“Wake up, wake up. Turn on the TV,” my friend Larry Polonetsky said on my answering machine. I was working as a freelance reporter, mainly for The Forest Hills Times, and sleeping late.

The only channel working on my non-cable TV was Channel 2. The attacks had knocked out the TV tower at the World Trade Center. Replays of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center played. It looked like a movie, so I turned on 880 WCBS AM radio, where every few seconds they were saying, “Breaking News.”

Larry was not working as an NYC probation officer that day, so he met me with his car. We quickly decided to do two stories that day: the local hospitals’ preparedness and the reactions of religious leaders of multiple faiths.

The streets of Queens were empty of cars and people. Crossing over the Main Street overpass of the LIE, now closed to public traffic, a long line of fire trucks, ambulances, and vehicles was backed up going into Manhattan.

The currently named NewYork-Presbyterian Queens set up a helicopter landing pad at the baseball field across the street. Dozens of wheelchairs were lined up outside on the side of the hospital. Over 100 people started arriving after 11 a.m. to donate blood.

At the time of the article, 15 victims came to that hospital, mostly for smoke inhalation, and were released. St. John’s Hospital treated 21 victims, including three police officers and two EMS workers, and 20 were released. Elmhurst Hospital treated 14 victims, ranging “from chest pains to bumps and bruises.” All shifts were reporting to the hospitals, and special transportation was being provided.

According to FDNY records, during the first 24 hours, 158 firefighters and 82 EMS workers were treated in emergency departments; 28 were admitted, mainly at hospitals in Manhattan. The FDNY lost 343 members and the NYPD 23 that day.

For the other article, Imam Fadel Al-Sahlani of the Shiite Al-Khoei Mosque, along the Van Wyck Expressway, said of the attacks, “Under Islamic Law, the penalty is death.” “There is definitely anger here at these people.”

Police and detectives visited the mosque, asking his congregation not to gather in large numbers. The imam said no group, nation, or ethnicity should be punished.

Rabbi Joseph Rimler, assistant rabbi at Queens Jewish Center, said, “America should wake up and fight this terrorism.” Rimler heard Arabs were dancing in the streets in the Palestinian territories and in Arab countries. “People have not felt the constant and isolated attacks that Israel has had.”

Monsignor Joseph Funaro of Our Lady of Martyrs Church in Forest Hills said, “People have refused to understand peace through the love of G-d. People have refused to love people.” He wanted to learn from the scriptures and not act vengefully.

A week after the 9/11 attacks, Larry and I were a block away from Ground Zero doing a story about a M*A*S*H-type tent for the NYPD dogs searching for survivors. The dogs’ paws and eyes were washed, and cuts were attended to. Rescue workers were not finding survivors.

Even though the city and federal governments declared the air safe around Ground Zero, I could feel the debris and soot in my chest.

The area was full of volunteers from all over the country giving out free sandwiches, hot food, water, coffee, clothing, boots, masks, hard hats, tools, even Vicks VapoRub and ChapStick. There was tremendous kindness and unity there.

Police had cordoned off the area from the public near Ground Zero. There was a large crowd waving American flags, chanting “USA, USA,” and cheering anytime a first responder vehicle went by. I remember a young man with a kippah singing “G-d Bless America” while standing and holding onto a telephone pole. The crowd cheered when he finished singing.

A week later, I did a story about two police officers from the 112 Precinct who were at the World Trade Center. They saw people jumping from the Towers and the buildings coming down. “I feel like I can cry at any minute when I think about it,” said Officer Stephen Borda, a 15-year veteran of the NYPD. “It was the worst day of my life,” said Officer Jeffrey Lee, a 14-year veteran. The police at the 112 Precinct were working a minimum of 12-hour shifts and were not allowed to take a day off until further notice.