Shoes

Shortly after arriving at work on the morning of 9/11, Ben Kaminow heard a boom, felt the building move from the resulting shock wave, and was thrown off his feet towards a window. The sight of falling debris made him realize that he and his coworkers should exit the office at once. The larger Garban-Intercapital group agreed. Before heading out, Kaminow went back to his desk for his phone and gym bag.

In the hallway, Kaminow smelled smoke and noticed more people than usual. As he descended, he observed worsening smoke conditions and an inflow of people joining the evacuation at each successive floor. Upon reaching the concourse level, Kaminow was shocked to see the destruction and debris. In the company of his coworker, Mike Yaroshyk, Kaminow exited the North Tower and inexplicably headed south, running through the WTC3 Marriott Hotel into its Tall Ships Bar for temporary shelter. A PAPD officer gathered the evacuees who had congregated there and told them that he was going to count to three and open an exit door. With that cue, they should run and not stop. Kaminow found cover from falling debris under a protected overpass some distance away.

Pausing briefly, Kaminow spoke to his wife, who had called to tell him that a plane had hit the North Tower. He hung up abruptly upon witnessing an airplane strike the South Tower. Still accompanied by Yaroshyk, the men started to run again, stopping once they reached the water’s edge. Kaminow and Yaroshyk thereafter joined forces with two young men, and together they all began walking north up the FDR Drive. They had just passed the Brooklyn Bridge when they heard a rumble which they later learned was the collapsing South Tower.

The group continued their trek uptown, and one of the men in their group, Craig Katz, suggested that they walk to his apartment at 33rd Street and 2nd Avenue. Once they arrived, Kaminow saw that his feet were bleeding from the friction of so much walking and running in his loafers without the protection of socks. Katz supplied him with a pair of sneakers, two sizes too big for Kaminow’s feet. But Kaminow managed to improve the fit somewhat after finding a pair of socks in his gym bag.  

After leaving Katz, Kaminow and Yaroshyk journeyed on to Yaroshyk’s apartment. Although his phone was still not working, Kaminow decided to continue uptown toward home. It took him three hours to reach the Upper West Side after fleeing the World Trade Center.

Over the years, Kaminow has stayed in touch with Katz and the two have become friends, playing sports together throughout the year and recalling their dramatic, shared experience on each anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Kaminow, who credits his safe arrival home to Katz, saved both his own loafers and the “rescue” sneakers that Katz gave to him as mementos of his 9/11 experience.

The two pairs of shoes worn by Benjamin Kaminow on 9/11 augment a robust permanent collection of survivor stories and accompanying footwear from the day.