SIX MONTHS: REBUILDING OUR CITY, REBUILDING OURSELVES {PT. 4 OF 5}: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CITY: A DIFFERENT ATMOSPHERE ALTOGETHER {TERRORIST ATTACKS} (RADIO)

Summary

Part four of five. One in this special series exploring the rebuilding of New York City, six months after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The fourth part focuses on the psychological impact the attacks continues to have on New Yorkers. The program opens with Ann Nelson reading from her play "The Guys" which was written shortly after September 11. Testimonials from New Yorkers directly affected by the attacks follows: Galen Cole, who worked at the World Trade Center, describes his experience fleeing the building on September 11 and how it has affected his decision making; Vince Graceffo and Bill Procejus, both Battery Park residents, talk about being eye witnesses to the tragedy, including seeing people jumping off the towers; Nicole Petrocelli talks about the loss of her husband Mark, who was on the 92nd floor of Tower One for a meeting, and her feelings after six months; Father Frances Gun, a clinical social worker who works with people who have experienced traumatic events, comments on some of the testimonies, emphasizing that is still important to talk about the tragedy. Next, Beth Fertig visits a firehouse on twenty-ninth street which lost nine men. Several firefighters, including Lieutenant Rob Kirwan, talk about how the men at the firehouse have dealt with the loss: the trouble some firefighters have had sleeping; the sense of camaraderie and the "self-healing process"; the general reticence of firefighters to seek professional counseling, although it remains available to all; outreach to the families of those who died; and the feelings of the newest recruits. Next, host John Rudolph interviews trauma expert Dr. Claude Chemtob and two other guests who have dealt directly with vulnerable populations: Dr. Bruce Arnold, a consulting psychologist who works with students from P.S. 234 which is just a few blocks from Ground Zero, and Kyle Maldiner, senior vice-president at Lehman Brothers, which had about 600 employees in the Trade Center and over 5000 employees in the immediate vicinity at the time of the attacks. Next, producer Julie Hantman visits with Natalie Luna, a high school sophomore in Queens, and her friends, talking to them about how the attacks have affected them; while none of the teenagers lost someone close to them, the teenagers discuss the anxieties the attacks provoked as well as how the attacks shifted their views of the themselves and the United States. Lastly, Dean Olsher, host of WNYC's "The Next Big Thing," talks about the impulse to leave the city as well the changes he has and has not observed since the attacks.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by Ralph Guild, 2003.

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