In Display of Solidarity, Obama Lays Wreath At Ground Zero

Carroll Gardens Patch

President joins first responders, politicians in silent ceremony in Lower Manhattan

By Paul Leonard, Matthew Hampton, and Georgia Kral | May 5, 2011

President Barack Obama made a visit to the city Thursday afternoon, a gesture of shared mourning and solidarity with New Yorkers whose lives were forever altered on Sept. 11, 2001.

"He's for real," said Peace Pinella, a lifelong resident of Columbia Street. "Of course he should go down there and honor them."

Osama bin Laden's death brought unexpected closure to many New Yorkers this week, though many also expressed cautious optimism at the news.

Pinella said that while he was relieved bin Laden had been killed, he didn't think anything was going to change.

"I doubt it'll make us safer," he said. "If something is gonna happen, it's gonna happen."

Before laying a wreath at the World Trade Center site, Obama joined firefighters and former mayor Rudy Giuliani at Engine 54 firehouse in Midtown, which lost 15 members in the attacks. 

While there, NY1 cameras caught the president making some off-the-cuff remarks.

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