Stories & Lifestyle: New York commemorates 9/11

Nothing has ever united New Yorkers the way 9/11 did. Ever since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the collapse of the Twin Towers, the people in the city move closer together especially on commemoration days. The ringing of the bells, the observance of a minute's silence, the reading of the victims names and the procession of widows and orphans to Ground Zero reminds them every year of that horrible morning six years ago.

NO PLACE TO GRIEVE

In 2007, everything is different. Construction work at Ground Zero leaves no room for grieving. Mayor Michael Bloomberg moved the actual ceremony to Zucotti Park on Broadway, a long way from the original place of commemoration. Bloomberg, however, gave in to some groups' loud protests and allowed access to the construction pit one last time - under strict conditions. The time has come to say goodbye to Ground Zero, which has a place almost sacred to some people. Here, they felt close to the roughly 3,000 people who, on 9/11, disappeared without a trace and left behind nothing but ashes, psychological consultant Sam Kedem explains. He says, those families cling to Ground Zero because it is all they have left. It remains to be seen whether the planned memorial with memorial plaza and artificial waterfalls can create the same kind of closeness to the victims as the "footprints" of the former Twin Towers could.

THE SURVIVOR'S PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL INJURIES

Kedem hurried from Florida to New York when he saw the inferno in the city on television. According to his own estimates he has since tried to help 3,000 people cope with their fears caused by 9/11. He reminds us not to forget that 18,600 people worked in the rubble. And that while most of them managed to save themselves, they often suffered from severe physical and emotional injuries. Some of those, he says, are even worse off today than the victims' families. Fifty percent of his clients are terrified of skyscrapers. Several could never return to the South of Manhattan where the Twin Towers once stood. Among his clients are also eye witnesses, who saw desperate people jump to their death from the windows of the WTC. Kedem says, impressions like that haunt you. They will never leave you alone again. Also many firefighters, policemen and volunteers who helped clearing the rubble are physically and emotionally injured. According to Kedem, the commemoration is an especially hard time for them. And for the first time there are voices distancing themselves from the commemoration ceremonies. "Is there no expiration date for grief?" asks one letter to the editor of the New York Times. And a 56-year old software teacher explained that while he knew it was a tragedy, life had to go on at some point. He said he felt that some people were clinging to their victim status, and he had had enough of that. There are ideas for other approaches for the commemoration of 9/11. Young widow Monica Iken, founder of the "September's Mission" foundation, will, for the first time, not participate in the official commemoration ceremony on Tuesday. She will attend an event organized by "Voices of September 11th", and at a hotel right next to Ground Zero she is working on an online archive named "9/11 Living Memorial" that will tell the stories of survivors, helpers, and many others. (Source: dpa)