by Hrag Vartanian
Life in New York is not back to normal. In the days following September 11th, downtown Manhattan was cordoned off and check points, like those once found in Sarajevo or Beirut, buffered the city into zones.
At 14th Street, Houston Street and Canal Street, below which Ground Zero lays, the National Guard and Police checked I.D.s, questioned pedestrians and the sirens of emergency vehicles boomed in the empty streets restricted to other traffic.
The smoke and smell of the attack site permeated lower Manhattan for weeks. It was an odor that many avoided by staying home.
Tourists are slowly returning to the city, but even Midtown's sleek restaurants, theaters, and museums are not the same. Every building's security is heightened and people are guaranteeing that they have picture I.D.s when they leave their homes.
The foreboding that something will follow lingers in everyone's mind and conversations on the street inevitably lead to 9/11. The war is in the air and the media has taken a more central role in people's lives. The old cliché is true, what you don't know can kill you—anthrax has reaffirmed this.
New Yorkers are rebuilding their city and their lives. They hope this will all be temporary but the memories and lessons will never go away.
