SCN: RE: Re: National Day of Mourning

[Irene Mogol]

Rich, 

If I read your message right, it appears that you kind of agree with me.  
Mr. GWB has just finished speaking a while ago, I thought his speech was
well written, well delivered, spoken with sincere passion.  But... can he
deliver, what will he deliver, when will he deliver, and, most
importantly, WHO will he deliver.  

I have just had my nightly report from the War Zone of Hell in downtown
NYC.  

If you have never been to NYC, you can't imagine what it looks like.
Never mind the media, that's been scrubbed so squeaky clean it has no
resemblence to what it really looks like.

If you have been to NYC, you will see a great mass of rubble in what was a
most beautiful spot but you still won't know what it looks like. 

If you have lived or live there, the picture is very different.  For those
who know NYC or have a map of Manhattan Island, you can see the area
called "Tribeca" - that means 'the triangle below canal street.'  Very 
'Trendy Tribeca' where many celebrities live, including the late John
Kennedy Jr., Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel, ad infinitum...  

Canal street is the dividing line, above, the city is trying to get itself
back to a somewhat normal life.  Running underneath Canal street is a
canal running from the Hudson River on the West to the East river on the
East.  Hence, the name.

Below Canal Street is the War Zone - Uniformed police and national guard
check everyone for photo ID.  If you are not a resident you are not
allowed in the Zone.  Any vehicular traffic that has been able to
get down that far are turned back.  Taxis are stopped at Canal Street and
turned back.  Buses cannot come into the area either.

3 blocks down is Tribeca is where 'Independence Plaza' housing complex is,
housing approx 3500 or so residents of the neighborhood, not to say how
many live in the new and old condominiums, converted lofts, town houses,
etc. 
That's where my kids are.  (independence plaza) 

A few blocks south of Canal & Tribeca is the World Trade Center and World
Financial Center, except that is now a 7-story pile of smoking rubble.
Under the WTC is a commuter rail line, the PATH line - direct to New
Jersey where so many of the people who worked there live.  Also the subway
system of about 5 different lines. Also a shopping plaza, restaurants,
bars, banks, etc.  All the usual things one would find there.  And in the
center of that is the Plaza, where people sat outside and ate lunch,
shopped farmers market, listened to lunchtime concerts, visitors came to
look, ooh and aah, take photos, whatever. 

There is a skybridge connecting the Trade Center with the Financial
Center, and a beautiful 'Crystal Palace', I think it's real name is the
'Winter Garden' which boasts many restaurants, shops, the various events
that go in the city, the orchid show in the spring, etc, and the beautiful
outdoor plaza and marina (which is now the police boat dock).  I thought
that the skybridge looked intact until Lori told me it was resting on the
12th story pile of rubble.  


One block south of the World Fin Ctr is Battery Park City, which houses
thousands of residents.  Continue on down a few blocks more and you hit
the very tip of the island, South Ferry, where one can board an old ferry
boat to Staten Island.  Or maybe a boat to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis
Island.  And the old Selective Service building where many of our brothers
and friends and fathers and uncles and cousins by the dozens went to
report for WW2.  

Turn up at the tip and walk back up to Wall Street and see what's happened
there, the Stock Exchange and all the financial ups and downs.  
Continue east a few more blocks and get to the South Street Seaport, the
old Lower East Side, where the immigrants settled back in the late 1800s
and the early 1900's.  Where so many of our ancestors trudged to after
being released from Ellis Island.  Where the 'Tenement Museum' is housed.
 
Thank goodness those old immigrants are no longer with us, they don't have
to see what happened to their American Dream.  Or smell the stink of their
poverty ridden lives only to be replaced by the stink of terrorists.  The
very same stink that they all escaped from.  And from Hitler, Mussolini,
Hirohito -- some of us are old enough to remember those good guys, right? 
Many of us were little kids and didn't even know what was going on, but do
we ever know now.  And now, so do our children... 

Didn't really mean to blather on but then again, why not.  People don't
really know what is going on there.  I thought I would give you just a
brief review.  

On the more practical side, many techie types are needed, I think you can
contact the Red Cross, and see what kind of help some of you might be able
to offer.  

Thank you all for listening, the news is grim and getting grimmer but I
know that someday downtown will come back to life.

I may be living here at this time, but New York City is my home and life.

Good YomTov to you all - I wish you and all your families a very happy and
healthy new year, whether you are Jewish or not.

Irene

###




On Wed, 19 Sep 2001, Rich Littleton wrote:

> Irene,
> 
> I think your concern about the "higher authorities."  I worry that they
> will use force and end up killing innocent people in the name of innocent
> people killed on Sept. 11.
> 
> However, US pressure has apparently forced a cease fire in Israel and
> Palestine.
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> 
> 
> On Mon, 17 Sep 2001, Irene Mogol wrote:
> 
> > Victor, et al, 
> > I am so terrified that one of our 'higher authorities' will push the PANIC
> > button (by mistake, just as any one of hits a wrong key & accidently
> > deletes stuff).  I feel we are in for a tough time ahead with much more to
> > come.  My gut feeling right now, is that in this week of Jewish High Holy
> > Days, there will be trouble either this week, Rosh Hashona tonight and
> > tomorrow or next week for Yom Kippur.  
> > I don't want revenge - that brings us all down to their level but to wipe
> > out their leaders, not all the innocent ones.


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