Bin Laden’s death leads to thoughts of lives lost

News that U.S. Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden was celebrated by many in the Riverdale area. For others, it came ten years too late. For everyone, it was a time to remember the more than 3,000 victims of the World Trade Center attacks, including eight Riverdalians, who lost their lives.

Among the victims was Riverdalian Kathryn Shatzoff, 37, who worked for March and McClennan on the 100th floor of Tower One. She lived with her husband Neil Shatzoff on West 235th Street for 16 years.

Mr. Shatzoff said he was sleeping on Sunday night when a friend texted him the news of bin Laden’s death. He stayed up all night watching CNN.

“It doesn’t bring anybody back but it sure brings justice. I’m not one of those people that says two wrongs don’t make a right. No, this is right. This is perfect. I’m very thrilled they got him,” said Mr. Shatzoff, who owns and operates Magnum Comics on Riverdale Avenue.

Mr. Shatzoff, who has since remarried and has a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, said that on Monday night he explained to his children why he and his wife were toasting to the news. 

“I’ve been talking with my kids about it at dinner ... to explain to them what a big deal it was that we got him.”

More public displays of victory could also be found in and around Riverdale.  

The Daily News front page with a large headline, “Rot in Hell,” was taped to an apartment window on Broadway on Monday afternoon. A livery cab cruising in Kingsbridge was draped with an American flag. Locals were buying up American flags at Security Equipment Bureau, a police equipment and paraphernalia store, on Kingsbridge Avenue.

“People have been coming in here like crazy buying these flags,” Ed Cutinello, manager of the store and retired transit police officer, said.

He added that he already saw a surge in interest in “Semper Fi” T-shirts, a U.S. Marine Corps. motto meaning “Always Faithful.”

“The fact that bin Laden got his, helped restore people’s faith,” he said. 

Herb Barett, a Marine Corps. veteran of the Korean War and longtime Kingsbridge resident, remembers manning the polls for the primary election at PS 7 on Sept. 11, 2001. Mr. Barett was featured on the front page of The Riverdale Press, dated Sept. 13, 2001, because his son worked two blocks from the World Trade Center. 

It wasn’t until that evening that he learned his then 47-year old son had survived. He had a doctor’s appointment and arrived downtown just as the second plane hit.

Mr. Barett said he was not sure how he felt about bin Laden’s death.

“I don’t know if that’s good news or bad news, really. How do you put that in place? I just don’t know,” he said,  “It was great we caught up with him but we should have done it 10 years ago.”

The veteran said he was unsure about bin Laden’s body being immediately buried at sea, in accordance with Muslim tradition.

“What turned me off, of course, was the burial at sea, I’m very questionable about that,” he said.

After news of bin Laden’s death, many Americans fear retaliation from Al Qaeda members still loyal to bin Laden.

“It’s still not safe, but it’s good to know we don’t have to worry about him,” said a transit police sergeant who works in the area and preferred not to be named.

Rep. Eliot Engel was on a plane coming back from Israel on Sunday night when the news of bin Laden’s death broke. He said the pilot made an announcement and the plane broke out with “a tremendous applause.”

Mr. Engel said he was relieved to hear the news.

“There’s a sense of he got what he deserves. It’s been frustrating. It took nine-and-a-half years to get him so in a way this is sort of like closing a chapter, but on the other hand knowing full well you can never replace the 3,000 people who were murdered that day,” he said.

Riverdale was quiet on Sunday night when the news broke, but thousands of New Yorkers — including some from Riverdale, according to The New York Times — gathered at Ground Zero to honor the victims of the attacks and to cheer bin Laden’s death.

Chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A.” echoed through the streets surrounding Ground Zero, as well as the enduring verses of the “Star Spangled Banner.” 

People there said they received justice for the mass slaughtering that occurred on those same streets and the dust that covered those same buildings. 

Reporting contributed by Graham Kates and Jordan Carroll.