Article December 3, 2001 Issue

Heroes and light in NYC

BY Jeffrey Hildner

Documentary Filmmaker Ric Burn's new film, New York, calls New York City "the supreme laboratory of modern life." In light of September 11, this seems the perfect description.

Although NYC is my adopted home, this laboratory—where people from all over the globe, of differing ethnicities and religions, live—now feels more like home to me than ever. Yes, tragedy struck. But along with it has arisen our city's grace under pressure—what The New York Observer calls "the courage and compassion of most New Yorkers, who have shown the world that they are capable of fortitude in the most challenging of times." The same editorial remarks that "the nation's and the world's previous view of New York, which had always had a veneer of suspicion and scorn, has been forever changed, replaced by warmth and admiration for this city of heroes" (October 29, 2001).

The foundations of this "city of heroes" are more than physical. Determination, resiliency, and the spirit of unity now burn in the heart of every dweller and visitor. I detect a prayerful, healing resolve, a resistance to dread, from nearly everyone I meet. As The New York Observer columnist Molly Haskell wrote, "I won't get hooked on fear scenarios. Refusing to be terrorized is a war strategy, too. . . ." These days, I'm finding that the indomitable spirit of the city that never sleeps—truly never sleeps.

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