New York: Different But Same

The last time my wife Laraine and I were in Manhattan was July of 2001. Less than a decade ago seems more like a lifetime ago given the searing national trauma of Sept. 11, 2001.

“Merry Christmas” and “Happy Hanukkah” vie with “If you see something, say something” as holiday mantras.  Security video cameras–from lamp posts to subway stations–are as ubiquitous as cabs.  Police are a uniform presence. Wider, buffer-zone sidewalks now front high-profile buildings around Times Square. We didn’t miss not seeing the poison-gas sensors and radiation detectors at rail stations.

The short list of must-see totems now includes: the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center and Ground Zero. Opportunity, Accomplishment, Fun and–Horrific Nightmare. Everyone knows what will forever be missing from the iconic skyline.

The World Trade Center site looks like any other ambitious, mammoth construction project in New York with 2,000 workers on site. The largest of the four towers is One World Trade Center. The steel has now reached 48 (of 104) floors and 560 feet. When finished in 2013, it will be this country’s tallest building at 1,776 feet. There will be three other towers, a transportation hub, two memorial pools with 30-foot waterfalls, some 400 contemplation-inducing trees and a memorial museum. The memorial pools, which will include bronze parapets with the inscribed names of the nearly 3,000 9/11 victims, will open next  year, the museum in 2012.

What’s open right now is the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site across from the WTC site at 20 Vesey Street between Church and Broadway in lower Manhattan. There’s no charge, but it does exact a toll.

You watch the video that includes architectural models and real time images of construction progress and you nod assent. Then comes 9/11 footage and the stories of those forever impacted by the horrors of that insanely infamous day. Your heart becomes heavy and your eyes tear up. Your teeth start to grind and your hands begin to clench. The unholy, reflexive, alliance of sorrow and anger. Tears and temper.

You now notice the crowd, which is in constant flow and flux. Not fair, but not a Muslim in sight. Understandable, but sad. Sept. 11, 2001 was the perverted work of those who hijacked much more than airplanes. But this, alas, is neither the time nor place for context. Just raw, cathartic emotion. Sad.

Upon reflection, however, you are graphically reminded that forged out of unspeakable tragedy comes homage and hope. Courage of first responders. Faith in America’s can-do ethic.

Moreover.

This is still New York, New York. Thank you, thank you, Rockefeller Plaza.

The “oohs” and “aahs” resonated from onlookers who were responding to something happening on the rink. No, it wasn’t Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey ice dancing. But it was a couple. And the man had just had his marriage proposal accepted. Group hug, anyone? What chill in the air?

Also in the air: the unmistakable strains of “Feliz Navidad.” It was emanating from a two-stepping, Salvation Army tandem hardly limited to bell-ringing and kettle-watching. Try finding the smile-challenged in this crowd. Jose Feliciano would have been proud.

Much higher up in the air: a nearly 600-pound, Swarovski crystal star perched atop a perfectly symmetrical, 74-foot Norway Spruce Christmas tree. Aglow with multi-colored LED lights. Every branch–EVERY single one–wrapped. By hand. The tree’s origin: the property of a NYFD firefighter who was a 9/11 first responder. After Christmas, it will be recycled into construction fodder for Habitat For Humanity.

Who would have thought: a certain gilded Prometheus, a special burst of light notwithstanding, as an accessory?  Or where else would a Catholic priest in a Santa hat blend in so easily?

And remember when looking at store-front windows was mesmerizingly special?  Establishments along 5th Avenue will never let us forget. Bergdorf Goodman at 58th Street hasn’t changed. Fashion, intricate fantasy and over-the-top whimsy still beckon and bewitch. Something for everyone, including those who still miss Burdines, Maas Brothers and Jacobsons at Christmas. A few blocks later: the head-turning images of snowflakes and bubbles that digital projectors beam onto the facade of Saks Fifth Avenue near 49th Street.

Half the time you feel like a kid. The other half, you feel like Jon Voight’s “Midnight Cowboy” bumpkin-character entranced by sights of the big city.

And more. And not just Broadway, Central Park, network media, restaurants, museums and the philistine’s Guggenheim–Yankee Stadium. New York is also a state of energy and verve. Where a subway stop will yield a musician trumpeting the word that “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” Where both horse-drawn carriages and luxury, ultra-stretch limos belong. Where newsstands still energize key intersections. Where dog-walking is as popular as people-watching. Where boar pate and lobster bisque-to-go are veritable staples, thanks to Zabar’s. Where visitors still crowd the top of double-decker tour buses, no matter what the mercury has dipped to, because, damnit, this is a destination trip and they want to take it all in.

Sure, the world changed on 9/11. But New York, we are reminded in so many ways, remains notably resilient. Of course, cameras, sensors, detectors, random bag searches and automatic license-plate readers are part of the permanent landscape. But New York sees the flask half full and chooses to revel with a cause: That theirs remains a uniquely special, vibrantly timeless place. Enjoy and celebrate.

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