Back on Sept. 18 , 2001 I read in Newsday about all the NYS Tax And Finance Employees that got killed on 9/11 including my Tax Dept. supervisor who I worked with for 5 years in the Queens District Office in Rego Park. I read how she died on the 78th Floor of the South Tower along with 2 other Tax Dept. Employees I knew who worked in the Queens Office. I had no idea back then about all the death and destruction that occurred on that floor when the United Airlines Jet crashed into the South Tower between the 76th floor and the 80th Floor.
I watched a video on You Tube titled The Gore floor 9/11 . There were about 200 people waiting for elevators on the 78th Floor Sky Lobby when the Plane struck the building. The wing of the aircraft sliced right thru that Sky Lobby and cut people in half ! Jet Fuel ignited and caused giant fireballs within that sky lobby. Just like that, nearly 200 people in the sky lobby were killed and all the people on the Jet. Amazingly, about 15-18 people survived all that and made their way to the stairway and walked all the way down to safety. My Tax Dept. Supervisor, Diane Gladstone , was the Section Head of the NYS TAX Dept. Office , she ordered all the employees in her section to immediately evacuate after the first plane struck the North Tower. She didn't hesitate like businesses in that building did, she ordered the whole office to evacuate within minutes after the first plane hit.. They were on the 86th , 87th floor , they walked down to the 78th Floor to get on the elevator in the Sky Lobby. They and about 200 people were all crowded together in the lobby waiting for the elevators when the 2nd plane struck. Several Tax Dept. Employees survived and they described how my Supervisor died. She was standing there waiting like everybody else when the plane struck, her legs were cut off and she was thrown to the ground. 2 of her friends from the Queens Office, Harry Goody and Diane Urban , rushed over to help her. While they were helping her, the Jet Fuel ignited and they were consumed in a fire ball and never seen again. I never knew how devastating that was for her and all the 200 people in that lobby. Not many people know about all the death and destruction that occurred on the 78th Floor that day.
Diane Gladstone was 6 months away from retirement. She worked for the state for 35 years and planned on moving out to Hampton Bays with her husband and live in their summer home out there. I knew 4 people who died in the attack, 3 people I worked with and 1 person who I was in the Boy Scouts with. I worked a full week in the WTC during the summer of 1989 doing Temp. Work. Walked all around the WTC Complex, had lunch in the basement and in the garden in front of the buildings. Rode the elevators up and down . When I worked for NY State, I went all the way up to the 86th Floor to attend Tax Appeals Hearings in the Dept's Bureau of Mediation and Conciliation . I was an Income Tax Auditor and I went up there to defend the Dept. in Tax Appeals cases.
Very weird knowing people who died in that attack , to know them for 5 years and read about how they died , it's something I'll never forget.
I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. I drove my mother and father to a car dealership in Hempstead to have their car worked on. After we dropped off the car, we all went for a walk at Hempstead Lake State Park. Had no idea what was happening. Heard fire engines racing someplace , probably going into NYC to man the stations there. Got home about 10:30 in the morning and was on the telephone when my mother came running in saying we're under attack.My brother came home from his NYC job and told us what happened.
I watched a video on You Tube titled The Gore floor 9/11 . There were about 200 people waiting for elevators on the 78th Floor Sky Lobby when the Plane struck the building. The wing of the aircraft sliced right thru that Sky Lobby and cut people in half ! Jet Fuel ignited and caused giant fireballs within that sky lobby. Just like that, nearly 200 people in the sky lobby were killed and all the people on the Jet. Amazingly, about 15-18 people survived all that and made their way to the stairway and walked all the way down to safety. My Tax Dept. Supervisor, Diane Gladstone , was the Section Head of the NYS TAX Dept. Office , she ordered all the employees in her section to immediately evacuate after the first plane struck the North Tower. She didn't hesitate like businesses in that building did, she ordered the whole office to evacuate within minutes after the first plane hit.. They were on the 86th , 87th floor , they walked down to the 78th Floor to get on the elevator in the Sky Lobby. They and about 200 people were all crowded together in the lobby waiting for the elevators when the 2nd plane struck. Several Tax Dept. Employees survived and they described how my Supervisor died. She was standing there waiting like everybody else when the plane struck, her legs were cut off and she was thrown to the ground. 2 of her friends from the Queens Office, Harry Goody and Diane Urban , rushed over to help her. While they were helping her, the Jet Fuel ignited and they were consumed in a fire ball and never seen again. I never knew how devastating that was for her and all the 200 people in that lobby. Not many people know about all the death and destruction that occurred on the 78th Floor that day.
Diane Gladstone was 6 months away from retirement. She worked for the state for 35 years and planned on moving out to Hampton Bays with her husband and live in their summer home out there. I knew 4 people who died in the attack, 3 people I worked with and 1 person who I was in the Boy Scouts with. I worked a full week in the WTC during the summer of 1989 doing Temp. Work. Walked all around the WTC Complex, had lunch in the basement and in the garden in front of the buildings. Rode the elevators up and down . When I worked for NY State, I went all the way up to the 86th Floor to attend Tax Appeals Hearings in the Dept's Bureau of Mediation and Conciliation . I was an Income Tax Auditor and I went up there to defend the Dept. in Tax Appeals cases.
Very weird knowing people who died in that attack , to know them for 5 years and read about how they died , it's something I'll never forget.
I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. I drove my mother and father to a car dealership in Hempstead to have their car worked on. After we dropped off the car, we all went for a walk at Hempstead Lake State Park. Had no idea what was happening. Heard fire engines racing someplace , probably going into NYC to man the stations there. Got home about 10:30 in the morning and was on the telephone when my mother came running in saying we're under attack.My brother came home from his NYC job and told us what happened.
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