By Sara Kugler
Associated Press
NEW YORK – Urging people not “to let terrorism hinder us,” Mayor Rudolph Giuliani refused to bow to fear today, marching in a Columbus Day parade that combined a traditional celebration of Italian-American heritage with a patriotic theme.
Security was racheted up today in the city still counting its dead from the Sept. 11 attacks. Following U.S. military strikes in Afghanistan, the U.S. State Department is warning about the possibility of “strong anti-American sentiment and retaliatory actions against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world.”
As the parade began at noon in midtown Manhattan, Giuliani said “this demonstrates that we’re going ahead with our lives. We’re not going to let terrorism hinder us.”
Called “The Columbus Day Parade Honors America,” the event began with a rendition of “God Bless America” as marchers began moving up the 30-block parade route on Fifth Avenue.
The parade felt like a celebration of the Fourth of July, dominated by American flags and marching bands playing patriotic songs. Along the route, spectator Tish Cianciotta, of Brooklyn, said the parade was “very touching this year, very poignant.”
Giuliani walked at various times with Gov. George Pataki and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, taking an hour to walk the entire route. Mayoral candidates Michael Bloomberg, Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer marched as well.
Police and firefighters were represented by vehicles from each department, rather than their usual complement of marchers. The Fire Department lost 343 members in the attack that destroyed the World Trade Center; the NYPD lost 23 officers.
Following Sunday’s retaliatory strikes, the city increased security at airports, bridges, tunnels and landmarks such as the Empire State Building. Giuliani said 4,500 National Guard members and additional police officers were deployed throughout the city in areas “that might be possible targets in minds of terrorists.”
“So far it seems to be working,” Giuliani told CBS News in an interview this morning from the mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion, where he was holding a Columbus Day breakfast.
Before the parade, a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral offered prayers for terror victims and heroes at home, and combatants and innocent civilians in Afghanistan. It concluded with the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“We are so much in need of faith in the aftermath of this terrorist attack which has shaken the foundations of our way of life,” Nicholas Di Marzio, bishop of Camden, N.J., said in his homily. Cardinal Edward Egan was in Rome.
Giuliani said he had been briefed about the impending retaliatory strikes Sunday morning, getting “a couple hours” notice, but followed through on his commitment to appear at a smaller Columbus Day parade Sunday on Staten Island.
Many New Yorkers – and those passing through the city – have begun to accept the fear of terrorism as part of their daily lives.
“I think it’s just something we’re going to have to live with,” said Martha Drayton, a business analyst from Brooklyn. “It seems perfectly reasonable.”
At the city’s transportation hubs, visible security was much as it had been in recent weeks: stepped up police presence and in some cases limited access to streets running past stations.
At a briefing this afternoon, Pataki said the National Guard would join Port Authority police in patrols at city train hubs. He said the move, similar to one already taken at area airports, was not prompted by any specific incidents.
Several scares were investigated in the early hours today. Train service on the PATH commuter line between New York and New Jersey was suspended for about an hour this morning because a suspicious package was reported in the 14th Street station, said Greg Trevor, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Earlier today, a reported explosion at the PATH’s 9th Street station turned out to be caused by a blown motor, Trevor said.
Despite heightened security, some commuters said they felt nervous about possible retaliation.
Pat Gorman, of Brooklyn, said she didn’t feel secure. “But you know, we have to go on and that’s exactly what I’m doing,” she said.
City officials have said 4,979 people remain missing from the attacks on the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. They have confirmed 393 deaths, including 335 victims who have been identified.
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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