New York columnist and humorist Fran Lebowitz observes that her hometown feels unrecognizable 25 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Speaking to the German Editorial Network, she stated, “We are a different country. Everything has changed.”
For Lebowitz, the attacks unleashed a fear that persists to this day. She notes the existence of people today who are afraid of a new 9/11, even though they were not alive when the original events took place. “We are now a frightened people,” she commented.
The author is particularly troubled by the expansion of surveillance and security measures in the United States. The 75-year-old recounts how terrified people were, suggesting they didn’t flinch when the government began intruding on every aspect of life, a level of intrusion never seen before. According to her, bookstores were spied upon, phone calls were intercepted, and police searched bags in the subway.
Contrary to the pervasive fear, Lebowitz maintained, “I didn’t feel scared for a single day after 9/11,” she told the RND. “The government’s reaction scared me much more.” She recalls seeing US tanks on the streets of New York following the attacks, which profoundly shocked her. She adds that seeing similar aggressive actions today, exemplified by the enforcement agents of the ICE sent by Trump, is disheartening.
“I was born in 1950 and grew up in a time when we believed, ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ We believed that while nations could intimidate their own citizens, the US would not,” Lebowitz insists. “What the US government is doing, I find much more frightening than what terrorists might do,” the protagonist of Martin Scorsese’s documentary series “Pretend it’s a City” asserts. While acknowledging that the terrorism was horrific, she concludes, “I am not saying terrorists are appealing. It was terrible. But they don’t scare me.”
Lebowitz has lived in New York for 55 years and is currently known for her successful public talk tours.
