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CNN Live Today

Wall Street Lost Much on 9/11

Aired March 11, 2002 - 13:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The stock market has proved quite resilient since the events of 9/11, but Wall Street hardly the same place today. The terror attacks halted trading for four days back in mid-September. It killed vast numbers of people in the financial industry, and sent firms scrambling to relocate. So many people on Wall Street affected by the events of six months ago.

Allan Chernoff from CNN Financial News joins live now on the mood and the feeling from there today. Allan, good afternoon.

Allan Chernoff, CNNFN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill. Well, of course, the impact here on the Wall Street community was absolutely horrific. Hundreds of people working at Wall Street firms did perish in the attack, and so many of them actually had offices in the World Trade Center at firms like Cantor-Fitzgerald and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Now, for weeks following the attack, there was a cloud of devastation hanging over Wall Street. The stench of smoke in the air, ash on the ground, and the sound of emergency crews at work night and day. Today, six months later, there is more of a sense of emptiness.

Of course, missing the people who have lost their lives, but also the simple fact that there are fewer people on the street here on Wall Street, and even as you can see, the streets here pretty much empty of cars. Only essential commercial vehicles permitted now in the street, and, of course, emergency vehicles. As you can see beyond me, right in front of the New York Stock Exchange a block ahead, barricaded entirely, Wall Street still remains on high alert, six months afterwards.

The mere fact that there are fewer people around Wall Street means that small businesses have suffered as well. Here's one, Timothy's Coffee Shop (ph). This store did shut down only three weeks ago, the owners simply unable to handle the losses that they had been suffering for months after the attack.

So, what we see, basically, six months after the attack on the World Trade Center, is an environment that has totally changed. Wall Street had been filled with people who were very high powered, very oriented, simply towards making money. Now it seems that people who are walking down Wall Street are a little more aimless, walking around with broken hearts -- Bill.

HEMMER: Certainly been changed so much. Allan, thank you. Allan Chernoff there on Wall Street this afternoon.

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