DAY NINETY-SIX:Dec. 15:
On "Saturday Night Live", the nation's most popular comedy satire show, the faux newscasters welcomed Mayor Rudy Giuliani to the show, the REAL Rudy showed up, and together, in reference to his imminent departure from City Hal, they sang the early 1960s hit, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"
"And for all of New York let me thank you for seeing this city through the roughest time it has ever known," the female anchor said amid screaming cheers. This, from the typically ultra-cynical show. Today was gorgeous: chilly (for a change), sunny, breezy and filled with holiday spirit. The subways were packed with shoppers, Macys was overflowing and thousands of kids turned up at Madison Square Gardens this morning to see "Santa".
I made an appearance on CNN today, talking about bioterrorism, and found their NYC office decidedly quiet. Since September 11 it had been an overwhelmed newsroom, but things have, at last, slowed down. Outside their 34th St. studios, however, crowds of Christmas bargain hunters filled the sidewalks. Nevertheless, a taxi driver insisted, adamantly, that business was WAY down. "No way we're making money," he said. "It's hell now. No customers. No customers."
Down at Union Square (14th St.) huge crowds of shoppers passed through the sale at posh ABC and the Union Sq. Crafts Fair. Still, they were bargain hunting, grabbing from the 50%-off bins, not the full-price tables. At a Christmas party tonight, attended largely by under-45-year-olds, the mood was decidedly subdued. The Margaritas flowed like the Mississippi, but frivolity was absent. And by 10pm those who remained at the allegedly festive occasion were discussing the Wall St firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and people they new who perished in their headquarters, located inside the World Trade Center, on September 11th. What should have been a joyous, silly, fun event became oddly sober, even grim. And by 11pm only four of us remained, cleaning up a party that last year went until 2 in the morning..
I'm tired of writing sad notes. Are you tired of reading them? Can this exercise possibly be useful? Sigh.
Be well. Stay safe. Stand defiant.
