letteraNY

Dear friends,
Arlette and I were in New York visiting our daughter, her husband and our grandchildren. I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday, September 11. Tuesday morning, I asked my daughter to please phone for a cab at 9:25 to take me to LaGuardia. They told her her that LaGuardia was closed, whereupon we turned on the TV and saw that all hell had broken loose at the World Trade Center.
First we want to thank our friends and tell them how much we appreciate their concern. We really did appreciate their phone calls from France, and Brazil, and when I finally got home I found many e-mails expressing concern. It was truly heartfelt to find so much concern.
This letter is simply to tell all how we coped and what it was like in New York. Firstly, we never felt any physical danger to us nor did we have any friends who had been working in the World Trade Center or firemen or policemen.
We were staying in a apartment which is located in Manhattan in the Upper West Side on 105th street between West End Ave. and Broadway. This is some distance from the World Trade Center which is near the southern end of Manhattan. Since their apartment faces north and west, we could see nothing of the conflagration from the apartment.
The TV report indicated that all bridges and tunnels were closed, so we were in effect confined to Manhattan, although one could go to New Jersey by ferry, but since we had no interest in going to New Jersey, that meant nothing to us. The Rooklin Bridge was open to foot traffic only. I think you know that all New York area and Washington, D.C. airports were closed. I felt very lucky that I had not tried to go to LaGuardia earlier for had I gotten there, not only was it closed, but it was evacuated, and I would have been stuck with staying at a hotel until I could get away.
The first thing that my daughter did was arranged to get the children from school.
In the afternoon We had heard requests for blood donors and we went to St. Luke's hospital which is at about 113th Street and Amsterdam, next door to St.John the Divine Episcopal Cathedral. There was such a huge lineup of people (mostly young, and must have been mostly Columbia College students). Knowing that giving blood involves quite a lengthy time consuming process, it looked to us like they wouldn't get to us until midnight, so we postponed that. As it turned out they in time stopped asking for blood donations for the obvious reason that they just didn't have enough live victims who needed blood. On our way back walking down Broadway it was a very clear blue sky day with a large white cloud to the south. I think that was the white steam cloud from the ruins.
While people, all kinds and races, were obviously quiet and saddened, they would smile and reply when spoken too. It is interesting that everybody noticed. You probably know that New Yorkers have the reputation of being rather brassy, pushy, not very polite. All that seems to have changed. They are quite decent now. I hope it sticks.
There was only one case of looting reported and he was caught.
An interesting thing was that of the various public figures that appeared on TV Mayor Giuliani was at his very best and made a very excellent presentation. He told people what they should be doing in getting on with their lives. And he spoke up very strongly against any intolerance of race, particularly religion and the Muslims living in the area. He really could not have been better. There was very favorable comment about him on the editorial page of the NY Times. Of all the public figures who appeared, it was Giuliani and our Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who came across the best, and they deserve a lot of respect and appreciation. For the benefit of our foreign friends, the American Secretary of State is the same thing as a Foreign Minister in your governments.
Thursday afternoon one friend called and told her there would be a candle light vigil at 100th St and Riverside Dr. That is only a short walk, probably less than a mile, and we all went. When we arrived we found a crowd, well behaved and thoughtful. And we saw why that particular location had been chosen. There was a huge marble monument inscribed -- In honor of the Fire Fighters of New York who have died in the Line of Duty. There were many many vigils all over the city, and I understand even across the country.
As you probably know approximately 300 firefighters and about 60 police (NY city and Port Authority) lost their lives. In the precinct where Ruthie and Don live no fire fighters were lost. But in the adjoining precinct every one of them was lost!
I have read that whenever a firefighter walks by anyplace that people, whole crowds of them stand, cheer, and clap their hands. Forever New York is indebted to them.
This morning, Monday, the New York stock exchange opened for the first time since it closed down at the time of the destruction of the World Trade Center. When it opened at 9:30 a.m. there were many firemen and policemen on the balcony for the opening.. First there was two minutes of silence, and then They had an excellent soprano sing "God Bless America" and the traders on the floor as well as all the dignitaries cheered and clapped. Again Mayor Giuliani was there and did an outstanding job. New York can certainly be proud of him and he will certainly go down in history as one of the most outstanding of the many New York mayors.
As you probably all know at first all flights except military were prohibited and all airports across the country were closed. When the ban was lifted, the New York area and Washington, D.C. airports remained closed longer than any others.
I kept trying to find out when my flight home (via Denver and Aspen) would be available. All information by phone and by internet was simply that the flight was cancelled. However, on Friday afternoon La Guardia (as well as the bridges to LaGuardia) were opened.
Life in New York was not a hardship for those who had no family or friends in the World Trade Center or on the planes that crashed into them, and of course not for the firefighters or police. The stores and restaurants were all opened. The whole family ate at a restaurant on Friday night, and the children were back in school on Thursday and little Gabrielle was able to go to her preschool.
It is certainly very appropriate that we treat this as a war, but at Pearl Harbor we knew instantly who the enemy was and likewise when Hitler and Mussolini declared war on us. Here we have a good idea that Osama bin Laden is one of the principal individuals responsible, but the rest as of now are quite invisible. While I personally think that several nations are involved, one way or another, along with many fundamentalist Muslims, it may take a long time to discover them and then go after them.
I hope we can keep our resolve up as long as it may take.
Cordially,
John

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