New York - Part 1

Although I was not afraid to fly to New York a week after 9-11; it was different when you got to the airport. There were police with rifles walking around and your luggage had to be searched. The flight was uneventful, and it was all business when I got to the Disaster headquarters in Brooklyn. I reported in to staffing, health, got my hotel room, and reported to the supervisor in logistics. One difference, from other disaster assignments, was we all had to be issued picture ID’s. All ID’s were not the same. The different clearance levels were indicated on the badge. Clearances were; None, Full Access & Ground Zero.

The first week there, the Red Cross had buses to take us to our hotels. After that we had to take the subway. My hotel was at 42nd.& 2nd. To get to the subway I had to walk 3 blocks to Grand Central Station go down two levels and get the Green Line South to the Fulton St. Station then get off and go down one more level and catch the Blue Line to Brooklyn’s High St. station. To get on the train all we had to do was show our Red Cross ID badge.