New Yorkers sadly mark one week since World Trade Center attack

New Yorkers sadly mark one week since World Trade Center attacks

By JIM FITZGERALD

Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Staggered but unbowed, New Yorkers paused at 8:48 a.m. Tuesday, reflecting on the terrorist attacks that shook their city exactly one week earlier.

Honoring the 201 dead and 5,422 missing, people across the city stopped for a moment of silence. After a week like no other, people turned a sad, wary eye skyward on their way to work.

"When you keep silent these two minutes, it seems like a really long time. I'm thinking of people who were looking for their loved ones," said Nancy Pelaez, an administrative assistant on her way to work. She paused and wiped away tears.

A few miles south, an army of firefighters and construction workers toiled in the wreckage of the World Trade Center as hope diminished that anyone would be found alive.

Sgt. Mike McGarry said he and his colleagues did not plan to stop when the one-week anniversary arrived.

"It's a blur," he said of the past week, declining to talk more.

Rick Hales, 56, a Queens salesman, took the morning off and stood alone in front of NBC studios in Rockefeller Center. He said that at 8:48 a.m., "I will be hoping that this world will be a better place."

Armed troops in camouflage and Humvees patrolled the narrow canyons surrounding the smoking ruins. Some directed commuters to the few subway stations that were open, others scrutinized office workers' IDs at checkpoints.

A few blocks from Wall Street, beyond guarded barricades cordoning off the disaster site, rescue crews continued to search through mounds of twisted steel and rubble.

Only five survivors have been found, none since Wednesday, but Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said it is too early to give up.

"The simple reality is that we're not going to be able to recover significant numbers of people, but we will continue to try," he said.

For all their famous resolve, many New Yorkers confessed a feeling of dread as they returned to work.

"Last time I was here I was running, I was petrified," security guard Michael Talibi said. "The feeling came back -- the horror, the chaos. To tell you the truth, I don't even want to be here, but you got to work."

At ground zero, there was concern about the fires smoldering near a stockpile of Freon that had been stored beneath the towers. But Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Tina Kreisher said no leaks had been detected. No hazardous substances had been found in the air except some dust with slightly elevated asbestos levels, the EPA said.

Giuliani estimated more than 70 percent of the usual Manhattan work force was on the job Monday.

Despite the challenges in the financial district, Arthur Stern saw the flood of workers returning to the area as a positive sign.

"The fact that all these people are here proves what a safe haven this country is," Stern said.

The New York Stock Exchange reopened Monday after four down days with a tribute to firefighters and police and two minutes of silence to honor the dead. With the national anthem pouring from a loudspeaker, workers also opened the doors to the Mercantile Exchange, City Hall and other government buildings and courthouses.

Red Cross volunteers distributed fliers telling survivors of the attacks to expect feelings of fear, sadness, anger and even guilt.

"Whenever possible, remember that you are still free and that there is still beauty in the world," the flier read. "It's OK to smile."

And people did smile -- at one another and at the armed police and National Guardsmen patrolling the streets.

Chief Administrative Judge Jacqueline Silberman addressed workers assembled in the rotunda of a state courthouse: "The justice system will be up and functioning. I want you to give each other a big hug."

Arab-American Ashraf Yacoub reopened his restaurant in the financial district to a morning rush of 18 people, far below the usual 100, but he was glad to be back.

"All my neighbors, all the people on Wall Street, are smart enough to know that not all people of Middle Eastern descent are hateful and vicious toward the U.S.," he said.