Fortunately, it was Veterans Day.

The schools were closed Nov. 12 when an airliner out of Kennedy Airport plunged into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Rockaway, Queens.

When she heard of the crash, school nurse Pat Lind rushed to her building at PS 114, about four blocks from the point of impact. The school was set up as a triage center. While none of the 260 people on board survived (most of them were of Dominican descent, headed for Santo Domingo), Lind and others were able to treat some fire and rescue workers.

Residents burst into action.

"People from the neighborhood just showed up," Lind said. "They came to the door with carriages and wagons filled with blankets, cartons of orange juice, anything you could want or need."

She is a member of the Federation of Nurses/United Federation of Teachers. The UFT is the New York State United Teachers affiliate for teachers, School-Related Personnel and nurses in New York City.

Local stores donated face masks for emergency workers, bottled water and provisions.

"They just said, 'Take whatever you need,'" Lind said.

Nurses from other neighborhoods in Queens and nearby Brooklyn showed up, ready to do what was needed, Lind said. Margaret Lewis, an FN/UFT nurse from PS 225, reported to a Roman Catholic school that was used as a morgue and triage center.

"These communities came together and did a wonderful job," said B.J. Darby, FN/UFT chapter leader for Board of Education nurses and therapists, and a resident of Breezy Point, next to Belle Harbor.

Children in PS 114 were scared, but spared. "We have some kids in our school who lost their homes, but none have lost their lives or loved ones," Lind said.

Still, officials estimate up to 400 public school students were affected by the crash, including children who died or who lost parents, other relatives or friends.

The Board of Education reported three Bronx students died on the flight, and an estimated 20 students from Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx, as well as six school staffers, lost loved ones.

Home to many city firefighters and police officers, Rockaway neighborhoods suffered tremendous losses in the World Trade Center tragedy. On its heels, this accident compounded the trauma.

Counseling

Stephen Bronster, a psychologist and member of the NYSUT-affiliated New York State Psychological Association, responded to the crash site and worked in a mental health center set up at PS 114. Most people he counseled there were neighborhood residents who had to be evacuated from their homes.

"It's certainly a very close-knit community," he said. "There were so many people down there, uniformed and civilian, giving whatever they had to give."

PS 114 has been providing grief counseling for kids and parents during school hours and afterward until 7 p.m. Other public schools in the affected area have been provided with extra counselors, as well.

"We've had a lot of people come in, much more than after the World Trade Center, which surprised us at first," Lind said. But with tragedy coming right into the neighborhood two months after the attack, it makes sense.

"At first, I think everybody thought, 'Oh, my God, not again,'" Lind said. "But now, knowing that it was an accident somehow takes some of the pressure off. You have a feeling that you're still safe. But some kids are scared every time a plane comes over."

The September disaster may have precipitated the sense of community in Belle Harbor on Nov. 12.

"There's been such a spirit of coming together" since Sept. 11, Lind said. "We couldn't be this united if we tried, but maybe that's one good thing that came out of all this. They can't defeat us this way."

- Ned R. Hoskin

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