John Zingale, a Sun City resident, was in New York on September 11, 2001.
“I was at work, and I always had on the radio. Over the airways came the news that the first tower was hit. I knew that this was no accident; no plane could accidentally fly into the building,” he said.
Zingale worked at a building in Brooklyn on the 25th floor. Horrified at the news, he went up to the roof of the building. “The gravity of what is going on unfolds, and I get there in time to see the second plane hit the South Tower,” Zingale said.
SC resident John Zingale watched the terrors of 9/11 unfold from the roof of his Brooklyn office. (Photo by Christine Such/My Sun Day News)
While millions watched the second plane hit the South Tower on live television, Zingale had a different view. He was there in person, at the heart of the chaos. The attacks in New York occurred in the country’s busiest city on a busy workday.
Zingale said, “I knew immediately this was an act of terrorism. I watched the towering inferno and wondered if this would lead to World War III and if I would ever see my wife and family again. I quickly called my wife and got to speak to her for about five minutes when all cell phone communication went down. I then called her on the landline in my office, but that was also down.”
The toxic dust plume from the World Trade Center attacks rose almost a mile into the sky and drifted about 44 miles downwind.
Zingale said, “It was raining debris like it was snowing.”
A group of ironworkers, heavy-equipment operators, and mason tenders toiled day and night to clear away the destruction of the World Trade Center’s twin towers. It took eight-and-a-half months to remove an estimated 1.8 million tons of twisted steel and pulverized concrete, transforming a mountainous pile into a 16-acre.”
Zingale witnessed small moments of tragedy as well.
He said, “I saw a document on the roof; it was a charred check. I could not get back to work for a couple of days. I kept the check tucked in my wallet. It was a daily reminder of what I had seen. At the train station, I would see cars parked and covered with that yellow dust for weeks, unmoved. I knew that they would not be returning to retrieve them. I knew their owners were victims of 9/11. “
Prior to September 11, Zingale had a habit of eating breakfast every morning at a local diner.
“I would leave for work every day at 4:30. I would have breakfast at 5:30 and arrive at work at 6:00. The diner was in the 78th precinct. It was filled with policemen before 9/11, but after the event, the diner was empty,” he said.
Zingale even knew some of the people who had perished that day.
“I attended three funerals and couldn’t go to anymore,” he said. “It was heartbreaking. I did attend one memorial at Our Lady of Consolation in Wayne, New Jersey; Father Michael Lombardo, the pastor of the church, sprinkled holy water on a six-foot-tall rusted piece of twisted steel in the Memorial Garden. It was from the World Trade Center.”
Zingler did part with the check, sending it with a letter to the company that issued the check: Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. The location of the company listed on the check is Two Worl Trade Ctr., 104th Floor in New York, New York. In the letter, Zingale said, “In many ways, your check has come to represent America to me. It endured a tragedy of unmeasurable proportions, yet it survived. The check, along with the letter I sent, has been framed and hanging on the wall in the new offices.”
