September 11, 2007

Commuters to NYC stay on the alert

Author: Christine Pizzuti

Six years after being stalled on the subway during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks, Jeff VanCoughnett carries a mini flashlight every day. He also packs water and energy bars and keeps a change of clothes at his office in Manhattan.

The attacks left many in Manhattan stranded, without vital items often taken for granted.

It's not just Sept. 11 that drives these precautions, VanCoughnett said. A steam pipe explosion in July closed multiple subway entrances near Grand Central Terminal and killed one person, and the massive blackout of 2003 crippled transportation and standed commuters.

"I take a lot of subways, and I don't want to get caught under ground in the dark," the father of three said.

VanCoughnett, a LaGrange resident who works in sales at Network Appliance Data Storage, is one of the 5,700 Dutchess County residents who commute by car or train to New York City and have, in recent years, prepared themselves for their rides into the city.

In a post-Sept. 11 world, commuters employ different techniques to prepare for possible emergencies, as well as deal with the stress of commuting to a potential terrorist target. Some, like VanCoughnett, carry supplies. Others remain vigilant of possible dangers, alerting police. And for some, the stress of living or working in potential danger was too much and leaving the city was the best solution.

City of Poughkeepsie resident Heather Hayles said she always reports something if it looks suspicious, especially unattended packages.

"Everything I see, I bring it to their attention," said the legal assistant who commutes on Metro-North Railroad.

Her friend, Tivoli resident Bettina Cody, said passengers on the trains are more alert about packages being left.

"I definitely feel safe riding the train," Cody said. "I think people are looking at everything more now."

Efforts to secure public transportation also have been noticed and provide some comfort.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been gradually fine-tuning a security program the company started in the spring, called Operation Directed Patrol, which aims to increase police presence on its trains.

MTA and New York City police along with local law enforcement officials and the Transportation Security Administration have practices in place to offer safety and comfort to train passengers.

"We did an assessment of our security program, sort of loosely connected to what happened in London and Madrid, so we're always keeping a close eye on things, and we thought we had some new ideas that were even better for securing the system," MTA press secretary Jeremy Soffin said.

The 2004 Madrid train bombings killed 191 people, and the 2005 bombings across London's transport network killed 52.

"One of the complaints we had early in the year is you never saw police on the trains, and now we often hear people see the officers doing walk-on patrols," Soffin said. "People see the K-9 units as well with some frequency."

The police are in uniform, but the system is random. There is no set schedule available to the public when and where a police officer will be present.

"This is just something that compliments our broader security program, which includes the 'See Something, Say Something' campaign," he said. The campaign encourages commuters, such as Hayles and Cody, to report suspicious activity.

VanCoughnett said he feels safe riding on MTA lines.

"The MTA has an e-mail alert notice, so when there's something like a delay of service, I get e-mails on my Blackberry," he said.

Escaping the city

While some have armed themselves with plans for commuting, others have opted to leave the city, seeking more secure pastures, such as in Dutchess County.

According to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the county's population has grown by about 15,000 since 2000, bringing the population to 295,146 people in 2006.

Victor Zelek, a neuropsychologist in Rhinebeck, is one of those who left New York City for Dutchess County.

"There was a lot of anxiety and panic," Zelek said of the general atmosphere after the 9/11 attacks. "I know some people were reluctant to go to New York and some have made changes and adjustments in their life, including myself. I lived in New York during 9/11 and I chose to get out."

He hasn't dealt with many people in a professional capacity whose mental well-being was affected by Sept. 11, though he's found through personal contact the attacks developed an ever-present anxiety among some.

"I think a lot of people adjusted their lives so that they would have to go less to New York City or not to go maybe altogether," he said.

Following 9/11, he gradually phased out his Manhattan practice over about two years.

"And definitely one of the considerations was that whenever I go to New York, even though I loved the city, there's this anxiety in my mind that you're on an island with a big bull's eye target painted on it," he said. "I think it made a lot of people more nervous and more conscious about it."

About five years ago, he knew people who could have been considered "overly anxious," which he said is a very normal reaction to an abnormal situation. But people's memories are short, and with time comes desensitization.

Fewer and fewer people are complaining of anxiety on the subways, and those who do often suffered anxiety symptoms and panic attacks prior to Sept. 11, said Jayme Albin, a therapist with Behavioral Associates in Manhattan.

Fear of being stuck

Most of the anxiety doesn't stem from thoughts of terrorism, though it is a factor, she said. The biggest fear is one of somehow being stuck on the subway, or rather, stuck in a situation they can't escape from. The thought of violent terrorist attacks only fortifies the already present anxiety.

"Immediately after 9/11, if you got caught on the subway, the first response, the first thought would be, 'Is there something wrong here, are we suffering a terrorist attack'," Albin said. "There's people that come in with a history of anxiety or panic attacks, and there are people that suffered their first panic attack on the subway."

One of the symptoms of anxiety is a dry mouth, she said. So it makes sense for somebody to bring a water bottle on the subway to sort of quell the disturbance. She said one patient brings a lavender-scented pillow, since lavender is said to be calming.

At Behavioral Associates, therapists advise against the "crutches," in order to show patients the anxiety doesn't need to be validated by taking it to that next step, which would be turning to the pillow or the water.

But fear doesn't seem to be stopping people from commuting each day to New York.

In fall 2001, there were 1,462 people commuting daily from the Poughkeepsie Train Station, according to Metro-North daily ridership figures. The next year, there were 1,537. A year ago this fall, 1,676 were commuting daily on Metro-North trains from the Poughkeepsie.

VanCoughnett brings his items for precautionary purposes and convenience, as a result of personal experiences.

"I leave sneakers and jeans and a T-shirt under my desk in case we have to walk, instead of wearing a suit. My sister lives in Brooklyn, and during the blackout I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge," he said. "So, based on that, going a couple of days with no power, I got a different battery charger for the cell phone because the cell phones died."

On Sept. 11, VanCoughnett's experience on the subway wasn't nerve-racikng until he heard the news later.

"I was heading to a meeting and it was basically right at 8:30 or 9 o'clock," he said. "We were stuck for a little bit on a shuttle from 42nd to 28th Street, and we didn't know why it was stuck until we got back upstairs and found a plane had hit the tower."