NYC-WTC_000230748

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Ttt£ NEW VORK TIMES. MONDAY, OCTOEEK 29, 2001

Feelings of Loss and the Sound of Silence Greet Families at the Site By SHAILA K. DEWAN Two hours before the 2 p.m. serv- , th- ice, four blocks of Church Street be- mayor kept silent, oventhough the- . The mountains of ruin at ground gan to till with people, some dressed memorials planners i, .q zero have been reduced to smolder­ ®up. some bundled up against the . ear­ that no politicians would speak. I ing dunes, the powdery ash has been ly winter chill. The lucky ones got a don’t know why they would include rinsed from the streets and the view of the stage, whose backdrop him as a politician. He’s the mayor of stench has weakened. But at a me­ morial service yesterday that city officials said drew 9,200 mourners, there was no mistaking the site for anything other than a mass grave. ones above the crowd, some using the city together. You were waittiig,' For many families, the service the same "missing” fliers that they for the climax when the mayor would'' marked their first visit to the site, posted throughout the city and that speak to us, and it didn’t happen.”!' their first glimpse of the place from have become such striking emblems Mr. Meehan lost his son, Damian; a.^ which their loved ones never re­ of individual loss. :; commodities trader at Carr Futures.^ turned. And no matter how many While stars like Andrew Lloyd i In addition to standbys nikei candies they had lighted at fire­ Webber, the tenor Andrea Boceili I "Amazing Grace,” the listeners’ / houses or how many funerals they the soprano Kathleen Battle . ,• heard "Raisins and Almonds," a itra* had attended, they said, just being at were among the performers, the sup­ ditional Yiddish song, performed pn/ the site with so many others who porting cast was one that has be­ the violin by Ilya Gringolts, and "tetj shared their loss brought a new di­ I come familiar to. anyone who has ' Us Love in Peace," with Lord Lloyd-' mension to their grief. marched numbly through bereave- - Webber on the piano. Two giant video ’ ’/“It was something that thousands ment in the past few weeks: gentle screens showed close-ups of the rub­ of people were waiting for,” said people in gray Red Cross aprons ble, little of which was visible from, Naomi Roman, 43, whose sister-in- ' dispensing; coffee and tissues, fire- , , •Church Street. ; law's sister, Diana J. O’Connor, fighters in helmets and police offi­ It was only the second time since iyorked at Sandler O’Neill & Part­ cers in blue "community affairs" Sept. 11 that recovery work had ners. "So many people got together, windbreakers, roaming grief coun­ stopped at the site, and the first was' ' ! and it had nothing to do with race or selors identifiable by pale yellow for only one minute of silence. Those II religion, it was a unity.” But Ms. Roman acknowledged that "mental health” badges, and, of course, the mayor. who attended the service appreciat­ ed the serenity, but to those who had for some, like Ms. O'Connor’s hus­ But at this service, unlike' other lived near the roar of generators lor, band, who did not attend, six weeks ones. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani six weeks, it was eerie to see'the. I - ■ was too soon for the encounter. "He stayed hunched in his chair on stage. giant cranes frozen and hear nothing,. could not handle this,” she said. Gov. George E. Pataki and Senator "There is a still feeling, a feeling of Patricia Rosch Carrington, 34, did Hillary Rodham Clinton kept silent sadness," said Dennis Hayden, 51, a- not attend previous services like the as well. The service was limited to doorman in Battery Park City.; - one at Yankee Stadium Sept. 23 and "When you hear the cranes and’the; music and remarks by religious had not planned to come to this one. leaders. Cardinal Edward Egan, trucks and the sounds of the recov­ I ■■■■ But yesterday morning, doing yard । imam Izak-El Mu’eed Pasha, the ery effort it’s almost normal. There's' work at her home in East Hampton, Muslim chaplain of the Police De­ more hope when you hear the work-' ' •N,Y., she suddenly decided the leaves partment, Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, ers there." ,r,2 could wait. “There was a pull that the Jewish chaplain of the Fire De­ "We are in mourning. Lord,” Car­ said, ‘Call and do it,’ " she said, add­ dinal Egan said. “We have hardly, I ing that the urge felt like a nudge partment, and the Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham. any tears left to shed.” J from her late husband, Jeremy Car­ But there were tears, as if from rington, whose memorial service will some collective, untapped aquifer. I - ’ be held this week. Of them. Imam Pasha was per­ They came in a trickle duringiOie, haps the most outspoken on the sub­ service, but a deluge afterward, -as ject of tolerance, asking God to pre­ people were given the chance to file vent the world's religions from being up onto the stage to get a view of the I . ground where the towers once stood. . not something For nearly two hours the aisles were. that any human being wants, but in ' crowded with people, waiting pa-;, defense of ourselves we must fight,” ■

tiently for what amounted to a gravi^ he said. “But, God, let us fight for side moment. “My husband needs,fp‘ . peace; let us not deviate from estab- go up there,” explained Louise Yas-;, ft' ; ■- F .. . .L; . _ Tr lishing peace. Let us have peace to- day, let us bring peace to these fam- ■ kulka, whose mother-in-law died'.' - “He hasn’t cried yet." Eneida Lugo, 37, was already,, C ’ Y ily members, let their hearts be com- tears, but she said she had not yeE _ 2 foi led with all the words that will be accepted the death of her broth^’ -1.' said today." Daniel Lugo, a security officer in the;, Not everyone was happy that the south tower. Thal is why she w^,’ headed toward the devastation, the'" arm of a young woman, a daughter. •„.r- .

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NYC-WTC_000230748