LaurieGarrett.com

DAY THIRTY EIGHT:

Oct. 18:

On the subway platform this morning a man played the "Star Spangled Banner" on a set of steel drums, and for the first time in my life I saw people tapping their feet to the usually impossible rythymn of our national, albeit unsingable, anthem. It was refreshing after, as is my routine, changing trains in the Broadway-Nassau station, located close to Ground Zero. The stench from Ground Zero emissions is always deeply disturbing in that station.

Better to anticipate patriotic steel drums. Or to head uptown, where life may not yet be "normal", but it is certainly cheerier. Last night I had a quick bite and drinks with my Hyperion editor, Leigh Haber, at an Italian joint near Lincoln Center. Surprisingly, Nick and Tony's, as it is called, filled up while we were there, and the hubbub was voluble and laughter-accented. In sharp contrast, banruptcy faces most eateries and shops downtown, particularly below Houston Street, as would-be customers find the Ground Zero stench and sight of the gap that once was the World Trade Center decided turn-offs. This summer that part of town had suddenly witnessed an escalation on the chic scale, with boutique ultra-posh hotels opening that offer rooms starting at over $350/nite. Whatever will become of the TriBeCa Grand and its ilk? Probably fashionable, tasteful slow deaths.

Meanwhile the future of New York's leadership remains up for grabs. The Board of Elections commenced counting, by hand, all of the disputed paper ballots cast in last week's Democratic Party runoff. Shades of Palm Beach, Florida, 2000. The count will not likely be finished until Saturday. Fernando Ferrer, the Bronx borough president, initially conceded that he had lost the election. And the board?s certified count gave opponent Mark Green an 18,900 vote lead. But he rescinded that concession after some of his supporters, particularly the omnipresent Rev. Al Sharpton, alleged voting irregularities in some precincts and threatened a lawsuit. So, as the nation did last fall while Floridians searched for chads in the squeeker between Bush and Gore, we New Yorkers must grit our teeth, wait for the count and then witness the almost inevitable second challenge and lawsuits.

It's a helluva way to treat a populace that is fearful and grieving.

Fearfulness sems to have reached epidemic --- no, pandemic-- proportions, though the number of people killed by anthrax terrorism remains one. As the toll of confirmed exposures rises, now including of all places Nairobi, anxiety increases. The public health system is exhausted. Every health worker I called today, from Washington to Honolulu, sounded battle fatigued. I cannot imagine how they are managing to make decent decisions -- if, indeed, they are.

Similar shell shock is hitting people all over the country. The Emails and phone calls poured in today. For example, from North Carolina a friend wrote:

"....people ARE panicky everwhere... NC tripled the size of its State Bureau of Investigations "anti-terrorism bureau" from 10 to 30 officers. What they will be doing isn't discussed. Our potential housing clients, mostly mexicans, are fearful. Jobs are less secure. A common question is, "Will I be sent back to Mexico if there is a war?", this from perfectly legal US residents ! It's thrown our construction and sales plan back by months."

A Washington, D.C. colleague wrote today:

"I'm pleasantly numb these days. Anxiolytics and sleeping pills. Just .....medicate my pain/anger/grief/panic. It's the only way to sort through the amazing amounts of stress that come my way..."

From Seattle a dear friend sent this yesterday:

"Laurie, I've been playing the 'toughen up' mantra for the past week or so, but when I woke up to today's news, i.e., Congress shutting down to sweep for Anthrax, for the first time, I got really depressed and could not shake it. I came home early from work, feeling sick."

Anxiety levels will no doubt rise still further when it begins to register in the public consciousness that the letter with anthrax in it that was sent to Nairobi was mailed from Atlanta three days BEFORE the WTC attack. That's no copycat, no random act. That provides the strongest evidence to date that these anthrax actions are linked to the devastation of the Pentagon and World Trade Center. For days experts have tried to focus on the probability that these were unrelated actions, possibliy carried out by homegrown nut cases. I, too, chose to share that view, as it was far more palatable than the alternative. If some, or all, of these anthrax-containing envelopes were sent my members of a well organized terrorist campaign the end game appears fearful, indeed. Surely these envelopes wouldn't be their final act.

