It's Back to Business for New Yorkers

Reported by Dan Janison, Chau Lam, Bobby Cuza, Margaret Ramirez, Errol A. Cockfield Jr., Harry Berkowitz, Herbert Lowe, Susan Harrigan, Graham Rayman, Robert Polner and Curtis L. Taylor; written by Fr

September 18, 2001

A giant American flag hangs on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, the first day it opened since last TuesdayÂs attacks. (Photo by Thomas A. Ferrara)

For the first time since terrorists toppled the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, Wall Street returned to work yesterday, and while the market faltered - the Dow lost nearly 685 points - the mood on the trading floor and around town was upbeat and the outlook for the city optimistic.

The message sent by politicians who sang "God Bless America" before the opening bell, and by the average person on the street, was the same: New York was bouncing back.

"You've got to move onward and show that they didn't succeed," said Tony Sewell, an accountant who lives a few blocks from the nation's financial center. "People are going to come together and say 'We need to ... make it through together.'"

It may have been an illusion, but except for the pale cloud of dust still drifting from the disaster site in lower Manhattan, New York seemed nearly normal - at least, for New York.

There were small inconveniences.

Visitors were turned away from three of the city's most popular tourist icons - the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the United Nations - and employees working at offices in the Empire State Building waited in long lines before clearing security check points.

"To be safe, I'd rather wait," said Milt Feinstein, an import agent who works on the 15th floor of the Empire State Building.

Traffic was bad - there were lengthy backups at the Lincoln Tunnel and on the streets of the Upper West Side and downtown Brooklyn - but subways were running reasonably well and an emergency ferry service from 58th Street in Brooklyn to Battery Park sailed on schedule.

About 75 percent to 80 percent of the city's work force returned to their jobs yesterday. Some people said they were afraid, but many seemed eager to get on with their lives and enjoy the bright blue sky and mellow temperatures of a perfect, end-of-summer Monday.

"For the first time in the whole five years I've been commuting, people were not rushing," said Patti Peschiulli, 41, who takes a bus from Pennsylvania. "People were like, 'Go ahead. Excuse me.'"

Despite the encouraging words of public figures and steady strides of intrepid urbanites returning to their offices, the city and the nation were just beginning to confront the long-term effects of last week's attacks.

In Washington, President George W. Bush promised to "defend freedom at any cost" and - referring to a "wanted" sign familiar in the Old West - said Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Trade Center debacle, could be brought back from his refuge in Afghanistan "dead or alive."

Bush's anger may not be enough to move that nation's Taliban government, which said yesterday that a grand Islamic council would meet today to decide what to do about bin Laden. Pakistan sent a delegation to Kabul hoping to persuade the mullahs - and make clear that the United States is in no mood for delays. But the Afghanis have proven stubborn in the past, and for now, at least, bin Laden seemed safe.

America's security was the more haunting issue. Attorney General John Ashcroft asked Congress for new measures that would allow agents to track terrorists, including new latitude in wire tap regulations, and promised that armed federal marshals would be aboard many airliners.

At the Trade Center site, steel workers and emergency personnel continued wrestling with jagged metal and tons of dusty debris in the hope of finding survivors.

Dogs wearing leather booties sniffed for corpses - one of the animals died in a crash scene accident - and, on nearby streets, signs bearing the faces of those still missing made the scene all the more somber.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani toured the crash site with two members of Congress, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who is on the Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, and Rep. C.W. Bill Young (D-Fla.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Tow trucks were pulling cars out of what is thought to be the basement of the Trade Center. The officials slogged through muck and breathed the gritty air.

"When Hillary Clinton said she had been to the edge of hell, now I know what she meant," said Nelson, referring to a comment made recently by the New York senator after viewing the destruction.

So far, the news at "ground zero" is not good. No survivors have been found since Wednesday and authorities say they now believe 5,422 people are missing, several hundred more than counts circulating late last week.