“I was watching TV and I didn’t believe it,” Sue Madonia said, recalling how she first learned about the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
She sat there dazed, in a state of shock. Having grown up in Garden City, “a stock broker town,” she knew several people who died in the Twin Towers that day, including her best friend’s husband. Other friends in the city witnessed the destruction first hand. She didn’t let the attack trip her up. The next day, she flew to Argentina, as planned. “I was the only one on the plane,” she said. She has a home in Southampton, where she runs Ann Madonia Antiques with her mother, as well as Manhattan.
Though several friends decided to move out of the city after 9/11, she remains, refusing to let 9/11 to keep her away. “I’m a true New Yorker. I got back out. I love the city, and try to be strong and carry on,” she said, though she admitted, “Subconsciously, you do carry it with you.”
She has paid her respects at Ground Zero, tying ribbons to the fence surrounding it. She said the emptiness of the monument is very effective.
