Even before the ferry crashed, I could tell something was wrong.
When you take the ferry as much as I do, you get used to the sounds of the engines, especially when something’s not working.
I thought the boat would slow down and I’d be late for work. I never dreamed it would crash.
Minutes later, we were pulling into Pier 11. When I looked up, I realized we were way off. We were nowhere near the dock.
Then I stood up, grabbed my bag and, boom, we crashed. Hard.
It was like hitting a brick wall. One second, passengers were standing. The next second, they were flat on their backs.
It was horrible. People were screaming. Some guy near me was walking down the aisle and he went flying and landed on his back and hit his head. There was broken glass everywhere.
I was on the upper level. There were a lot of people on the stairs, and they all fell forward.
When I finally reached the stairs, I saw blood everywhere. I saw people walking around who had obviously hit their heads. A lot of them were bleeding from their noses.
When the boat hit, I bounced off a seat in front of me, and that stopped me from getting hurt.
It’s just frightening to have to get back on the boat. Every time we pull into the docks, I’ll be fearful. Could we crash again?
Lorraine Mannix, 56, of Highlands, NJ, is a sales assistant for a publishing company in Midtown.
