DAY FORTY NINE:Oct. 29:
On the Letterman Show tonight U2 sang a new song: "I love New York! New York!" Bono wailed, "The Irish have always come to New York. They are the cops, they are the firemen, they are New York." On Leno's show another band I didn't recognize rocked, wearing stars and stripes, from head to toes. The lead singer had painted his entire head blue, and stenciled white stars all over his face.New signs went up in subway stations over the weekend, using a red heart graphic in place of the word "Love": I (heart) New York More Than Ever".
The local NPR station, WNYC, is holding its Fall fundraiser, this year made more urgent by the need to raise a few million dollars to replace their transmitter - the one that once stood atop the World Trade Center. As a lure to would-be donors the station is offering copies of E.B. White's famous book "This Is New York" to those who donate more than $100.
AT&T has recently put up new signs citywide, depicting The Big Apple, composed of Stars and Stripes.
On my way to teach at Columbia University, riding packed rush hour subways, a group of African American men boarded together, decked out in stars and stripes. They stood, speaking and laughing, while a tuckered out construction worker dozed in his seat, an American flag drooping from his hard hat.
The imagery is becoming pretty overwhelming. The confluence of Americana, love of New York, antiterrorism defiance and patriotism is at times unnerving. Having the world embrace us was comforting in the first days post-Catastrophe, but now we New Yorkers are feeling like objects of some kitsch hug-athon. Having rock stars and second rate movie actors breeze into town for quick visits to Ground Zero followed by gushy words of Gotham love, expressed on TV to Regis or Rosie or Dave is akin to having a ditzy aunt send you a saccharin Hallmark Greeting card and a pair of hand-knit socks for Christmas. You can't be rude, it certainly wouldn't be polite to fail to express ample gratitude, but the socks are never going on your feet - never.
As the war in Afghanistan wears on, and innocent civilians suffer or die, this bizarre blend of images and affections becomes harder to absorb. Today Washington buzzed with debate about the war. Pentagon spokesmen said, "We are in the driver's seat." Senator McCain and dozens of other politicians insisted, "we're in a stalemate."
Tonight my Columbia students seemed almost blasé about all of it: the anthrax, the war, the fear. Attorney General Ashcroft's warning that there is some undefined cause for escalation in fear, some reason to go to a heightened state of alert, the students shrugged. They've heard it before, life goes on, romance and school are back on the front burner - at least, for the moment.
But today a woman is fighting for her life in Lenox Hill Hospital, suffering inhalational anthrax. She is not a postal worker, a politician, a celebrity journalist or a tabloid writer. She is a health care worker, employed at Manhattan Eye an Ear Infirmary. How did she become infected?
Tomorrow, Halloween, Game Three of the World Series opens in the Bronx, and Pres. Bush plans to attend. NY Gov. Pataki told the residents of Gotham, "Don't worry, the security is terrific, everything will be fine and the Yankees are going to win."
What are we witnessing; wolf-crying, bravado or well-founded vigilance?
Be well. Stay safe. Stand defiant.
Laurie Garrett
