The Monday morning following the attacks on September 11th we see two officers of the NYPD wearing dust masks to protect themselves from the ambient pollution that pervaded the air in Manhattan weeks after the terrorist devastation at Ground Zero. The two policemen rest on the back of a bench near Wall Street whose financial institutions were so disrupted. Days after the historical events and to help maintain a comforting police presence, the police and National Guard were on every street corner, security being prominent at all nationally symbolic institutions and buildings. As a show of force, it was also a clear deterrent for would-be petty criminals when New Yorkers felt vulnerable to further attack.
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