Scars run deep in tormented neighbourhood

By ELEANOR BLACK

A black scar marking the spot where a commuter plane crashed in Queens, New York, this week has symbolic meaning to the people who live in the working-class neighbourhood.

It represents a deep fear which will last much longer than the destruction caused by American Airlines Flight 587.

Megan Franks, a New Zealander who has lived in Queens for four years, said the usually boisterous borough was sombre and strangely quiet.

An executive assistant at an advertising firm, the 28-year-old lives one block from the site where 246 passengers and at least five of her neighbours were killed.

Already devastated by the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the neighbourhood that was home to about 100 of the firefighters and police officers who died trying to rescue people from the Twin Towers is bracing itself for another round of funerals.

Cheerful banter in the streets is a rarity and, in contrast to a normal autumn, there are no impromptu block parties. The American flags that were unfurled after September 11 are on display again, hanging from windows and flying from flagpoles.

"People are subdued ... There's not that much interaction. Everyone still looks pretty out of it and zombie-ish," Ms Franks told the Weekend Herald from her home in 132nd St.

Having watched the World Trade Center collapse from outside her Manhattan office, she was dumbfounded when she heard that a plane had gone down in her neighbourhood. Her first thought was that it must have been another act of terrorism.

When she got home, her street was cordoned off and there were FBI officers in her backyard looking for evidence. Police cars, FBI vans, members of the bomb squad and media representatives thronged the street.

She had to present a chequebook printed with her address to prove she lived there. Shellshocked neighbours walked along the street looking at the damage.

But next day, people caught the train at Rockaway Park and went to work, although they nervously checked the platform and train carriages for unattended bags and for sprinklings of white powder which could have indicated anthrax.

"It's pretty bizarre on the subway," said Ms Franks. "Normally it's really noisy. No one really talks now. I read Psalm 91 every morning on the train to work. It does wonders and makes me feel safe. I think I'd be more of a basketcase without it."

Without the support of her American husband, Thomas Kenney, she would probably come home to New Zealand.

"I have to go to work and continue. It's not even like I'm on autopilot. Knowing all these blimmin' close calls I've had I just have to live."

Ms Franks was heading for work on September 11 when a low plane caught her eye.

"I was standing outside the office when I saw the first plane go overhead. I thought, 'Oh my God, that sounds really low'. It sounds silly but I noticed it was so white and shiny and clean and the wheels weren't down. For two or three seconds I knew it was going to hit. I must have counted 20 or 30 people jumping. It was absolutely awful."

Full coverage: Crash of Flight 587