower and was knocked unconscious. She woke up on a pile of bodies and she managed to run out right before the first building collapsed. There's no way I would work in the new World Trade Center, and I'm amazed that they're able to get people to work there.
Where were you on 9/11?
I was taking my 6 year old son to his first day of Kindergarten on the Upper West Side. If I hadn't been taking him to school I would've been at the JP Morgan Chase office at Chase Plaza which was two blocks away from the trade center.
What happened to most of the people in Chase Plaza?
Due to the proximity of the Plaza to the Trade Center, Chase decided to lock everyone in the building because of all the falling debris. It was more dangerous to be outside than inside. They were literally trapped in the building until 5 P.M. that day. Almost all the exits to the building were blocked by debris when people were finally allowed to leave, so there was almost a mini stampede of people trying to get out of Chase Plaza. A lot of people ended up lying on the floor with towels over their faces because the building was filling up with smoke.
Do you remember how you felt that day?
I was in shock. I remember hearing people crying and screaming all over the school building. It was like a bad dream. What was going on didn't feel real. When I brought my son home, my neighbor told me the towers were gone. I was just in total disbelief.
How did 9/11 affect you in the coming days and even years?
Well in the days after I had to go back to work a week later. Most of lower Manhattan was closed and it was smoldering; the remnants were still sitting there and there was smoke everywhere. I literally went right past the Trade Center site since my office was 2 blocks below it. So they reopened Chase Plaza a week later, and the chairman of the company was standing at the door welcoming everyone back and telling everyone 'don't worry it's safe to come back'. It still smelled like smoke and there was black water coming out in the bathrooms. Of course the chairman didn't work there, he just was there greeting people and telling us that we had to come back to work there. He worked in Times Square and never came to Chase Plaza again. I felt sick everyday working there; I had horrible headaches, and it smelled like smoke at all times. That's why I think I got Kidney cancer two years later.
It seems a little insensitive that they made you go back to work only a week after 9/11 right, especially if it was that dangerous to be around there?
It was ridiculous; there were still fires, and all the workers were still down there trying to still find bodies. It wasn't just insensitive, it was bizarre. I really think it's why I got Kidney Cancer because I shouldn't have been in those buildings then. It was dangerous, the air was cloudy, the water was dark... There was something very wrong. But the focus at Chase was still get back to work and be productive because Chase couldn't afford to lose any of our time. The reality is I don't think anybody actually knew what was safe and what wasn't. No one actually knows if those fumes gave me cancer, but I'm pretty sure that they did. JP Morgan Chase definitely pushed people to go back to work too early because they wanted to make money. I had started working for Chase on September 6th of that year, but I seriously considered quitting when September 11th happened. It was just so traumatizing being so close to the Trade Center site. Looking back on it, I should've quit my job. Luckily I beat the Kidney Cancer and am fine now after two surgeries. But I am convinced that the cancer was by being around all that smoke and dirty air for so long.
Last question, would you ever work in the new World Trade Center One?
Well I actually was offered a job to interview for TheBeast.com in the old World Trade Centers on the 84th floor of one of the towers. I remember turning down the interview because I said I don't want to work in the Trade Center, I don't wanna be on a floor that high up, I don't like the elevators, and I just don't wanna be there. A friend of mine did work for that company that wanted to interview me, and she ended up getting out. She got out of the first tower and was knocked unconscious. She woke up on a pile of bodies and she managed to run out right before the first building collapsed. There's no way I would work in the new World Trade Center, and I'm amazed that they're able to get people to work there.