Ground Control

At about 1:15pm Saturday afternoon, I was riding the C train from Penn Station to Ground Zero on the ninth anniversary of the day that changed the world forever.

I was one stop away from my destination when the doors opened, three men, dressed alike, busted into our train and started screaming.

Honestly, before I could process anything they had said, they had successfully scared the hell out of me.

(And I would imagine everyone else on the train).

I must admit that the idea of visiting the area where the World Trade Center was attacked is still a bit nerve wracking.

Visiting the area where the World Trade Center was attacked ON September 11 is downright eery.

But as I stated before, visiting Ground Zero on 9/11 was something that I felt I had to do. 

As for the three men who joined our train.

Well, as they came on, they shouted something like, “we are not here to cause any trouble, we are here to entertain.”

Then, within five seconds, which felt like five minutes, they turned on a boom box and did an amazing acrobatic meets gymnastic meets break-dancing exhibition.

All while the subway was in full motion.

At the end of the routine, they politely said if anybody wanted to donate money, it would be much appreciated.

Their routine included a series of flips and leaps and jumps, all in the narrow aisle of one subway train.

All with the train at full speed.

I don’t know if they caught anyone else off guard, maybe this happens all the time in New York.

But considering I had already psyched myself up for the scene at Ground Zero, I was definitely not prepared to see a dance routine -- as amazing as it was.

When I got off my train, I walked down Church Street towards the World Trade Center area.

I barely made it half a block before I was greeted by controversy.

The story of the Islamic Community Center/”Ground Zero Mosque” was definitely the hot issue in lower Manhattan.

There were protesters from both sides exchanging very heated words to anybody who would oppose their position.

And in some cases, some people who were on their side.

There was a two-hour rally hosted by a far right conservative group that opposed the building of a mosque so close to Ground Zero.

The rally was attended by thousands of people, hundreds of media and hundreds of others, like me, who had nothing better to do.   

Considering all the flip cameras I saw, I’m sure you can watch many versions of the rally on youtube.

If you have nothing better to do.

As you might imagine, the crowd on both sides of this topic was incredibly passionate.   

I saw dozens of heated discussions/arguments, but fortunately I did not see one physical altercation.

At one point, I noticed a man getting handcuffed and moved into the back of an NYPD police car.

But considering how many people were there and how many of those people were screaming at each other, that’s an incredibly low number.

At the end of the rally, the conservative group had to walk out of their venue and directly past a group of people with completely different beliefs.

There was a recipe for disaster and I was standing literally in the middle of it.

For a moment, actually several moments, it felt like a riot would start, but the true authorities moved in very quickly and moved everyone out.

They used police on horses, on mopeds, on feet, in cars, whatever it took.

And they did a great job.

After things settled, I spoke with one of the members of the NYPD, the one dressed in suit and tie, and I told him his people did an amazing job of being patient.

Which they did.

He said thanks, but then expressed that his fellow officers are the only ones that have not had a chance to grieve since 9/11 and that they were flat out exhausted.

The good news is there was no riot. 

Being right in the middle was quite an amazing experience and while I don’t share the passion of either side, I definitely respect the right that people have to voice their opinion.

I did not know anyone killed on September 11, 2001.

I did not live in New York at the time.

There is no way that I can truly connect with those that did.

But for one day, being surrounded by people who believe in something, even if its something that I may not believe in, was an experience that I won’t forget.