And that is, indeed, unnerving.

At least we can console ourselves that the public, and its political leaders, are beginning to grasp the notion of public health as its ultimate defence against bioterrorism. See for example:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/17/ED138969.DTL

Meanwhile, today, as every day for the last three weeks, the City Medical Examiner's Office released a list of names of people it had certified as dead, victims of September 11. Today's list had 99 names on it. It has been my practice to ignore the lists, as they are obviously depressing. But today, for some reason, I glanced down the talley and took a certain pride in the ethnic mix. New York is a challenge, by virtue of its heterogeneity, to all bigoted zealots in the world who would contrive to force humanity to abide by a single set of principles, religious tenets or racial views. Take a look, for example, at the first fourteen names.

1) Quigley, Patrick J. IV, 40, Wellesley, Mass.
2) Ramsaroop, Vishnoo, 44, Queens, N.Y.
3) Tipping, John J II., 33, Port Jefferson, N.Y.
4) Frazier, Clyde Jr., 41, Queens, N.Y.
5) Ou, Michael, 53, Queens, N.Y.
6) Pohlman, William H., 56, Ardsley, N.Y.
7) Temple, Dorothy, 52, Brooklyn, N.Y.
8) Wong, Yuk Ping, 47, Brooklyn, N.Y.
9) Afflitto, Daniel Thomas, 32, Manalapan, N.J.
10) Ahladiotis, Joanne, 27, Queens, N.Y.
11) Bennett, Bryan Craig, 25, Manhattan, N.Y.
12) Boryczewski, Martin, 29, Parsippany, N.J.
13) Broderick, Mark Francis, 40, Old Bridge, N.J.
14) Burke, Matthew J., 28, Rockaway Point, N.Y.

