9/11/2012: Remembering 9/11/2001

For several years one of the first discussions in all of my NYC college classes was "What were you doing on 9/11?" as all of us were here that day. Have always had firefighters, hospital workers, first responders in my classes. Several of my Methods of Research student teams wrote brilliant proposals to do research on the ptsd of 9/11 survivors. Bonding in my Newark building with other residents; the store owner, in particular who we would ask to update us on those neighbors one had not seen. One such neighbor in a daze for months from the horror of having walked through the MerrylLynch WorldPlaza and dodging people jumping from the WTC towers. I remember the weeks of falling asleep to the BBC or CNN coverage of the aftermath to hear the names of those who had died. The horror on seeing a former co-worker whose fiance, a Citibank employee, never got out of the towers. Remembering the first train trip into NYC a few days post 9/11 and everyone looked out the window to see the rising plume of smoke in what used to be the WTC in the skyline. Photo: one of my conte crayon drawings from Pier 51, West St, WTC in distance.

Remembering WTC on 9/11, ten years later

Images of the WTC from 1976

Before the WTC 9/11 days

For most of my life 9/11 is the day my maternal grandfather died in 1965 at only age 61 (b.1904), in Chicago IL. The wonders of modern medicine would have kept him alive today, but he died of complications from a stroke in the 1950s. I remember circumstances around his death such as the funeral home, relatives. He is here with his daughter, my Mom on her wedding day in 1952. My grandfather was a pipefitter, yet he was dead before the WTC. I dunno know if he ever got to New York City in his life. My grandmother stayed in their apartment at 5225 West LeMoyne, Chicago. They had moved there on their return from California in 1963 or 64 until about 1984, when she became ill. For many years I have a recurring dream wandering around their neighborhood. However, I looked at photos online of the building and neighborhood today. The photos bear no resemblance to my dream images. The images seem more akin to the area of my Mom's maternal grandmother.. Addison and Kedvale, Chicago. Memories. RIP and always love for you!

Zeitgeist for March!

photo of the WTC PATH concourse on Friday. The glass buildings rising and seemingly melting into each other are just stunning! Love all that glass! The PATH is always an easy ride. I took it maybe 2x in all the years I lived in NYC. Very easy commute into lower Manhattan!

spent Friday revisiting my old 1970s neighborhood.. Park Slope, Brooklyn, from my time as a Brooklyn College student. My life as an art student! Got off at Grand Army Plaza.. what an elegant stop. The limestones, doorman buildings, the park settings. I could only wish Branch Brook Park was as user particularly pedestrian friendly. Sat for a bit by the subway stop to watch the coming/goings on Flatbush Avenue. Thoughts of my times in all of the surrounding apartment buildings at parties or just visiting. In general I would always run into known folks in that Grand Army Plaza stretch in my 1970s years as well as during my six months stay in 1994-5. Didnt recognize anyone but...
I did run into a worker from the Park Slope Food Co-op. He has a vest with the co-op named and was helping a member bring packages back! Wow, they even help deliver now! I was a member when he was born, 1977. In those days we climbed up a huge staircase and trudged our groceries down those steps.... Wow what a legacy that co-op has! That was the best food place! Wow!

met up with my long time buddy and his partner living on Prospect Park West. Now those are some elegant mansions! The Brooklyn Gold Coast! Outside their mansion the crocuses and other plants are coming UP! I saw the buds on the trees! And, a the gorgeous apartment! Great deck although very windy in the Slope. Great view through the front windows across Prospect Park. Didnt see many people but did recognize some of the park paths I would walk. The best lunch.. Chinese oranges, chicken and lots of broccoli. All my favorites! I love my Chinatown shopping trips with one of the guys.. the best vegetables, tea shops, and Pearl River department store!!!

interesting chats as ever. Their daughter does so well in her new job as a researcher! I am jealous... I love research, statistics, etal! What an opportunity for her! One of the guys is looking for a job after he took a buyout from his company. I pitched him in January to one of the Sulzberger family, another Columbia alum. LOL.. as if the NY Times is hiring. But the family person was so sweet to me... I have to send a thanks. Anyhow, my buddy is so focused and has had such a work history. He is doing some fascinating consulting and I will be phoning him for celebrity gossip again. But most interestingly, the guys had met with a Canadian lawyer about emigrating to Montreal. Seems that the NY lgbt center set up informational sessions for people wanting to emigrate in case the Republicans had won again. Same sex couples have legal rights in Canada and the government has been helping couples emigrate. A small but significant brain drain! My friends rank at the top on the immigration priority list, but thankfully Obama won! Wow, in retrospect it would have been a nightmare if those psychopathic Republicans had won.

the best IRT ride home although delays. Not as many commuters seemed to get on at Wall St but maybe that was just my hunch what with the layoffs. I would have gotten off downtown to do my flaneur thing but it was raining. I hate sitting inside when I just want to walk about.

end of February and now the zeitgeist for March! so many interesting memories. great times with a buddy I have known almost 30 years. despite the dreariness in the media on the economy, I feel really positive about our futures! Salut to Marz, Mars, March!!!
hugs, peace, compassion