Sent: November 06, 2001 12:14 PM
Subject: Skating down the West Side Highway
> Thursday November 1st, 2001
>
> Today it reached a balmy 70 degrees here in the city - so I decided to lace
> up my skates and head down my favorite biking/blading/running path on the
> West Side, something I hadn't done since before the 11th of September.
>
> I skated across town along 55th Street to the path.  As I reached the
> highway, I saw that the path was completely blocked off and police were
> stationed everywhere.  What the hell, I thought, I can't even go for a
> skate?  I crossed the highway and went up to a cop, picking one who seemed
> approachable.  We'll call him Officer Krupke.  Our exchange went a little
> something like this:
>
> Me:  Hi! Is the path open?
>
> Officer Krupke:  Does it look like it's open? (gotta love New Yorkers)
>
> Me:  Well, I meant further down. (duh.)
>
> Officer K:  You have to cross over and go down to 48th street.
>
> Me: Oh, OK.  So... what's going on here? (motioning to all the security and
> random people coming and going from the buildings on the Piers)
>
> Officer K (looking at me like I have 3 heads):  Where have YOU been?!?
>
> Me:  (where HAVEN'T I been!) Not here, I haven't skated here since before
> the 11th!
>
> Officer K:  Where do you live?
>
> Me: (what difference does it make?) On 55th Street, down near -
>
> Officer K:  You say you LIVE on 55th street and you don't know what's going
> on here?  Geez where HAVE you been?
>
> Me:  Hey!  I've been here... just not... HERE.  So why is the path closed??
>
> Officer K (laughing): ok, ok... there's a Family Crisis Center in the
> buildings, so the paths are closed for these blocks.
>
> Me:  Ohhhhh... riiiight... (now feeling very dumb I did NOT remember this -
> and looking past the path towards the buildings, about 40 yards away, I saw
> a wall - much like the Wall of Prayer at Bellvue - just covered with 8x10
> photos and flyers - thousands of them - of Missing Persons from September
> 11th.)
>
> Officer K:  So what are you doing, skating around happy as a clam without a
> care in the world;  you don't work?  You should volunteer there if you got
> nuthin' better to do than skate around all day!
>
> Me:  Look, I'd RATHER be working than skating.  The economy isn't so hot in
> case you hadn't noticed.  And I TRIED to volunteer the week after the 11th
> and was turned away.
>
> Officer K:  (laughing again) No, I'm kidding.  They don't need anyone -
> they're all set with volunteers.  I'm just giving you a hard time.
>
> (awkward silence)
>
> Me:  So... how are you guys doing...with...everything?
>
> Officer K (softening, looking at the ground, then at the sky, then sighing):
> We're tired.  We're all very, very..... tired.
>
> I told him that we all (meaning the millions of New Yorkers, as if I had a
> personal relationship with each of them) appreciated all they were doing,
> then we said our goodbyes and I crossed back over the West Side Highway and
> got on the path at 48th Street.   The parks department had recently re-paved
> the path;  the black ice snaked down the west side towards the Financial
> District, 6 lanes of traffic and a row of trees and bushes on my left, a
> soon-to-be landscaped walkway with benches and the Hudson River on my right.
> It felt SO good to fly down it again.  Construction was still going on at
> the decrepit piers down the length of the Hudson River, to eventually become
> parks and recreation oases for the public.  Nice to see it still progressing
> as planned.
>
> A skater passed me, heading north, with two rag-tag dogs running along
> beside him.  The skater was wearing a heavy respirator mask along with his
> sunglasses.  (There is now some concern that the air down at The Site is not
> as fresh as was once thought.) The whole scenario looked like something from
> the Cantina scene in Star Wars.  That was a Kodak moment.  I unfortunately
> was a little slow on the uptake with my camera.
>
> Spraypainted on the path are milage markers for the bikers and skaters:
> "2.6 miles to Chambers Street" "1.4 miles to Chambers Street" etc.  Only,
> the path didn't make it to Chambers Street anymore.  I'm surprised some
> wiseass hasn't spraypainted over the words to say "1.4 miles to The Former
> Sight of the World Trade Center" " 2.6 miles to The Largest Graveyard In
> Manhattan" or some other morbid phrase.
