Etan

[VapidLapid]

I live three buildings away from where they are digging looking for Etan Patz. He went missing a month after I moved to NYC at 18. There was an art gallery thing in that basement for decades, the leslie lohman gay art foundation. I went to an exhibit there once in 1992, in that basement. It was awful, but there was an incredibly creepy feeling about the place, low, cramped, dark, divided into many twisting and awkward tiny spaces; I had to leave because it creeped me out so much. The stairway is open in the sidewalk, no doors, just steep stairs down. I always try to avoid walking on that side of the street, but my dog likes to pee there. My block is closed, the police and fbi are set up practically in the middle of the intersection. These pics are just from my iphone, one looking north at the building, the other south. The smokey blue grey building in the distance is the world trade center tower being constructed. It was a beautiful day just like this one when the wtc came down. Thinking about that made me realize that Etan has been missing for longer now than the original wtc stood. I hope they solve this finally.

 

[Maisie]

I had to google him as i'm not familiar with the case. I really hope they find him so his family can have proper closure. Just lately this world is making me sick. So many bad things happen

 

[iLander]

Keep us updated, VL. They said it could be 5 days of investigation.

This is such a sad story. But I wonder about letting a six-year-old boy walk to school, down near Prince Street, in 1979. Or at any time, actually. Soho wasn't as gentrified back then, it was still pretty spotty and industrial, if I remember right. Prince is all shopping and tourists now, it's a huge change.

It reminds me of the horrible story of the Hasidic child that tried to walk to school in Brooklyn, just recently. Another horrible ending. I hope no one ever tells the family the whole story.

I think people become so oblivious when they are in New York. I think they forget that there's millions of pairs of eyes, it's not just buildings around you, it's people. A lot of people, not all of them benign. It's a lot safer than it was, but after sunset, I'm never south of 57th St, or north of 81st.

 

[VapidLapid]

Today they brought in a bunch of dumpsters. Looks like they are going to fill them with everything they dig up and bring it to a lab to sift through.

 

[Laila619]

I was just reading about this today. I hope they find him so the parents can have some sort of closure. It's just so sad, every parent's worst nightmare. Seems like you can't even let your kids walk to the bus stop alone.

 

[luv2sparkle]

So sad.

 

[baby nurse]

I have a little boy who just turned six and can't believe what a nightmare this story is. I hope they solve it. Please do keep us updated, VL.

 

[iLander]

Oh, it's on Wooster. Wooster and what?

The topics today have been so depressing . . .

 

[Christina...]

This is so very sad, and to think that his parent still live blocks from this building and have passed it any number of times while searching for Etan, and to think that this poor child may have laid here for so many years waiting to be discovered and returned to his parents for a proper burial is just too much to bear. I hope that the ending to this story comes when little Etan is recovered and his parents can finally have the closure that they have waited for for so very long.

I also just wanted to acknowledge all the work that Etans parents have done to improve how missing children cases are handled today and how agencies now work together with the common goal of bringing all missing and exploited children home safely to their families.

 

[beebrisk]

Wow...I'm a NY'er too and remember this well.

I knew there was some buzz about that space but I've been so busy, I haven't been paying attention to the news. I had no idea how extensive this investigation was! It's shocking!! (Do you remember when that corner space was a grimy, but charming restaurant called "Food"? It was back when starving artists could actually afford to live in Soho.)

Such a sad story and so rare at the time to hear about a child abducted and gone missing. Even sadder now that it's so commonplace

 

[JewelFreak]

It's the photos of that boy that make me crinkle all up for the parents. How could you live through losing an adorable little guy like that? Big sweet eyes & that irresistable childhood face with such soft baby skin. He looked special. Some people are given such unbearable tragedy.

--- Laurie

 

[missy]

So sad. I remember the case quite vividly.
Such a tragedy.

 

[CaprineSun]

Wow.
It breaks my heart when children never get to see their true destiny. They have so much to live for and parents who live for them. Truly heartbreaking. Why must they suffer?
Poor Etan.

 

[innerkitten]

It is so sad that they didn't find anything major. The poor family.

 

[VapidLapid]

Terrible. I saw his mother on the street the other day. How she got out of the building without being mobbed by the reporters I dont know.
Also terrible, they left a few pieces of concrete(bigger than a brick, smaller than a cinderblock) in the gutter right in front.