Citizen of the World

Before leaving work, it seemed that my mind, heart, and body wanted to take the PATH to Hoboken and then home via the Light Rail-bus combo. I was oddly drawn to the prospect for some reason, like a kid excited about a ride on his favorite rollercoaster.

As I left my office building, though, I heard sirens approaching from behind me. Possibly from a fire engine, a police car, or maybe from an ambulance; wasn't sure. The sirens in NYC are very different from most other cities because people just don't pay attention to them at all when they're very often steeped and stuck in heavy traffic; I didn't turn around. Throngs of people were milling about on either side of Church St, walking unusually slowly, which was mildly iritating, and I couldn't figure out why, except that it was rush hour. There was even a cute cop riding horseback at the next intersection. The thought raced through my mind, "Watch out for the turds!!".

Just then I noticed multiple ambulances, lights flashing, up the street in front of the post office and hoards of more pedestrians crossing the street while no traffic moved and the cops were instructing the crowds. My mind flickered with the rather distant and hushed but still fresh memory of an interchange between two secretaries echoing into the lobby on my floor while I waited for the elevator down: there was a bomb threat at the PATH station.

The ladies' chit-chat transported me to a memory of being on the London tube in 1991. The train I was on stopped abruptly with no announcement, but people around me were talking about the possible bomb threat at the next station, which I found strange and foreign. I remember thinking, "How awful to have to live around that threat? Why would people want to live here with that hanging over their heads every day?"

Funny and sad how quickly the world and I have changed. I joined the worried throngs to take the subway home.

I got out of the Chambers St. exit off the C train this morning and found that the overhang for the Path Station at the corner of Church and Vesey had been taken down - actually demolished - over the weekend. The metal from the artful overhang lay in a pile of rubble at the corner of the street, and I began to wonder at length why we didn't know it was happening. I wondered why they took it down. For one, it looked cool, two it served a purpose, and three it helped break up the monotony of the blank space where the towers once stood.

Meanwhile, I kept walking to work while pondering all of this stepping into the narrowing sidewalk around the Fulton St. subway station construction pounding the pavement toward my building two blocks away. In front of me, I noticed these two cops - one female and one male. The female was black and sported a hat, and the male cop next to her, whose heavily tattooed right arm was streched out above the path between him and her. He was quite striking and it crossed my mind that at my speed, I might just gladly pass closely to him and exchange a friendly glance. It wasn't until I got within about 5 feet of them that I realized she was saying over and over again, more and more loudly to me, "This block is closed. This block is closed. This block is closed!" I guess I was still pondering the PATH station and so captivated by her neighbor that I wasn't paying attention to her in the least.

So, left I went up Dey St. to get onto Broadway and eventually cross Courtland to my building when my Blackberry vibrated for this message: "Please be advised that 22 Cortlandt Street and Century 21 have been evacuated due to an unknown threat. At this time we are gathering more information from NYPD and the management of 22 Cortlandt." That was a bit disconcerting as I headed to my building right across the street!

In my building and in the elevator, a lady got in, worry visible on her face saying to the 6 of us, "Why is security letting us in the building and on the elevator if there's a credible threat ACROSS THE STREET! What if the bomb blows up? What then?" Another woman started getting worried at those questions, and started talking about the negative prospects. I was thinking, "Well, why'd you come into the building and get on the elevator - take your well-being into your own hands rather than rely on security if you're so concerned." I even asked that question to the elevator passengers once those two got off and another guy agreed with me.

About an hour later, we got this message, "Please be advised that NYPD has informed our security at 9:10am that the threat to Century 21 and 22 Cortlandt was unfounded and deemed clear. The employees are returning to their offices in these buildings." No worries.

[Poll #976224]

I saw the potential cop today! What's funny is he's now back standing at the same corner where the traffic cone replaced him for a short stint. Thing is, he must stand there for HOURS. This week, for example, I have come into the city at different times, but overall the time span is about 1-2 hours difference... if he's not a cop, I wonder who he's waiting for and why he dresses so very differently each day. It'll be scary if one day we see his picture in the paper or on the news with the headline "Massacre at Port Authority" and he's the shooter.