Hundreds assemble at Ground Zero

NEW YORK, May 2 (UPI) -- Late New York City sleepers rushed to Ground Zero Monday morning to celebrate the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Champagne bottles popped among the large crowd at the site where the majestic Twin Towers once stood before being brought down by jetliners commandeered by al-Qaida militants.

Some at the site put up an American flag on a lamp post, The (New Jersey) Star-Ledger reported.

The newspaper said by 1 a.m., there were about 1,000 joyous people at the intersection of Church and Vescey streets, singing the national anthem and offering the pledge of allegiance.

"It's been 10 years. It's been an open wound," said 62-year-old Brooklyn resident Norm Barber. "You don't forget. There's a time for justice and tonight was it."

U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement confirming bin Laden's killing caused Shiela and Scott Porter to rush out of their apartment to join the celebrations at the Ground Zero.

Carmel Deamicis, 23, of New York City placed a bouquet of purple flowers outside site, while saying: "I feel like what happened on 9/11 defined our generation," the newspaper reported.