On Saturday we paid our respects to the World Trade and the people who were there on September 11, 2001. We had driven down from Nashua Friday night, checking into the Marriott a couple of blocks from Ground Zero just before midnight. It was nearly 1:00am by the time we were able to walk over to Liberty Street and look down into the hole that was the site of the twin towers. Liberty Street is still closed to all but pedestrian traffic.
Liberty Street has been closed to traffic before. After the 1993 bombing huge air conditioning units were installed in the roadway where they remained for more than a year. In those days I was a frequent passenger on the Number One train from Columbus Circle to the Cortland Street, World Trade Center subway stop. The Cortland Street stop had been somewhere in the middle of that vast hole. As I looked into it, I tried to guess where it was that I used to get off the train, but I couldn't tell. It seems like such a long time ago.
Susan and I came for a visit to New York eight months after the attack. We couldn't get close to the World Trade at that time. A wide area from Broadway to Battery Park City was closed to the public, so we went around, wondering north along the Hudson to the World Financial Center. Glass had been blown out of the Winter Garden. Farther up a bagel shop had been abandoned. Eight months after the attack there were still coffee cups left on the tables and dust was every where.
But Saturday was brilliant and beautiful. Saturday we walked through the Winter Garden. The palm trees are back. We passed by that bagel shop but decided against going in for coffee. The lines were too long. I love New York. It's a startling admission. I'm a Red Sox fan after all, but there it is. We went up to Central Park and sat on a bench to watch them play softball. We had lunch in a local bar -- DJ Reynolds -- great place for a beer or anything else you might want. We had dinner that evening at Au Manderin just off the Winter Garden. It was great to be back.
The world is a different place and America is a different place, too. I find inspiration in New York. New York is tough and resilient. New Yorkers are tough and resilient. And very American. As New Yorkers have rebounded to begin the task of rebuilding a broken piece of their city, America has rebounded to begin the task of eradicating those forces that had hoped to hold America and New York hostage to their violent whims. We have a long way to go on both fronts but both are well started. New York inspires me and strengthens my hope. I believe we will win.
Comments