At least 7,500 residents from around the destroyed World Trade Center were unable to return to their homes Thursday. Among them are many who watched the attack up close, from breakfast tables or from offices that were destroyed. Most faced harrowing evacuations on foot or by ferry, before finding temporary housing with friends, relatives or in shelters.
More Top Picks Hamilton Beach 32100a
These people are quick to say that displacement–for days or even weeks–is barely notable compared to the city’s loss of life. Still, for uprooted families, normalcy has been only a dream, as they sleep in borrowed beds, struggle to explain the tragedy to children displaced from home and school, and worry about the future of communities with close ties to the battered district.
“I don’t know if I could ever go back, even if we are able to,” said Irene Cabrera , 31, as she and husband, Derick Grant, trooped through heavy rain Thursday with their toddlers.
The family has not been allowed to visit its apartment three blocks from the World Trade Center, since Cabrera fled in panic Sept. 11, with nothing in her arms but her 18-month-old daughter, Lulu, and 3-year-old son, Kaleo .
After three nights on various friends’ couches in New Jersey, they are grateful to have landed in yet another friend’s guest room in Manhattan.
Weary and dazed from more than a week on the move, they eagerly await word that they may return home and Kaleo may return to preschool.
Haunted by images
Like many neighbors, the family has deep misgivings about staying there.
“I close my eyes, and all I see is people jumping out of the building,” said Cabrera, an assistant to a downtown theater producer.
“How can I go back to that?”
Many residents wonder how their downtown neighborhoods will recover. Like Cabrera and Grant, some families already plan to leave because of traumatic memories. Others may seek to avoid construction hassles that will last for years. Even more may follow businesses that have been forced or have chosen to relocate from the area.
That is the concern rising among some in Battery Park City, a riverside neighborhood southwest of the Word Trade Center, which was cultivated over three decades into a quiet and convenient upscale community. Blocks from the financial district, many of its 9,500 inhabitants walked to work at banks and brokerage houses.
Since the attack, the neighborhood of luxurious condos and corporate apartments has become a dusty home to utilities crews and rescuers, the sharp stench of fire lingering in the air.
Battery Park residents, now scattered throughout the city, have heard troubling reports of looting in the area. Authorities responded by boosting security.
A limited number of residents have been allowed to return home, with police escorts, for 15-minute visits to gather essential items.
City emergency officials announced Thursday that 1,500 residents in the three Battery Park City buildings farthest from the trade center could return immediately. Seventeen other buildings, totaling 5,500 units, remain uninhabited while crews reconnect power, gas and phone service, and check for contaminated air and water.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Thursday that more buildings would open Friday or Saturday, though some residents said they had been told earlier in the day to expect waits of up to one month.
Yearning for home
That is a daunting thought to Rich and Marcy Shinder, displaced condo owners who were chagrined not to see their building on the short list of those opened Thursday. More distressing, though, is the thought of life after they return.
Shinder, 34, an investment banker and condo board member, believes the state and federal government should earmark funds specifically to prevent an exodus from the area.
“I love the neighborhood. I have equity in my home, but I am very concerned,” he said. “I think there is a sizable portion of the neighborhood who is saying, `Do I really want to be there now?’ and others who will see their employers decamp and follow.”
Colin Martin knows he is leaving. Dragging a suitcase through the rain Thursday, the technology specialist from Northern Ireland said his employer, Barclay’s Capital, plans to shed the corporate apartment in Battery Park City he has used off-and-on for four years.
“The bank already said forget it,” said Martin, who has lived at a hotel since the attack.
Glint of optimism
Not everyone is pessimistic. Timothy Carey, president and CEO of the Battery Park City Authority, said fears of an exodus are overblown.
More Top Picks Best Document Cameras For Homeschool
“I can’t speak for individual residents, but I think, overall, Battery Park City will continue to grow and prosper,” said Carey. “None of our residential buildings have suffered structural damage. … Now we are just trying to move forward.”
Some residents remain committed to the area–a resolve they say has been tested but not weakened by more than a week of homelessness.
David Allaway and wife, Patrice Weinblad, both 33, were drawn to Battery Park City by the views of the Hudson River on one side, and the World Trade Center on the other.
After a week spent on the couch of a friend uptown, they were patient but eager to return.
“We can’t complain at all, given all that has happened,” said Allway. “We will return when it is OK, and we will stay.”
On Thursday, with nerves taut in the small apartment where they were camped, the couple learned they were among the lucky minority: They were cleared to return to their apartment right away.