The Aspen antidote

I rode under Times Square in a subway car the night of the failed car bombing, happily oblivious to the surreal scene of empty streets at “the Crossroads of the World.” The subway trains, at least on the 1 Line, were not hindered by the police activity taking place on the surface.

So I didn’t learn about the non-bombing until the next morning when I read about it in the local papers. Slightly cynical Aspenite that I still am, one of my first thoughts was “This ought to be good for the price of Aspen real estate.”

After being in New York for two months, it is easy to appreciate the role Aspen plays for New Yorkers who vacation in Aspen or own property there. It is truly a place of peace to ponder amidst the daily chaos and noise and ruckus that is the city. And it easy to imagine that Sunday's close brush with explosive carnage was enough to spur those wondering if was now time to move to Aspen altogether and leave the city behind.

This week, there are more police visible in the subway stations, just as there were the first few days after the subway bombings in Moscow. New York’s finest stand, and watch, but who knows how effective they will be against a determined suicide bomber who manages to slip onto a train looking calm and collected.

And yet the city lurches forward each day, carrying on, reveling in its din. Meanwhile, I understand it is relatively quiet, and safe, in Aspen today…