Over the years, ground zero has been a site of sorrow and of anger, but early this morning it was filled with hundreds of jubilant New Yorkers who had poured out of their apartments upon hearing that Osama bin Laden, the man whose diabolical vision ended and upended so many lives at the World Trade Center nearly ten years ago, had finally been brought to justice. Waving American flags, singing patriotic songs, and chanting “USA!,” they came to share a spontaneous moment of revelry with friends and, more important, complete strangers.
“I can’t tell you how great it is that so many people turned out to show they care,” one woman who lost a friend on 9/11 told the Post. “The war isn’t over, but at least [bin Laden’s death] brought the city back together again.” Maybe more than the city. “Hopefully,” a Pakistani student studying at the New School told the Times, “it will bring about more cooperation between the U.S. and Muslim countries.” That remains to be seen, but most people celebrating in the wee hours of the morning weren’t worried about the future they were too busy exalting in the present. “I think there is justice in the world,” said one Upper West Sider who journeyed down to ground zero. “Sometimes there is not, but today there is.”
