New Yorkers address bin Laden after tape is revealed

NEW YORK  — One volunteer at a Manhattan eatery that feeds ground zero workers said Thursday that Osama bin Laden’s televised taunts are a morale booster for the nation.

“It’s almost like a pep talk -- to renew the spirit of the American people to continue with their intention of getting him and other terrorists,” said Robert Stanziale, serving water to weary workers as they trudged into Nino’s.

A television screen above the bar kept returning to CNN images of bin Laden saying that he and his supporters were “overjoyed” when the first plane hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

The popular Italian eatery on Canal Street once had a clear view of the twin towers rising into the Manhattan sky. Now, with only a clear sky in place of the trade center, Nino’s has served meals to workers 24 hours a day, for free, as they face a cleanup of the terrorism site that could stretch into spring.

Stanziale said hearing bin Laden’s video tape “renewed our resolve.”

Behind the bar, Lisa Angelastro was wearing a Santa hat as she served soft drinks to workers removing hardhats as they walk in.

“The tape makes it clear that the man is evil,” she said. “It’s proof to our eyes what we’ve been seeing and hearing second-hand through the media and the president. To hear with your own ears and see with your own eyes makes a difference. It makes us trust more what our government is doing.”

Across the river in Brooklyn, one man who lost his daughter in the terrorist attacks is still too grief-stricken to face the perpetrator.

“I’m not interested in Osama bin Laden’s tape. It should be filed away and let the government and the CIA take care of it,” said Anthony Gambale, whose daughter Giovanna Gambale was killed.

Reached by telephone, Gambale said he blamed the media for pressuring the government to release the tape.

“Let everybody rest in peace,” he said. “Let us get on with our lives.”

But many New Yorkers wanted to see the man behind the terror voicing his beliefs.

In Times Square, a crowd of about 100 people gathered under monitors playing the tape outside the Nasdaq building at 43rd Street.

Adam Brewer, 27, an MTV producer, said he’d been curious for days about what the tape contained.

While “the tape could have been conjured up to release hidden messages,” said Brewer, his bigger concern was a report that American-born Taliban fighter John Walker said there would be more attacks -- especially with Ramadan ending and the Christmas season peaking.

And David Castellano, a 27-year-old computer technician standing nearby, simply couldn’t believe that anyone would plan such evil in God’s name.

“I can’t believe they’re actually praising their God for this,” he said.