By Jill Gardiner
The New York Sun
Copyright 2006 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC
All Rights Reserved
By the time most New Yorkers wake up this morning on the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, the long list of victims' names will be ringing out at ground zero and President Bush will be at a Lower Manhattan firehouse.
Mr. Bush arrived in the city yesterday and was quickly shuttled to ground zero, where he and the first lady laid two wreaths in reflecting pools during a short but somber ceremony. Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Giuliani, and Governor Pataki joined them in their walk down the flag-lined ramp into the pit that is now occupied by backhoes, dump trucks, and other construction equipment.
After the ceremony, the president, first lady, both mayors, and the governor packed into a black sport-utility vehicle and headed to St. Paul's Cathedral for an hour-long service.
The president's visit - which also included an unannounced stop at a firehouse on Liberty Street and an impromptu tour of a small museum next to the station - was the first time since 2002 that he has spent September 11 in New York. Today, after a morning service at Engine Co. 15/Ladder 18, he will go to Shanksville, Pa., for a ceremony on the field where the hijacked United Flight 93 went down, and to a service at the Pentagon. He will then speak to the nation in a prime time television address.
The president's trip to the city coincides with dozens of ceremonies, Masses, commemorations, and tributes throughout the five boroughs. From a sunrise ceremony in Battery Park City to an evening memorial service on the Staten Island esplanade to free concerts, New Yorkers will mark the fifth anniversary of a terrible day. Family members will remember how their lives were forever changed and the nation will recognize a shift in the course of world history.
Yesterday, during a service a St. Patrick's Cathedral, Mr. Bloomberg praised the emergency responders who ran into the deathtrap that was the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, and said the city's fire department, which lost 343 members, has revived itself.
"I believe the 2,749 victims of the World Trade Center attacks would be proud of just how far we've come," he said. "We will not succumb to terrorism."
Mr. Pataki, meanwhile, joined first responders at a reception at Seven World Trade Center. The building is the only one that has been rebuilt since the attacks and stands in sharp contrast to the nearby Deutsche Bank building, which is still veiled in black mesh, and to the 16-acre trade center site, which has seen progress only in the last few weeks in the lead-up to the fifth anniversary.
During the reception, the governor - who recently signed legislation to expand medical benefits to emergency responders - cited a study released last week by Mount Sinai Medical Center that found that nearly 70% of those who responded to the attacks have had some sort of respiratory problems since.
That measure has pitted him against Mr. Bloomberg, who has taken a politically unpopular position in opposing the legislation, saying that because it is an unfunded state mandate it will cost the city too much money and will require a cut in services or an increase in taxes.
Mr. Bush's visit to ground zero was big on symbolism. No victims' family members attended, but an honor guard stood at attention and bagpipes skirled "America the Beautiful" as he and Mrs. Bush walked hand-in-hand.
A crowd of more than 100 protesters gathered to rally against the Iraq war at the PATH train station a few hours before Mr. Bush arrived. One contingent of the protest was the now-famed "Grandmothers Against War." They held giant black balloons stamped with the words "Troops Home Now" and carried a mock coffin away from ground zero while chanting, "Get the war criminals out of the White House."
One lone anti-protester defended the war chanting,"USA! USA!" The police cleared the site shortly before Mr. Bush arrived.
Top Bush administration officials were out in force yesterday defending the war and the president's national security decisions, while Democrats said the president had not done enough.
"There has not been another attack on the United States," Vice President Cheney said on NBC, according to the Associated Press. "And that's not an accident."
He also acknowledged that the insurgency in Iraq "has gone on longer and been more difficult than I had anticipated," the New York Times reported.
While the war was on the minds of many yesterday, others were grieving for loved ones lost. Outside St. Patrick's Cathedral, Nancy Cimei talked about her son, probationary firefighter Michael D'Auria, who was killed in the attacks.
"I'm so proud of my son," Ms. Cimei said as tears poured down her cheeks. "He's a hero to all of us."
