Robert J. Harding Jr is an outstanding artist.  His work seen around the world.

View from Ground Zero Resident:                                     Written by Robert J. Harding Date: 10/6/01 1:11:25 AM Pacific Daylight Time From:    robertjhardingjr@mac.com (Robert J. Harding Jr.) To:    Rsmithnew@aol.com (Ralph E. Smith- Publisher) Dear Ralph:  I was touched and inspired during our meeting this evening at Kinko's on Duane street. I am including some comments here for your use, perhaps, in your very impressive and relevant chronicle. On September 11, 2001, the beautiful morning before nine o'clock at my loft home on the corner of Thomas street and West Broadway was torn apart by the report of an explosion. Alarmed because my wife had just left for work, and also because I heard cries of fear from the street below,I grabbed my two and a half year old son and dashed below into the street to see what had happened. There in company with my neighbors and the New York City Correction Officers on duty at Thomas Street, we saw a vicious, smoking black gaping hole in the first tower hit, and amid the debris falling, we could see our fellow Americans leaping in terror from the building. We had no idea what had happened and as we speculated, a terror stricken man ran up to tell us he had seen a plane hit the building from the north. As we spoke in our confusion and shock and fear, shortly after nine , a huge explosion shook the second tower two thirds up its length. We were now terrified. It seemed the tower would collapse towards us. We could feel the heat. We saw debris beginning to fly down towards us. With my son in my arms, along with the others, I turned and ran inside and up to my loft. We knew that we were under attack. We were all shivering with fear. We had no idea what would come next. I had to remain calm and to think because I had a child to protect. I made a call to my daughter and then to my sister and then to my wife. None were there and so I left messages telling them we were okay. Then I decided to go below and consult the police who were gathering on the corner. I thought that they would have information that would guide my next move. As I went  down the stairs, a neighbor entered in tearful panic to tell me that the second tower hit had collapsed. I quickly returned to the loft, packed some water, baby food and fruit and a flashlight into a small shoulder bag, dressed my son in his hat and jacket and headed back out into the street. The scene downtown at the World Trade center was now total carnage and dust and smoke and the other tower was a roaring inferno and seemed ready to cave in. Police officers advised me to take my child and flee north. The air was filling with fine ash and an acrid stench from the burning buildings. I turned to my left and as I headed North, I remembered hearing a  police officer," I hope that we're okay!" He grinned and said, " I hope so too, that's the Mayor over there!" Sure enough it was Mayor Giuliani and his Police  Commissioner and their entourage covered with dust and moving north rapidly after having escaped the collapse of the first tower. We joined them  and headed north in a throng whose mood was intense, grim, fearful,  and angry but always orderly. Some persons  had collapsed and I and others stopped to help. However, we all knew that we had to move on. Rumor had it that more attacking planes were headed in our direction. As we, the mayor, and others walked over the intersection at Worth and West Broadway, the second tower collapsed in a roaring cloud of smoke and debris that seemed to be travelling at high speed towards us and Independence Plaza and other buildings along the river. I was fearful for my friends there. Still, we moved north. The mayor and his group sought shelter in the fire station at sixth avenue and North Houston. I decided to seek refuge in the Church of the Ascension on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Tenth street. Inside, with others who had fled, some from the towers themselves, we found solace, peace, and spiritual sustenance. it was an oasis in a city in chaos and terror. It became clear that as we reached out to comfort and reassure each other, that we, as a people had become transformed that day and that all the pettiness had slipped away and had been replaced by a new found compassion, mutual purpose, and respect. Our outrage and sorrow would be forged into a mandate for a new era of dedication to a victory for the sacredness of human life. We the people knew this in our hearts and we also knew now in this hour of trial that we would not go back. We would together move forward into a new time. This would become the hour in which we would forge justice for all of us and for all of our fellow humans who had been hurt and deeply defiled by those wanton acts of violence against the sacred spiritual endowment of all human beings. We knew that we would not let our brothers and sisters die in vain. We would give birth to a new mandate for our nation, our city, our communities. We would do this together.