New York, NY —
Anchor:Flip the page on your calendars, everyone. It's March first. WNYC's Brian Lehrer says for better or worse, the month just ended is one you'll never forget.
Brian:
To begin with the obvious:
The month began on Saturday the first with the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Welcome to February.
On Wednesday the fifth, Colin Powell delivered his riveting brief against Iraq to the UN Security Council. The world heard tapes of one Iraqi official telling another to stop using the words nerve agent.
Two days later, on Friday the seventh, the Department of Homeland Security issued that Orange Alert, fraying nerves, setting off a run on duct tape, and eventually bringing ridicule on itself. The real danger turned out to be from nightclub fires.
The following Friday, Valentine's Day, brought us the Hans Blix report, and a round of applause in the UN Chambers for the French Foreign Minister's anti-war address. Stately Ambassadors found themselves scolded, and reminded of the rules: no clapping in the Security Council.
The next day, Saturday, Feb. 15th, saw the biggest global anti-war rally in human history. Even President Bush and Tony Blair seemed taken aback. But New Yorkers will remember it as the march that wasn't, as the mayor allowed only a rally, then penned in thousands blocks away.
The very NEXT day, Sunday the 16th, was the blizzard of 03 - one of the biggest snowfalls in New York history. Past blizzards were memorable as burdens. This one came as a relief for taking terrorism jitters and the war debate off center stage.
Friday February 21st should have been a day when hope was springing eternal at the Dodgers spring training camp in Vero Beach Florida. Instead it was the day we learned that Sandy Koufax had severed ties with his team of 40 years. Rupert Murdoch owns the Dodgers - and the New York Post, which had reported in a gossip column that Koufax might be gay. Ah, synergy.
As the month drew to a close and the conflict over war dragged on, Thursday the 27th capped a more hopeful debate: Daniel Libeskind, a son of Holocaust survivors and the Bronx High School of Science, was named the architect for the World Trade Center site. The city celebrated its inspiring new artist in residence. His clothes and glasses suggest that black is the new black.
And if we said hello to a new household name on Thursday, we said goodbye to an old one last night, at month's end. Number 33 - the jersey of Patrick Ewing -- was retired at Madison Square Garden. Fittingly for these anxious times, the Knicks honored the greatest player who never quite led them to a championship.
How does the month stack up historically? Well, maybe it doesn't quite compare to July 1863 with the Battle of Gettysburg and the New York City Draft Riots, or April 1968 with the Columbia anti-war riots and the assassination of Martin Luther King, or August 1945 with history's only two nuclear attacks, and the end of World War II. But it was a month we'll always remember.
Now: who thinks March will go out like a lamb?