New York Reflects On Osama Death

New Yorkers have spent nearly 10 years getting used to living under the shadow of terrorism.

Following the killing of Osama bin Laden by US special forces, they have taken the prospect of an increased threat with a trademark shrug of the shoulders.

New York's police chief has ordered more officers on the streets, the subway has stepped up bag checks and people have been warned to stay vigilant.

Intelligence officials fear the death of the al Qaeda leader might provoke a 'lone wolf' sympathiser - like the Times Square attempted bomber Faizal Shahzad - into an act of retaliation.

He was thwarted by a member of the public - a street vendor who followed the 'See Something, Say Something' advice to the letter - and that defiance in the face of those who wish to do America harm is very evident at the moment.

Close to Ground Zero, Andrew Del Re queued for his cup of 'morning joe', dressed in a New York Yankees baseball cap and jacket.

He said: "Of course I think about the risks but what are you going to do?

"You've got to live, you've got to pay the bills, you can't worry too much."

Across the street, Eric Jones has nipped outside an office building for a smoke: "Do I look worried? Does anybody look worried?

"If it is going to happen, it is going to happen, me staying inside with the doors locked isn't going to change that."

And native New Yorker Leo White said: "I am sure some people are thinking about it but you do that you end up paranoid."

The death of bin Laden has removed one poignant reminder for the people of New York.

Every day since 9/11, Cheryl Stewart has updated a sign outside her home, registering another day passed without bin Laden being found. At nine years, 232 days, she could take her sign down.

The New York Times produced a special supplement on 'The Death of bin Laden' with the front page headline 'A Mood of Triumph and Sober Reflection'.

:: Click here to see how newspapers across the world reported bin Laden's death

It quotes a former worker at the Ground Zero site who now relies on a respirator to breathe: of bin Laden, he said: "I'm glad he died before me."

The workmen collecting their lunch bags in a deli just yards from the construction entrance at Ground Zero talk of nothing but the death of bin Laden.

One joked that there could be extra over-time now that the world's eyes were on their building site.

One of them, John Jennings, said: "It doesn't worry me and I don't think it worries any of us. We learned a lot about just getting on with our lives. We look out for each other."

On Thursday, President Obama will visit Ground Zero and meet families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

New York Senator Chuck Schumer said America should look to historical wars for signs of the significance of bin Laden's death: "The war on terror is not over but maybe this was the Saratoga or the Gettysburg where things turned."