SEPTEMBER 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 17
FEATURE
MINUTE BEFORE THE ATTACKS
of Virginia, insisting that the state for
lovers should become the storehouse
for New York’s garbage. He was the embodiment
of the arrogant New Yorker.
Dictatorial. Uncaring, they said. But he
was always taken seriously. Until the
sex scandal.
With word of his divorce and his public
dalliance with his then-mistress, nowex
wife, Judith Nathan, this dead-serious
straight arrow politician, seemingly
overnight, became a laughingstock.
There might not have been grace in the
mayor’s mansion, but there certainly
was an abundance on late September
11th. Rudolph Giuliani showed compassion
and strength in a way totally
unexpected from him.
Before we knew it, the anti-Giuliani
wave led by mayoral candidate Fernando
Ferrer was drowned out by Michael
Bloomberg, whom many thought
would never see the mayorship. In the
Sept. 10 issue of New York magazine,
Michael Tomasky wrote: “I assume it’s
become apparent to Giuliani that Mike
Bloomberg won’t be the next mayor.
More generally, Rudy is protecting what
he sees as his legacy. If there’s one thing
a lame-duck politician can smell…it’s the
thick odor of his own obsolescence.” But
Rudy Giuliani, who had been diminished
as mayor, mired in a sex scandal,
would soon become Man of the Year.
And as with its mayor, New Yorkers
would also become beloved. Even the
Yankees and Mets were cheered on the
road. Emotion filled the void time left
behind when it was snatched. And life,
particularly, here in New York, started
from scratch.
THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE
BEEN
That Tuesday in September was to be a
day that would see the Latin Grammys,
wracked by controversy, holding their
second annual awards show in Los
Angeles, after moving the event from
Aug. 20 in Miami for security reasons
for fear of anti-Cuban demonstrations.
It was the release date for Bob Dylan’s
Love & Theft and Mariah Carey’s Glitter.
The No. 1 song was “I’m Real” by Jennifer
Lopez and Ja Rule. The top movie
was Shrek, and Big Brother 2, Jag and
Judging Amy were the TV programs
that would have been watched that evening.
The Mind of the Married Man, an
R-rated comedy series about a Chicago
newspaper columnist getting bored
with his wife, was to premiere that
evening on HBO
HEADLINES ON THE MORNING
OF SEPT. 11, 2001.
• Michael Jordan poised to make
NBA comeback with the Washington
Wizards.
• Israeli and Palestinian leaders to hold
truce talks later that day.
• Elizabeth Dole expected to announce
run for Jesse Helms’ North Carolina
Senate seat.
• California grand jury will not investigate
complaint against Congressman
Gary Condit in the missing intern case;
a grand jury rejected a flight attendant’s
complaint that Condit obstructed justice
by allegedly asking her to sign an affidavit
stating they didn’t have an affair.
• Shark attacks in the Northeast continue,
resulting in several deaths, including
10-year-old David Peltier, who dies
after an attack off the Virginia coast.
• Firefighters work to get handle on
massive Montana wildfires.
• Janet Reno announces her intentions
to run for governor of Florida.
• The Justice Department announces
they will not try to break up Microsoft.
• 2001 MTV Music Video Awards honor
Fat Boy Slim, ’N Sync for Pop and Christina
Aguilera, Mya, Pink and Lil’ Kim
for “Lady Marmalade.” As the music
world continues to mourn 22-year-old
R&B singer Aaliyah’s death a month earlier,
an official report is released stating
that her plane was over the permissible
weight capacity.
• Barry Bonds passes Roger Maris and
Babe Ruth’s single-season home run
marks.
• Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry,
foreign aid and religious workers in
Afghanistan, are on trial for preaching
Christianity. The case will be determined
by Mullah Muhammed Omar, the
seldom-seen supreme leader of the Taliban
relatively unknown to Americans.
• Ellis Henican, Newsday, Sept. 9, 2001:
“Few people in city government will
talk about this out loud. But there is
a growing belief, in and out of the administration,
that the lame-duck mayor
Giuliani is purposely leaving some little
explosions behind, just to make life
miserable for whomever comes next.”
One example: closing the Staten Island
landfill.
In two days the Fresh Kills Staten Island
Landfill would become the repository
for the remains and debris found at the
World Trade Center Site. It would be another
location where time clashed with
history, changing the nature of a place,
allowing an instant to turn a garbage
dump into hallowed ground.
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