Tom Guarriello was on a corporate jet over the Atlantic when the pilot told him a plane had hit the World Trade Center. He watches from his Manhattan apartment five years later, reflecting on the hole in the sky and the city's resilience.
Well, hi, it's Tom Guarriello. I'm here at our apartment in Manhattan today, and the lighting conditions aren't great, but the Chrysler Building looks great over my shoulder, so I just wanted to capture that and just say a few words. Today's 9/11, and being here in the city today, you know, it was kind of eerie. It was a beautiful, beautiful day. Just like this 5 years ago today. Sorry, I had to come inside. The lighting conditions and the focus conditions were really impossible out there for the camera. I just wanted to say that being in the city today just reminded me of what it was like 5 years ago when myself and a bunch of colleagues and friends were leaving for a shopping trip to Europe on a corporate jet and took off from a private airport in New Jersey and 2 hours out over the Atlantic, our pilot came back and told us that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center and We thought it was an accident, of course, at first, and then we heard about the second plane. It was a beautiful, beautiful day, just like today. And there's really not a lot to say except that 5 years later, New York is still very scarred by what happened. New Yorkers are tough, a tough lot, but that hole— people talked about the hole in the sky, and it's so true. That hole in the sky is still there. So being here in the city today and having it be such a gorgeous day just made me feel like I had to say something about what happened. That was it. So best to everybody. I know we all have our own private thoughts on this day, and these were mine. Bye.
