Towering determination

‘It would be a tragedy not to rebuild. It would give the terrorists the victory they seek’

Six months ago Larry Silverstein fulfilled his dream of buying the 99-year lease on the World Trade Centre. In a matter of days after the tragedy struck, he is vowing to reconstruct lower Manhattan.

When Larry Silverstein, the 70-year-old indefatigable veteran of the New-York property scene, clinched the 99-year lease on the World Trade Center in April for a staggering $ 3-22bn, it was he said: “A dream comes true.”

Five days before his bid for the Center had been due, Silverstein was knocked down by a drunken driver and left with a broken pelvis. Undeterred, he summoned staff from Silverstein Properties, his family-owned real estate business, to the hospital and set up office around his bed.

At the time , one of his friends described him as: “The most optimistic man I’ve ever met. It’s grafted into his genetic code.”

He was at home in Manhattan on Tuesday when he learned that the first of the two towers had been hit.

In disbelief , he run down to his office on Fifth Avenue only to witness a scene he could never have imagined in his worst nightmare: a second plane crashing into the other tower. Within minutes both skyscrapers, the ultimate symbols of American business and economic might, crumbled and collapsed.

And yet, within days of the attack, Silverstein has vowed to help rebuild the complex. “It would be a tragedy of tragedies not to rebuild this part of New-York. It would give the terrorist the victory they seek. The city is not dead and cannot be allowed to die. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren.”

‘I HEARD PANIC FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF OUR FLOOR’

Yesterday morning, I was at my desk on the 48^th floor in our Manhattan office when I heard panic from the other side of our floor. Out of their window, they saw the first tower being hit. Everyone believed it to be a terrible accident , and we were all watching when the second plane hit. Unbelievable.

My first selfish thought was of my boyfriend Jason, who I had left one hour earlier, in our apartment, two blocks from the Would Trade Center. We had moved in on Sunday and he was waiting for our phone to be installed.

Everyone quickly left and was trying to leave the city by the Subway. I decided to go downtown to try and wake Jason and get him out. The Subway was terrible. Women crying everywhere. I was sitting next to a lady who was hysterical. Her daughter was a waitress on the top of the WTC. Nothing could be said.

The train took us about half way downtown, when it abruptly stopped. The subway had been attacked. Everything went crazy as we all tried to scramble out of the train. After about 30 minutes, I finally got out and saw only one tower standing. I started running downtown , as I realized Jason really could be in proper danger. Little did I know quite how close he was to dying.

I was running against all the people , as police were telling us to get uptown. But I thought no one but me knew that he was in the flat. Then, suddenly, my phone rang and it was him. He had borrowed someone’s phone. He was in a state of shock, and when I found him , he was covered in dust and sobbing.

Jason had been sleeping when he heard the first crash. He joined four people who had done the same thing . They watched as burning people were jumping out of the towers. Jason said he counted nine people before he could not look anymore.

Suddenly there was another blast, as the second plane crashed.

He then began to worry about me, wanting me to get out of the 48^th floor of our office. As soon as the explosion ended he ran out of our building to phone me.

But he then heard an almighty crash as the first tower fell. Everyone was screaming and they simply said “RUN”. He looked over his shoulder and just saw whiteness moving toward him. He ran , and hid under a car as the worst of the debris flooded the street.

Then he saw a shop closing its door , and he run inside where he was with a security guard and a journalist.

We had no where to go. Pandemonium was everywhere . Rumours were that it was hijacked. Again we found ourselves running like hell. It proved to be a false alarm-but that continued to happen throughout the day.

We have lived through an extraordinary time. Jason has literally run for his life. Our apartment is most likely devastated , with all our stuff inside. There are no hotels available as many people are in the same situation .

We all know people who are still missing ,and nothing can alleviate the pain that causes . There is real anger here . People want action , and that is what is frightening me most.

( by Deborah Arden – Jonews, a British consultant, who watched the disaster unfold in front of her. )

III.  Read the article. Discuss its headline and account for the stylistic device used in it. What makes the article so emotional and dynamic? Why are words becoming so drastic and dangerous in times of terror? Has the language of terror come to its existence?