>
> About halfway down there was quite a commotion going on on the median strip
> between the 6 lanes of traffic to my right.  A small group of people were
> standing there, waving American flags and signs that said "Thank you FDNY
> and NYPD!", "Don't Give Up!!!" and "Honk If You Love New York!"  There was a
> plywood board in front of them that read "POINT THANK YOU".  The people on
> the island waved at the police, fire, and recovery vehicles as they passed
> by going south towards the site, and returning north from the site.  Cars
> honked, fire engines blew thier horns, and police sirens and lights came on
> for that one block in recognition of the thanks.  It was pretty cool.
>
> I went all the way down to just above Chambers Street, where the path was
> blocked off again as it was just north of the Epicenter (what Ground Zero is
> now being called).  So close to one of my favorite places to visit, Battery
> Park City, a part of the path where the landscaping WAS finished with
> hundreds of trees and bushes and flowers and sculptures, grassy knolls to
> picnic on, benches to sit and people watch from, all while the water traffic
> on the Hudson paraded by in front of you.  Access denied.  The path (just
> beyond the barricades) takes a 90 degree turn at this point, taking you
> further out into the river, before heading south once again, this time with
> apartment buildings and lots of green between you and the traffic.  I
> remember always stopping at the corner of that point, enjoying the peace and
> quiet away from the highway, and looking back - what a glorious view of the
> Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and all of the midtown
> skyscrapers inbetween looking north, then looking the other way to see the
> Financial District, the World Financial Center and the Twin Towers looming
> overhead.  But of course I couldn't go any further on the path.  And of
> course the Twin Towers weren't there to admire anyways.
>
> And this is where I got really pissed off.
>
> I wanted to skate on MY path, and sit underneath MY honeysuckle trees and
> breath in fresh sea air and not this acrid stench crap that I'm so sick of
> and just stare at the Statue of Liberty on MY bench.  I could see her in the
> harbor there, past all the police and de-construction vehicles, but she just
> seemed so damn far away at the moment.  I was so angry for having this taken
> away from me.  I felt like crying from the frustration of it all.  I so
> wanted to scream at someone, to hit something, but the only thing around
> were the NYPD and their cruisers.  Probably not a good idea to hit a cop in
> New York city at this time (or anytime, for that matter).
>
> As I stood there bemoaning my latest realized loss, a couple stopped near
> me, looking up, their eyes wandering over the gap in the sky, and then to
> the cranes below down on street level.  They asked if the path stopped here.
> I (being a nice girl from Wisconsin), instead of saying "does it LOOK like
> it stops here?" said,
>
> well, you can go "inland" for a few blocks - go all the way around the
> wreckage - but eventually you'll get to Battery Park and the path on the
> south side there.
>
> The Guy:  Oh... so... is that where they were (pointing to sky)?
>
> Me:  yeah, right across the highway there... (pause)... so where are you
> guys from?
>
> The Girl (proudly):  Montana!
>
> We chatted for a spell, and I learned that they had planned a visit to New
> York for some time - and still wanted to come despite all the hype that has
> scared off so many tourists;  they wanted to come down to The Site and pay
> their respects.  I noticed they didn't have any cameras, and felt a twinge
> of guilt thinking about the many rolls of film I've gone through since the
> 11th.
>
> They continued on, and for lack of anywhere to go (not to mention anything
> to pummel), I turned around and skated back uptown.  I paused to take a
> photo of the cheering people at Point Thank You, and a sanitation worker
> (we'll call him Tyrone) said:
>
> I can take a picture of you with them, if you want, honey!
>
> Me:  oh no, that's ok!
>
> Tyrone (who obviously enjoyed talking with tall female rollerbladers):
> where are you from sweetie?
>
> Me (amusing him, and not having anywhere else to be anyways): Wisconsin!
>
> Tyrone (cocking his head to the right, squinting his eyes):  Wisconsin?
> Wisconsin... now where is THAT?
>
> Me (giving the standard answer I always give when someone doesn't know where
> Wisconsin is):  Chicago.
>
> Tyrone (ah! recognition!) OH!  Chicago!... Well you're a long way from home!
>
> Me:  Yeah, I guess I am...
>
> Tyrone:  So how long you been in New York?
>
> Me:  Seven years.
>
> Tyrone:  SEVEN YEARS?!??  Hell girl, you ain't from Wisconsin anymore.
> You're from New York!!!
>
>
> I kindof had the feeling of late that I wasn't in Kansas anymore, but had
> always wondered, at what point does one "become" a true New Yorker?  For me,
> I know the exact time and place I became one.  I think a lot of "new" New
> Yorkers would say the same about themselves.
>
>
> I hope you are all well,
>
> Love,
>
> Sandy
>
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