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New Yorkers Seek Closure After Osama bin Laden's Death

By Julie Shapiro | May 2, 2011 5:36am | Updated on May 2, 2011 3:30pm

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

LOWER MANHATTAN — A community that was already bracing for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 confronted a flood of memories and emotions upon hearing Sunday evening that Osama bin Laden was dead.

Some waved American flags and screamed patriotic slogans, racing jubilantly toward Ground Zero along the same streets that served as debris-coated escape routes on Sept. 11, 2001.

Others approached the site quietly and hung back from the revelers, caught between relief and the still-unhealed feelings of loss.

"I am so conflicted," said Michael, 42, a Washington Heights resident whose 29-year-old wife Michelle was killed in the South Tower. "On the left side of my mind, I'm really happy this evil man is dead. But it doesn't bring my wife back."

Michael, who asked that his last name not be used, stood apart from the cheering crowd in Times Square early Monday morning on his way to Ground Zero.

"I've been waiting for this day for close to 10 years," he said. "It's like I had to come down here to get some sort of closure, but Michelle's not coming back to me. It doesn't change anything."

Before Sunday, there was no question that New York had moved on from 9/11 — two new skyscrapers are rising where a pile of rubble once smoldered, and hundreds of young trees are growing around deep pools marking the Twin Towers' absence.

And yet, the fact that bin Laden remained at large was unsettling to some and a torment to others, a loose thread that made it harder to wrap up the trauma and put it to rest.

"The idea that bin Laden was laughing all these years was hard to take," said Gary Greenberg, 63, who has lived in TriBeCa since before 9/11 and walked down to Ground Zero on Sunday night. "It feels really good that he got what he deserved."

His wife Sherri Greenberg, 50, added: "We are tired of being afraid."

Many of those who trekked to the World Trade Center Sunday night were searching for the sense of camaraderie that filled New York after the attacks, a feeling of shared purpose that President Barack Obama invoked in his address to the country Sunday night.

John Martin, 28, a Financial District resident standing amid throngs of New Yorkers singing the national anthem, said he wanted to "feel a sense of celebration and connection to everyone."

"Everyone in this city and country has been yearning for this day and this sense of unity and purpose," Martin said. "It's indescribable. It's a great day for the city."

But many others said their reaction was more complicated, in part because any news about bin Laden, even the news that he is gone forever, is painful.

"It really brings back some memories," said Dave Andersen, 46, a retired Marine from Queens who knew people who died on 9/11 and whose son is a Marine currently serving in Afghanistan.

"I think for some it will be closure," Andersen continued, "for some it will piss them off all over again, and for some it will bring up a lot of bad memories. I felt all three emotions tonight."

Elizabeth Sanford, 41, a longtime TriBeCa resident, celebrated Sunday night with her husband, a crane signal worker at One World Trade Center.

"I think mentally this will push people forward," Sanford said. "It's not full closure, but it's a step in the process. They're ready for the next step in moving on."

Video by Gabriela Resto-Montero.

With reporting by Jill Colvin, Patrick Hedlund and Carla Zanoni.