If this had happened in the Chicago area I am confident that it would have been reported locally. When some local morons vandalized and demonstrated at a local mosque it was widely reported.
This is the stuff of so called urban legends if not sourced.
I didn't imply that it should. But there were a lot of things reported that first week, locally and nationally, that turned out later to be untrue--journalists hurrying to get things on the air first, whether correct or not. This isn't a new thing but it was particularly bad right after 9/11 when everyone was half-hysterical. So it's equally possible that certain things DID happen but got no coverage at all.
The story about the men on the Jersey rooftop, watching the destruction with binoculars and a scale model of the WTC, I heard on NBC during primetime on 9/13. Have heard nothing whatsoever in the way of followup since then.
All I'm saying is that the bar for what "passes journalistic muster" has dropped considerably in the past few years, and considering the concerted effort being made at the top levels of government to assure the world that "we certainly don't consider this a war against Islam", I no longer doubt that some of these stories have been deliberately suppressed. Maaybe for good reason, maybe not.
But, I do realize that accepting my friend's story would be to expect you to accept a thirdhand account, and that's something I tend to reject myself. So take it with as large a grain of salt as you need.