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on the saturday
following the attack, i decided that i had to venture back
into manhattan. it was sort of the 'falling off a bike'
theory, all of the emotion & tv coverage was making me
feel like i might never want to go back.
the trains were
only running as far south as canal st., in chinatown. i got
off & was surprised that, although the streets were
blocked to cars, the sidewalks were open to foot
traffic.
i walked south
thru chinatown, past the huge police tombs, past the nyc
courthouse and over to broadway where the woolworth building
stood silent & tall. the streets
were very subdued, with sparce & small groups of people
quietly walking & looking. at every turn,
i saw the same somber sight. thin sheets of smoke & dust
drifting down side streets from the crash site, spreading
out onto thoroughfares such as lower broadway or church
st.
i took photos
as i walked, the afternoon sun descending towards its winter
angle to create sharp silhouettes as i shot into
it.
the closer i got to ground
zero the more activity i saw, with heroic workers going to & from
the closed off rescue & recovery area of the tragedy. everywhere i
looked there were xeroxed fliers taped on walls with photos &
descriptions of the missing calling out like frantic unanswerable
pleas.
i stayed only
briefly within site of the wreckage before working my way
back up into chinatown, where i picked up a few postcards
showing the twin towers but passed on the souvenior
t-shirts.
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