NEWS FROM COMMUNITY OF HOPE Vol. 2
January 31, 2005
Dear Friend of Community of Hope,
A Happy and Blessed New Year to you all!
Let me begin by thanking those of you who took the time to respond to my first e-mail Newsletter. Several of you thanked me for keeping you informed. No one asked to have their name removed. I consider that encouraging!
The other day I was speaking with a friend from the Philadelphia area. She is familiar with Lower Manhattan, but hasn't been down here since a few weeks after September 11, 2001. She asked me an interesting question; "What is it like down there now?" My guess is that most of you fall in this same category. If you do not work, live, or visit down here, let me fill you in a little.
To begin with the obvious, it is not empty! There are still a lot of people working in the Wall Street area. Some businesses left after September 11th. Some left and have stayed away. Some are moving back. Example: After leasing all of their office space for years, Goldman Sachs purchased a site on West Avenue in Battery Park and will be building their world headquarters there.
Then there are the visitors. Since I did not work down here until two years ago, I have little to compare it to. I am quite certain there were always visitors to the Wall Street area and the World Trade Center. It is estimated that today close to fifty thousand people a week visit Lower Manhattan. St. Paul's Chapel reports that close to 30,000 people a week go through their site. As I look out my window, I always see the people standing looking through the fence into the pit. Even on the coldest days, people are always there.
In talking with people on the street visiting the Wall Street area, most of the visitors are struck by all of the security. Most admit they expected to see some, but not this much. They expected unarmed security guards, not soldiers carrying rifles! They are hassled as they too have move around all of the street barriers. Those of us who have worked down here a while are used to this. Or, are we?
Every once in a while I'll come around a corner and see a heavily armed Hercules vehicle and its deployed team. It kind of catches me off guard. I look to see what is going on. "Oh," I think, "there must be some kind of security alert." The minor adrenaline surge begins to ease off.
I think most of the people who work down here have pretty much tried to put September 11th out of their thoughts. Their jobs are demanding and life goes on. On the other hand, most of the people who work and live down here have gotten used to seeing the black shroud on the Deutsche Bank Building. I'm sure we've all heard by now that it was the level of toxins in the building, and not the structural damage to it, that had the insurance companies declare it a loss. I've gone to enough meetings across the community to know that a lot of people want to be very sure that none of these are released into the air during the deconstruction process.
The cover story of the December 6, 2004 edition of New York magazine was "TERROR: WHY HAVEN'T WE BEEN HIT AGAIN? Reasons to feel safe. . . and scared." The article stated: "The official position of our government is that it is not a matter of if there will be another attack on the United States, but when. On this George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden seem to be in agreement." The article continues, "This is especially troubling to New Yorkers, who feel, with some degree of certainty, that our city remains the most inviting target for terrorists."
I found out the other day that there is a list that has been put together by the FBI of the 15 buildings in New York City most likely to be the target of a terrorist attack. It did not surprise me to learn the New York Stock Exchange, the Empire State Building, and the Citibank building were on the list. I was surprised to learn the the building across the street from my office, One Liberty Plaza, and the building I work in are on the list as well.
I've heard stories from friends of people who work above the 20th floor in New York City purchasing parachutes. I have heard other stories of companies in midtown issuing special plastic clothing for their employees to wear in the event of a chemical or biological attack.
In light of all of the above, it should come as no surprise to any of you that I think that there is a level of anxiety present in this city that needs to be acknowledged and addressed. I am working with an organization called STAR. STAR is a acronym that stands for Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience. STAR came into existence following the September 11th attack. What began as a response to a terrorist attack in New York City has evolved into a program that works with terror and trauma all over the world: from Palestine to the Philippines, from Indonesia to Northern Ireland. There is a STAR team presently working in Kenya, Rwanda, and the Sudan. I think they have some very helpful insight into how to help people to heal.
We are in the process of putting together resources to offer to businesses and groups that we are thinking of calling, "Got Fear?" (the title is not locked in yet). These resources are designed to help people acknowledge some of the anxiety they have, rather than deny it, and offer some insight as to how to build their resilience.
If you want to learn more about what we are doing and/or how we could make these resources available to your group, please give me a call. In the mean time I am working to set up an event for Lutheran clergy in the NYC area as well as an event for Lower Manhattan clergy.
God's Peace be with you.
Pastor Rip Hoffman
Community of Hope
22 Cortlandt St. 20th floor
New York, NY 10007
212 669-6115
e-mail: kantonen@aol.com
