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American Morning

New York Trying Hard to Move On

Aired September 09, 2002 - 07:41   ET

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: As we approach 9/11 with remembrances of that day already beginning, some people already saying there is too much coverage. But we will not ignore that topic this week. It's a bit difficult for us and impossible, too.
We went back to three locations in New York City that were on the front lines last September, and in so many ways, New York City is a different city today, and so, too, are its people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER (voice-over): No other sector of New York City was hit harder than the financial district. But on Wall Street these days, the tourists are back, almost as if they had never left.

For those who work here, lunch time is the best time to catch some fresh air. Last year, though, just a block from ground zero, the pungent smell from the World Trade Center was impossible to escape. Trading stopped for almost a week.

These two New Yorkers were working here then, and still are a year later.

(on camera): What's the feeling here now?

JOE JODICE, BRONXVILLE, NEW YORK: We're back to our normal day- to-day routines, but the feeling, the memory, it's still there. A lot of people here knew someone or knows someone who knew someone. People are just hoping. I mean, what can you do?

HEMMER (voice-over): Some say New York is more humble today. Oh, it still has the edge, but for people like David Cohen, he still has a vivid memory of last year's nightmare.

Cohen owns a shop just a few steps from where the giant towers fell. He has preserved a corner of his store as a reminder. For those who feel the clean-up process has helped make ground zero look somewhat sterile and organized, Cohen wants them to see this sight.

(on camera): Have you thought what you will do on the one-year mark?

DAVID COHEN, OWNER, CHELSEA JEANS: Oh, I will be here that day, because for me, that is more than eventful (ph). For me, this, it's -- I shouldn't say grave sites, but it's -- this is, for me, represents 3,000 people. That represents all of the people who died, all the people who gave their lives trying to save others. HEMMER (voice-over): A few blocks away, St. Vincent's Hospital still buzzes with the daily workload. This is the nearest trauma center to ground zero.

Yet, on 9/11 last year, only 600 injured patients checked in here. Most were released by the weekend. Staffers say that's what hurt them most. They could treat 1,200 more, they say, but the injured stopped coming. The operating room sat empty on September 12.

For the hardened hospital employees who have seen a degree of life and death most people never do, the impact is clear.

MICHELLE BURKE, ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL: My perspective has changed, and I don't sweat the small stuff anymore, you know. There are things that are just not as important to get gray hairs about, you know. And I just focus on the positive.

HEMMER: Positive, indeed. They all say they'll report to work this week.

Meanwhile, on the hospital wall downstairs, flyers posted a year ago in a desperate sidewalk search for the missing are still on display today. New York is a long way from forgetting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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