They are watching Philippe Petit walk a tightrope between the World Trade Center towers in 1974.

Posted by: Marc Ramsey on September 12, 2002 07:51 PM

 

The internet is amazing. It is so cool that someone knew the answer to my questions. I posted this only about 15 minutes ago.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on September 12, 2002 07:57 PM

 

Forgive me if I'm missing the joke, but according to their website, the first Starbucks opened in NYC in 1994. This would make Marc's answer impossible.

Posted by: Matt on September 12, 2002 09:54 PM

 

Highly unlikely, John. There hasn't been a Starbucks at that corner that long. (There weren't any Starbucks in NYC when I moved here in 1982, and I don't think we had any before 1992 - - I saw my first Starbucks on a visit to Chicago as the Winter Olympics were on, and I think it was the '92 ones in Albertville.) The *clothing* is not 1974, either.

These people are on Park Row, a couple blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge (where I was by 9:59 on 9/11/01). New York's City Hall is in the background (the picture is facing north).

These people are looking at the WTC, alright, but it's probably Sept 11 2001. Strong hunch.

Posted by: Frank on September 12, 2002 09:58 PM

 

Matt, thanks for the confirmation (I was typing while you posted).

Posted by: Frank on September 12, 2002 10:01 PM

 

I saw this photo on a TV retrospective about 9-1-1. It was presented as people reacting to the plane crashes.

Posted by: Jack on September 12, 2002 10:07 PM

 

For a map... The Starbucks is where the star is, and I guess the camera is really looking ENE. The WTC is at 9 o'clock, and the famous St. Paul's Chapel is at Broadway and Vesey, SW corner.

Posted by: Frank on September 12, 2002 10:17 PM

 

Ooops, the Starbucks is one or two blocks further up Park Row, maybe at Beekman and Park Row.

Posted by: Frank on September 12, 2002 10:19 PM

 

Hmmm....I guess I'm feeling like an idiot right about now.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on September 12, 2002 11:23 PM

 

They're watching MadMan battle Godzilla... and MadMan's beating the pants off the ugly lizard.

Posted by: MadMan on September 13, 2002 01:09 AM

 

I'm the one who should feel like an idiot. I assumed it was a trick question...

Posted by: Marc Ramsey on September 13, 2002 01:36 AM

 

Well, to take a clue from the name of the picture - "aghast" - I'd have to agree about the looks being for the WTC crash. It's just kind of weird, because it looks so posed. I guess this might be a later reaction shot, after the crowd formed to watch what was going on. The strange thing is, some of the people don't look frightened - they just look amazed. That's the interesting thing about trauma. Some people laugh in response to shock. These people look like they are in shock.

Posted by: Lydia on September 13, 2002 05:55 PM

 

I thought it was an out-take from the Godzilla movie they shot a couple of years back.

Posted by: JB on September 13, 2002 07:18 PM

 

Lydia: I would say that people on the gorund by and large were not frightened (I was meandering to the Brooklyn Bridge to walk home and hug my kid, to reassure her I was OK). As best I could tell, everyone in the neighborhood felt safe because they were not in the buildings. Police at the borders of the cordoned area were trying to tell people to go home, but with little or no result. Most wanted to see the spectacle. It wasn't until the buildings started to fall and the dust cloud roared down the blocks that people imagined there was any danger. Though there were some, of course, who cried out in anguish over the fates of the people they presumed were still in the towers. But I'd say that at least as late as 9:45 everyone on the street was complacent over their own fates.

Posted by: Frank on September 15, 2002 09:06 PM

 

Good point, Frank.

Posted by: Lydia on September 16, 2002 04:20 PM