Be well. Be safe. Stand defiant.
Laurie Garrett



DAY THIRTY EIGHT: Return to Index Oct. 18: On the subway platform this morning a man played the "Star Spangled Banner" on a set of steel drums, and for the first time in my life I saw people tapping their feet to the usually impossible rythymn of our national, albeit unsingable, anthem. It was refreshing after, as is my routine, changing trains in the Broadway-Nassau station, located close to Ground Zero. The stench from Ground Zero emissions is always deeply disturbing in that station. Better to anticipate patriotic steel drums. Or to head uptown, where life may not yet be "normal", but it is certainly cheerier. Last night I had a quick bite and drinks with my Hyperion editor, Leigh Haber, at an Italian joint near Lincoln Center. Surprisingly, Nick and Tony's, as it is called, filled up while we were there, and the hubbub was voluble and laughter-accented. In sharp contrast, banruptcy faces most eateries and shops downtown, particularly below Houston Street, as would-be customers find the Ground Zero stench and sight of the gap that once was the World Trade Center decided turn-offs. This summer that part of town had suddenly witnessed an escalation on the chic scale, with boutique ultra-posh hotels opening that offer rooms starting at over $350/nite. Whatever will become of the TriBeCa Grand and its ilk? Probably fashionable, tasteful slow deaths. Meanwhile the future of New York's leadership remains up for grabs. The Board of Elections commenced counting, by hand, all of the disputed paper ballots cast in last week's Democratic Party runoff. Shades of Palm Beach, Florida, 2000. The count will not likely be finished until Saturday. Fernando Ferrer, the Bronx borough president, initially conceded that he had lost the election. And the board?s certified count gave opponent Mark Green an 18,900 vote lead. But he rescinded that concession after some of his supporters, particularly the omnipresent Rev. Al Sharpton, alleged voting irregularities in some precincts and threatened a lawsuit. So, as the nation did last fall while Floridians searched for chads in the squeeker between Bush and Gore, we New Yorkers must grit our teeth, wait for the count and then witness the almost inevitable second challenge and lawsuits. It's a helluva way to treat a populace that is fearful and grieving. Fearfulness sems to have reached epidemic --- no, pandemic-- proportions, though the number of people killed by anthrax terrorism remains one. As the toll of confirmed exposures rises, now including of all places Nairobi, anxiety increases. The public health system is exhausted. Every health worker I called today, from Washington to Honolulu, sounded battle fatigued. I cannot imagine how they are managing to make decent decisions -- if, indeed, they are. Similar shell shock is hitting people all over the country. The Emails and phone calls poured in today. For example, from North Carolina a friend wrote: "....people ARE panicky everwhere... NC tripled the size of its State Bureau of Investigations "anti-terrorism bureau" from 10 to 30 officers. What they will be doing isn't discussed. Our potential housing clients, mostly mexicans, are fearful. Jobs are less secure. A common question is, "Will I be sent back to Mexico if there is a war?", this from perfectly legal US residents ! It's thrown our construction and sales plan back by months." A Washington, D.C. colleague wrote today: "I'm pleasantly numb these days. Anxiolytics and sleeping pills. Just .....medicate my pain/anger/grief/panic. It's the only way to sort through the amazing amounts of stress that come my way..." From Seattle a dear friend sent this yesterday: "Laurie, I've been playing the 'toughen up' mantra for the past week or so, but when I woke up to today's news, i.e., Congress shutting down to sweep for Anthrax, for the first time, I got really depressed and could not shake it. I came home early from work, feeling sick." Anxiety levels will no doubt rise still further when it begins to register in the public consciousness that the letter with anthrax in it that was sent to Nairobi was mailed from Atlanta three days BEFORE the WTC attack. That's no copycat, no random act. That provides the strongest evidence to date that these anthrax actions are linked to the devastation of the Pentagon and World Trade Center. For days experts have tried to focus on the probability that these were unrelated actions, possibliy carried out by homegrown nut cases. I, too, chose to share that view, as it was far more palatable than the alternative. If some, or all, of these anthrax-containing envelopes were sent my members of a well organized terrorist campaign the end game appears fearful, indeed. Surely these envelopes wouldn't be their final act. And that is, indeed, unnerving. At least we can console ourselves that the public, and its political leaders, are beginning to grasp the notion of public health as its ultimate defence against bioterrorism. See for example: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/17/ED138969.DTL Meanwhile, today, as every day for the last three weeks, the City Medical Examiner's Office released a list of names of people it had certified as dead, victims of September 11. Today's list had 99 names on it. It has been my practice to ignore the lists, as they are obviously depressing. But today, for some reason, I glanced down the talley and took a certain pride in the ethnic mix. New York is a challenge, by virtue of its heterogeneity, to all bigoted zealots in the world who would contrive to force humanity to abide by a single set of principles, religious tenets or racial views. Take a look, for example, at the first fourteen names. 1) Quigley, Patrick J. IV, 40, Wellesley, Mass. 2) Ramsaroop, Vishnoo, 44, Queens, N.Y. 3) Tipping, John J II., 33, Port Jefferson, N.Y. 4) Frazier, Clyde Jr., 41, Queens, N.Y. 5) Ou, Michael, 53, Queens, N.Y. 6) Pohlman, William H., 56, Ardsley, N.Y. 7) Temple, Dorothy, 52, Brooklyn, N.Y. 8) Wong, Yuk Ping, 47, Brooklyn, N.Y. 9) Afflitto, Daniel Thomas, 32, Manalapan, N.J. 10) Ahladiotis, Joanne, 27, Queens, N.Y. 11) Bennett, Bryan Craig, 25, Manhattan, N.Y. 12) Boryczewski, Martin, 29, Parsippany, N.J. 13) Broderick, Mark Francis, 40, Old Bridge, N.J. 14) Burke, Matthew J., 28, Rockaway Point, N.Y. Be well. Be safe. Stand defiant. Laurie Garrett