A quick caveat, this video is not going to be the happiest, so if you do want a fun adventure vlog, tune back in this weekend for a fun video from Japan.

So I have been wanting to make this video for years.

And before I share my story, I did want to give a quick background.

So my great-grandfather, Gennaro Conti, came from Italy to here in New York City.

He lived in the Bronx, where my grandfather was born and raised, as well as where my dad was born.

Then my parents met here in the city, where they were both working for the same company.

But shortly after I was born, they split up.

The custody arrangements were that I'd spend weekdays and go to school with my mom, who just moved outside of the city to a town called Massapequa, and most weekends were spent with my dad here in the city.

Now I can only remember bits and pieces from being a kid, but September 11th, 2001, is a day I can remember so vividly.

So I was in the third grade, and I didn't know much.

But I did know that my dad was a salesman, and most of his job consisted of bouncing around the city going to meetings.

And one of the locations I knew he frequented with those meetings was around the World Trade

Center.

So I remember going into school that day, and it happened early in the morning.

So at this point, I was just getting into my third grade classroom, and it just going silent.

Then I remember my teacher turning on the news, and us kids not really understanding what the news anchors were articulating, but being able to visually comprehend that it looked like an apocalypse was happening, that Manhattan was on fire.

You know, approximately 10 minutes ago, there was a major explosion from probably, it looks like about the 80th floor, it looks like it's affected probably 4 to 8 floors.

Shortly after, everyone started getting sent home from school, and I know I was a little kid, but it really did just feel like the world was ending.

And I'll never forget finally getting home and trying to call my dad, but it instantly going to voicemail.

And then I just immediately started crying.

The phone lines were down, and it was just a very traumatic experience knowing that my dad was somewhere within a close proximity of the World Trade Center, and not knowing for a decently long time if he was okay.

I so vividly remember this being on a Tuesday early in the week, because then kids slowly started returning back to school, but some kids didn't come back to school for a month.

And unfortunately, a lot of the parents of the kids I went to school with, their parents worked in the World Trade Center, and unfortunately lost their lives that day.

I later found out that my dad was actually supposed to have a meeting just one block away from the World Trade Center that morning, but thankfully, I don't know how, that meeting got canceled.

So luckily, he wasn't in that area and was safe, but he still did have to witness the madness that happened that day.

So my dad was actually supposed to be near the World Trade Center that morning, but luckily his meeting got canceled and he wasn't in that area, but was still able to witness what happened with his own eyes, and even his own video camera.

I do have one more quick caveat that I wanted to say, which is if you know me, or if you've ever met me on the streets, you know that I'm very similar to who I am in these videos as I am in real life.

I'm always very happy and positive, and I think I get a lot of that from my dad, who is the kindest, happiest, most positive person I know.

So I honestly haven't talked too much to him about this day, which was very sad and I know even emotional for him.

So I'm even really curious to go to his place right now, sit down with him, look at some of the footage he filmed, and get some more insights on what it was like for my dad being right here on September 11th.

Alright dad, how vividly do you remember September 11th, 2001?

Very vividly, like it was yesterday.

I remember all the details, but I remember it very well, living here, I had some meetings that got rescheduled.

What was your day like, because I know that you were supposed to have a meeting there that day?

So, outside of the meeting that should have been in Lower Manhattan, it wasn't, it was rescheduled for the afternoon, but obviously that didn't happen, and I had gone to the gym in the morning, and as I was leaving, I was all dressed, ready to go to my meeting,

I walked out to the waterfront, which is behind me, and just watched in disbelief, could see the smoke starting to come up.

So I decided it was time, based on what I saw on the news, I would get on my bike, packed a backpack full of ice water, saw passengers coming off the ferry, and I videotaped some stuff and took some pictures, not for any commercial gain, but really just to serve as a memory of like this time, 23 years later, 22 years later, and it's still as fresh as anything in my mind.

Were you scared?

So, of course, we were all scared, you know, I had a lot of people I knew that worked at the World Trade Center, so you really didn't know how many people, first count, concerned that maybe 20,000 people perished.

Nothing's amazing in that day, and nothing to reduce, every life is important, but the policemen and the firemen have to be credited towards reducing that number from what could have been a much bigger number to, you know, 3,000, just shy of 3,000, and it was just really something.

I remember, I was so young, I was what, 8 years old or something, I remember getting home from school when everyone got picked up early and trying to call you, but the phones were down.

Same thing with your grandmother and grandfather, my parents, they couldn't reach me, the cell phones were really sporadic, every once in a while, like, you wouldn't get anything, and then all of a sudden a call would come through, so I think I reached around 8 o'clock at night, I think we had some form of service, and then we were told, you know, I spoke to your mother, said, yeah, I'm okay, you know, I'm glad that you're okay, one of the, of my whole life, one of the moments I'll never forget, and there's not a day that goes by that I look at the skyline because of where I live, I have to see it every day, that you don't think about the people that perished in that, and having known, my count was about 12 people that perished, but every one of them was just a tragic loss, and, uh...

So it is currently 2 in the morning, I was waiting for the rain to stop to head downtown to the Freedom Tower, but unfortunately I still didn't get soaked, but now we are riding downtown to go pay homage in person at the World Trade Center, it's a crazy night out here tonight, too, very ominous.

It really is unbelievable to come back here today, and think about what happened here just 22 years ago, and I must add that the Freedom Tower is my favorite building in New

York City, since it really symbolizes New York, or America, coming back strong and taller than before.