Today is a somber anniversary. As we reflect on the profound losses of September 11, we are cognizant of it from the vantage point of higher education. We wanted to share the experience of one of the CUNY campuses who was inextricably bound up in the events of 9/11:
“Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is the only college in United States history to have lost a campus building to a terrorist attack. Fiterman Hall was donated to BMCC by in 1993 by Miles and Shirley Fiterman, and provided about a third of the College’s classroom space. On the morning of 9/11, BMCC faculty and staff in Fiterman Hall — just a few blocks from the Towers — heard the explosions and helped people into ambulances who were injured from falling debris.
In the hours that followed, BMCC helped the Port Authority of New York create a triage in the gym at the College’s main campus building at 199 Chambers Street, using first aid kits and other supplies from the BMCC Nursing Department. Generators were also set up and 199 Chambers Street became the Command Center for the New York Port Authority.
Then at 5:20 on the afternoon of 9/11, World Trade 7, across the street from Fiterman Hall, collapsed and fell against it. More than seven stories of debris piled against a corner of the building and it became uninhabitable.”
Read how they honor this history and the heroes who lost their lives here.
