NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- In an emotional pre-game ceremony, members of the New York City fire, police, port authority and rescue forces along with the victims of the World Trade Center attack were honored on ABC's Monday Night Football.
"It's strange to have our heroes honor us," a New York City firefighter said.
The New York Jets played the San Franciso 49ers in their first home game since the terrorst attack Sept. 11, in a game played in East Rutherford, N.J., 8 miles from where the World Trade Center once stood.
"I've been involved in lot of Monday night games before, but I can't imagine there'll be any one bigger and more emotional than this one," 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci said.
Gov. George Pataki, Giuliani and acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco of New Jersey served as honorary captains along with members of the New York fire and police departments and the New York-New Jersey Port Authority police. Jets coach Herman Edwards presented the game ball from his team's victory over New England last week to Giuliani.
Earlier the mayor attended a memorial service in Central Park for the 700 members of the securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald declared dead or missing. About 1,000 employees worked on floors 101, 103, 104 and 105 of the World Trade Center and no other company lost as many members.
New York City offered $1 billion in bonds for sale Monday to pay for immediate needs as a result of the attack on the World Trade Center, the National Guard will augment security at the state's airports and 100 members of Congress toured "Ground Zero."
"It's the saddest scene in the world," said Rep. Ike Skelton, a Democrat from Missouri, who recalled he had visited New York City with his family for New Year's Eve. "We were at Battery Park and of course you could see the twin towers. It was a wonderful experience, a beautiful sight. Now look at this. Look at this. Sad, sad, sad. Every American ought to be here."
Gov. George Pataki said there were more than 100 members of the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican from Illinois, and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, a Democrat from Missouri.
"For us this is an eye-opening experience. I think all members of Congress should come here to see this to understand that the people who perpetrated this did it not just as a vengeance against people from New York or just to target the World Trade Center, but they did it to take away the liberty and freedom of the American people. We understand that," Hastert said. "We will come back to New York to see this town rise back from the ashes we saw today."
Gephardt thanked the rescue workers for their steadfastness in their work.
"What we have seen this morning is incomprehensible," he said. "We will bring the perpetrators to justice and see to it that it is done and we will work every day to provide the American people with homeland security so that our country will be safe and secure and confident for all the days ahead."
New York City is offering for sale $1 billion in "recovery notes" in wake of the World Trade Center disaster. The New York Transitional Finance Authority said it expects to issue Fiscal Series A notes Tuesday, with a retail order period conducted Monday.
Work sifting through rubble at Ground Zero was made more difficult for the about 1,000 firefighters, police and construction workers because of colder temperatures and rain. The air was difficult to breathe because of the still smoldering fires from the wreckage. Smoke continued to pour from the rubble of the North tower, World Trade Center Building No. 1.
John Yannucci, 40, a construction worker directing traffic at Liberty and West streets, said he wasn't supposed to talk about finding body parts.
"We've been finding a lot of stuff in there" gesturing to the rubble behind majority him," he said. "It's not a happy sight."
"I was in the hole five stories down. There was a lot of heat from the air pockets. They're about 1,000 degrees," he added.
The Rev. Alfred Thompson, a deputy chief of the Fire Department of New York and senior chaplain, who replaced the Rev. Mychal Judge who was killed by falling debris at the scene while giving last rites to a dying victim, said there were a lot of chaplains on the scene and "crisis intervention teams" visited every firehouses with a missing member.
Asked how it was compared to the early days at the site when they were trying to find survivors, Thompson said, "Now, it's actually easier."
First Deputy Mayor Joseph Lhota said 5,219 victims were listed with the police as missing, down about 400, after further cross-checking of duplicate lists -- 344 were listed as dead and 289 were identified.
Lhota said that two schools, P.S. 150 and P.S. 234, are expected to reopen next week. Seven public schools in lower Manhattan were closed as a result of the attack on the World Trade Center.
Borough of Manhattan Community College, located four blocks from the World Trade Center, reopened Monday for the first time since Sept. 11. It was not severely damaged, but the buildings were used by rescue workers to sleep, eat and shower.
Lhota said that with the new restriction to allow cars with at least two people has reduced traffic problems within Manhattan. Bridge traffic into Manhattan is down 12 precent to 75 percent, he said. Ferries began operating again at Battery Park to other boroughs.
Also Monday, Pataki assigned more than 300 New York Army and Air National Guard troops to provide additional security at airports throughout the state Monday while Rudolph Giuliani became the first city mayor to address the United Nations in almost 50 years.
More than half of the National Guard force will be deployed to John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York City, the rest will be deployed to New York's 17 other airports.
"Our National Guard troops will provide a visible and consistent presence at our airports to ensure safety and boost confidence among travelers," Pataki said. "New York remains the financial and cultural capital of the world, offering unparalleled opportunities for business and fun that I encourage all Americans and people from around the world to see for themselves."
Meanwhile, Giuliani urged the United Nations, as it prepared a week-long debate on international terrorism, to fight terrorism together "because you're either a part of civilization or you're not."
The 189-member nations of the United Nations is the first global forum on terrorism since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon which took more than 6,000 lives.
"The terrorists have no ideals with which to combat freedom and democracy," Giuliani told the General Assembly. "So their only defense is to strike out against innocent civilians, destroying human life in massive numbers and hoping to deter all of us from our pursuit and expansion of freedom."
Also Monday the deputy mayor said:
-- 5,219 people are registered as missing by the police
-- 344 declared dead
-- 289 identified dead
-- 4,461 listed as missing by relatives
-- 4,657 registered at the family assistance center
-- 1,082 death certificate requested
-- 151,155 tons tons of material and rubble removed by 10,172 truckloads
-- 70 buildings damaged but stable, repair, cleaning
-- 12 buildings listed with major structural damage
-- 1 building torn down
-- no single occupancy cars, with exceptions, allowed to enter Manhattan below 63rd St.
-- bridge traffic into Manhattan down 12 percent to 75 percent
-- $100 million a week estimate for clean up
-- $40 billion estimate for cost of attack
-- $7 billion estimate to remove WTC rubble
(Reporting by Alex Cukan in Albany, N.Y.)
