Republican presidential candidate, Governor George Pataki shared his thoughts on the fourteenth anniversary of 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center Buildings. Pataki was the governor of New York at the time. He happened to be in New York City not Albany on that fateful day. He had to make sure that the various agencies of the state government were working together to provide necessary services in this crisis situation. Pataki described how difficult it was to suspend his emotions because he knew so many people who worked in those buildings. While visiting a hospital near Ground Zero, he happened to meet the wife of a close friend who worked there. She implored him to find her husband who was having breakfast in the Windows on the World Restaurant on the top floor of one of the Towers. He knew then that his friend Neal was gone, but just told her that he would do what he could.
For a while, there was a great deal of confusion because they were unable to contact the mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani. Finally, the mayor was able to call to tell Pataki that he was setting up a command center. Pataki moved his people in with them. Then, around a huge table they were able to coordinate a unified state and city response.
In many ways, the September 11th tragedy brought out many good qualities. Governor Pataki was proud of so many New Yorkers and people from around the country who tried to give help anyway that they could. He believes that 9/11 brought out a sense of patriotism and unity unlike any other time in his life. Unfortunately, Pataki feels that he has never seen the country more divided than it is now. Pataki criticized how the Senate Democrats blocked having a vote on the Iran Nuclear “Treaty.” He called it, “blind partisanship replacing patriotism.”
