9/11 was a national tragedy, but it especially affected New Yorkers. 9/11 changed our way of living as Americans and as a world. However, to New Yorkers it was a very personal time and tragedy. 9/11 literally changed people’s lives mentally, physically and environmentally. The attacks changed New York’s finances and New Yorkers’ way of living forever. 9/11 was a world tragedy but also mostly affected New Yorkers concretely. The media rightfully focused on the victims but should have also focused on the survivors.
A lot of people that experienced 9/11 in New York City got sick both physically and mentally. 1,000s of people from NY are sick from the 9/11 reasons mentally and physically. There are a lot of sicknesses that are linked to the 9/11 attack such as cancer because of all the smoke. Many of the illnesses linked to the attacks were breathing and digestive diseases, cancer and PTSD. Also, there was an increase in mental problems because the attack and its effect paralyzed some people. Some people that worked at 9/11, who were there or even people who had friends or relatives worked there suffered from mental health disorders. Also there where kids near the towers like in Stuyvesant that got mental disorders. Some people even have terrible dreams which affects their sleep.
The people living near the towers got affected just as much as the towers. The buildings surrounding the towers got either on fire or destroyed when the towers fell. Many families had to wait for their houses to be rebuilt and some of them did not even get rebuilt and they had to find new houses. They were permanently displaced. Not commonly known, but students were also displaced and affected by the towers. Famous Stuyvesant High School experienced structural damage and students were displaced for half of the academic year, having to transfer temporarily to another schools building. The towers falling meant that the rest of the school year they would be crowded in this other building with students that they never meet. People don’t think about all the money that they spent making the memorial for 9/11 and rebuilding everything. Some people did not get any money from the government to rebuild their home and they did not get any money to even replace their belongings.
Many of the first responders and people who looked for their families were affected in their sleeping and eating habits. From an interview with Dennis Hanrahan, a first responder firefighter that was at the scene the day after 9/11 said: “I was in shock.” Hanrahan was in shock from the sight of the towers destruction They were searching in pockets of stairways hoping to find people alive. Every day they would get up at 7 am, go to 9/11, and search all day, they wouldn’t even stop to eat. The animals, like the dogs, had to work just as much as the humans had to work. The people would go 24/7, so a lot of them didn’t sleep. Some of them slept at the towers because either they where there late or they did not what to go home. Further, many of the first responders and people who looked for their families were affected in their sleeping and eating habits. People mostly look at all the people that died when they should be looking at all the people that survived.
The media portrayed 9/11 in a terrifying way, emphasizing the horror — and it was horrible. However, the survivors, their families and first responders, who are still dealing with the consequences of 9/11 — should be further highlighted as courageous heros today.
9/11 is not only a national tragedy but also a local one. It mostly realistically affected New Yorkers: their mental and emotional health, the New York economy and many friends and family from New York who were either killed or hurt. People should care about what happened because it might happen in another city. Many people in New York thought it would never happen. We should learn from this tragedy so that it never happens again.