I was in my office at 55 Water Street (East River), 40th floor, the building was built to sway slightly in the wind given its location on the river and having been built on reclaimed land. Was in early since I was finishing a presentation I was giving later in the day. When the first plane hit - I heard the noise of the impact but couldn't see what occurred since my office space faced North. Not soon thereafter I was noticing something flickering on my computer screen which faced the windows. Turning and looking at the window there was paper and other debris were strongly floating in the air from the impact. Walked the floor and stopped at the floor reception area but the TV hadn't reported what the impact was. As people started arriving in the office, we gathered at the floor reception area and by then the news was reporting what occurred . Not soon there after the second plane hit and the building really moved from the impact blast several blocks away. Having worked in that building for almost 2 decades I've never felt it sway that much. With that occurring, the senior managers took a quick head count and told us to leave/go home. Since the building is so close to the East river and quite exposed I got out of there. Sent a quick email to my family and close friends saying I was ok, grabbed my things then started walking uptown with the intent to go to Port Authority (catch a bus to NJ where I live). Somewhere in Chinatown/Little Italy - the first tower and then second collapsed. By the time I got up to midtown - the bus terminal was closed. Thinking of my options I headed back downtown to Gramercy Park since one of my old roommates lived there. Thankfully he was there and crashed that night at his apartment. The next day - the PATH trains were running on a limited basis so took it to Hoboken terminal where I caught a bus to Summit; one of the guys on the bus was a co-worker of an investment banker I worked with and he gave me a lift to my car in Madison and from there - drove home.
Separately two people I knew were flying back from Europe, one friend's plane was rerouted back to Europe; and my boyfriend at the time was closer to the US and his plane was routed to land in Gander Newfoundland.
