1626.pjpeg9/12/01 - "The Morning After..." Instead of being at my new job, I am at the Hudson River Piers, standing speechless next to the West Side Highway, frozen with disbelief, and wrestling with the sights and sounds I unfortunately witnessed less than 24 hours earlier. On this breezy September morning I am staring down into real-time death, devastation and despair. The gripping smell that lingered in the air that morning, and for the next few months, is a scent I won't ever be able to forget.