Transportation Paralyzed Highways, trains shut down for much of yesterday

This story was reported by Bill Bleyer, Bart Jones, Sylvia King and J. Jioni Palmer | It was written by John Valenti.

September 12, 2001

The Long Island Expressway and other highways leading into the city were strangely deserted. The Long Island Rail Road came to a standstill between Jamaica and Manhattan. Bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed. The subways weren't running, and all commercial aviation was grounded.

The metropolitan area's transportation network was paralyzed for much of yesterday after terrorists razed the Twin Towers, forcing authorities to shut down mass transit arteries out of fear of additional attacks.

That stranded hundreds of thousands of commuters, who had no way to get home other than to walk out of Manhattan across the Brooklyn and other Manhattan bridges.

"We have taken that we can get over bridges and through tunnels for granted," said Mark Kulewicz, the transportation services manager for the American Automobile Association. "What this says is that we're a lot more vulnerable - a lot more dependent on those links in our day-to-day life - than we realize."

Less than two hours after terrorists crashed a hijacked jet into the side of one of the World Trade Center towers, all major roads, tunnels and bridges into and out of Manhattan were closed - and all service was suspended on the Long Island Rail Road west of Jamaica.

PATH trains to New Jersey were halted and the Midtown and Lincoln tunnels were closed, as were eastbound lanes on the George Washington, Goethals and Bayonne bridges. They remained closed last night and were not expected to open today. Flights out of LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports remained grounded and were not expected to open until at least noon today.

After being closed for much of the day, police briefly opened the Northern and Southern State parkways westbound, but then re-closed them at the Queens border. The LIE, which had been closed westbound as far out as Exit 62, remained closed to all but emergency vehicles west of Exit 33.

"Basically, you can get out of Manhattan, but you're not getting into the city unless you are emergency personnel," said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Eileen Peters.

At the bridges and tunnels, the situation was no better for drivers.

The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel were closed in both directions. The Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, both open to pedestrians, were closed in the late afternoon. The Williamsburg Bridge remained open to pedestrian traffic.

The 59th Street, Whitestone, Throgs Neck and Triborough bridges all were reopened in late afternoon, though authorities had no timetable for the reopening of roads into Manhattan.

On the LIRR, the morning shutdown stranded thousands of commuters. Typical was the scene at the Jamaica station, where hundreds lined the platforms waiting for trains that would not come.

"People just seem confused, very upset," limousine driver Norman McIntrie, 29, of Rosedale said. "There is nothing going into Manhattan."

The railroad, which first suspended service between Jamaica and Manhattan at 9:45 a.m., restored limited service in the early afternoon and its full schedule eastbound and westbound by 7:30 p.m.

"At the moment, we expect to provide full service for the morning commute," LIRR spokesman Brian Dolan said.

With planes, trains and automobiles of no use for hours yesterday, one of the few ways out of Manhattan yesterday was via ferry. In Glen Cove, ferries were being used to shuttle doctors and medical personnel into the city.