Signs of Life Emerge Near Ground Zero

By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Luis and Marcela Perez felt isolated when they moved back into their luxury apartment in the buildings just south of the destroyed World Trade Center two weeks ago.

"You could not walk north and you could not walk west," said Marcela Perez. "When we first moved in, we couldn't sleep and you could only see three lights outside."

But that despair has since changed. Luis Perez points to the improvements, the bricks in the streets that had been taken out, cleaned, and reinserted.

Although tall yellow cranes still dot the debris site and a heavy, acrid odor lingers, signs of life abound in the area, from "Grand Openings" at stores to people gathering to root for the New York Yankees.

At the Sporting Club Bar & Grill in Tribeca, which once had a clear view of the towers, fans gathered around television screens Monday night to watch the playoff game between the Yankees and the Seattle Mariners.

Richard Miles, a 43-year-old telephone systems technician from Tampa, Fla., went to the bar to take a break from his work in the recovery efforts.

"When I came to New York, I became part of the trade center picture," he said. "This takes me away from that picture. This is something we need, to come out and shake it off a little bit."

The number of people listed as missing at the trade center stood at 4,415 Monday, with 473 bodies recovered, 422 of which have been identified.

Of the confirmed dead, 79 were firefighters, among 343 believed to have died in the Sept. 11 attacks that brought down the trade center. On Monday, more than 300 new firefighters were sworn in as the New York Fire Department began filling the ranks that were devastated in the disaster.

One downtown fixture, J&R Music and Computer World, near City Hall, re-opened on Monday in an almost holiday-season atmosphere.

"A lot of people were waiting for us to open. It felt like a Christmas rush," said salesman Sam Kustera.

"This block was dead for weeks and all of a sudden, it came to life today, there was excitement," said store manager Abe Brown.

The store had to replace millions of dollars in goods damaged by the terrorist attacks. A thick layer of dust that covered everything had to be cleaned away, the walls repainted and the carpeting replaced.

But once the doors were open, people came back, both from the neighborhood and beyond, Brown said.

Denis Faure, who is in the city from France visiting his daughter, said he had come by the store over the weekend, hoping it would be open so he could buy a camera.

His wife, Claude, said, "The feeling of being American is everywhere ... people are courageous, they want to make life go on."