Saturday, January 17, 2009
It's What We Do
0 commentsNTSB investigators on scene to probe Hudson River plane crash, speak to hero pilot Chesley Sullenber
Someone from the Left Coast wrote me this morning, saying we must be very proud of our city today.
The quick answer is Yes. And not really. You see, it's what we do. The larger answer is that we are always proud of the people of New York, because this is what we expect from our fellow Gothamites.
Here's what I wrote to the Angeleno:"Again, as I say, thank god that it happened in NYC, if it had to happen at all. No matter the emergency, this is how we as a people here tend to act. There is no better place to be on earth, when you're in trouble.
As one ferry company manager is quoted, referring to his heroic crews, 'We don't think—we do.' That pretty much sums up NYers, overall. We deal. Then we figure it all out.
One bit that may not be clear to folks around the country: the plane landed somewhere between 44th-48th Sts. But the cops didn't drag it down to the Battery, as some picture captions claim. The tide was really strong, and it carried the plane and the boats further downtown, even while the rescue was underway—so they all had to deal with the strong tides as well. That part was really scary. There was one video I saw that had a static location, looking past a building, and you could see the plane and all the boats flying past the building from right to left (down river) at a rapid speed. Actually, they were lucky to grab the plane securely before it floated right out into the harbor towards the ocean."
Plus, it was 20 degrees. And the water was MAYBE 40 degrees.
Good luck finding those engines.
In the many years we've called Gotham home, we been in all manner of accidents and difficult scenarios.
One constant has always been—whether we were the ones in trouble or among the passersby who jumped in to help—we've never seen a moment where someone, or a train, or the city itself was in trouble, where complete strangers didn't just jump right in. When you're in a place where my building alone houses more people than live in many towns in America, you realize quickly that we, indeed, are all in this together. We live or sink as one.
It's what makes New York, New York.
Broadway, the museums and the Mets? Those are all just gravy.
posted by Gotham 12:53 AM
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