Nyack Village Mayor Joe Rand recently reflected publicly on his Facebook Page about how the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks affected him, and the people who he worked with at that time in our nation’s history.
Rand grew up in the suburbs of Manhattan, went to DC for college and law school, and at the time of the 9/11 attacks, lived in Manhattan.
“Once the enormity of the tragedy became clear, a mass exodus started out of the city. The streets were closed to traffic, so people just simply walked… Some of them were Manhattanites, on what would be a two or three mile hike, and some of them were from points even further north… Many of them just wanted to get as far away as they could… Some of them were crying, some of them covered in the ashes of the fallen buildings.”
The Friday Vigil
“I remember that people started a spontaneous movement to hold a candlelight vigil at sunset throughout the country in memory of the lost… As we got there, a man with a guitar was playing a folk tune, many in the crowd singing along. But not the whole crowd… And I thought about that moment many times in the years that followed, as we saw those two perspectives become increasingly polarized in the governmental response to what happened that day.
It’s just impossible to believe that it’s been ten years, that a kid could be a young teenager and not remember what life was like before.”
As millions also contemplated, post 9/11 – Rand eventually made his way up north to Rockland County with his family. His subsequent time as Chief Creative Officer for Howard Hanna | Rand Realty resulted in consistent expansion over the past 15 years; the company oversees nearly 30 offices and 1,200 agents.
In addition to his current role as Village Mayor, Rand is the author of two books. [Source]
To read more of Mayor Rand’s reflections on 9/11, please visit the full original article.