Inwood, 215th Street at Broadway

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge


Yesterday, September 11, Luka and I got together as we have almost every year since 2001. In the first few years, we did things closely related to the event itself; we went to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and heard the names read, we revisited places we'd been to in the weeks after the attack and we talked about our grief and disbelief. But things do change and this year I realized that now when I see something in New York, beautiful or otherwise impressive, I no longer feel sadness and loss thinking about its possible destruction.

So now our observance seems to be more about appreciating New York. Making it formal. We decided to go to a part of New York I hadn't photographed yet, a new area, let's see, how about the Lower East Side, and also take a look at Luka's first apartment on East 11th when she moved here long, long ago. And of course we would also appreciate New York by having lunch and possibly, dinner.

The day was nice, not as nice as 9/11/01, but nice enough, and began with a little bit of slapstick when I heard on TV that there was a bomb scare at Stuyvesant High School. Since I knew Luka was already out of the house, I phoned her to give her the news. Soon after I had to phone her to say, never mind, that was a replay of the coverage on 9/11/01.

And now, on my way to the subway, how about this? This ambitious mural (it goes around the back of the building) appeared a week or so ago. I wish I'd seen it being made. To see the building pre-decoration go here. To see more of the mural, go here.


See map.