I am a native New Yorker who transplanted to LA in '91. Of course, my symptoms started in '73 or '74.

I flew to New York a week after 9/11 to be with my mom. I think I got to the city on 9/18 or 9/19, and was warned by my buddy on the upper East side not to go below Canal street. But I had friends in Tribeca who lived just inside the zone, and there was no way I wasn't gonna see them.

I remember ducking under the yellow tape just after the curfew to get in and visit them on 9/21/01... the cops just kind of looked the other way, it was pretty obvious I wasn't a disaster tourist or something. I know the date because after I saw my friend and his wife and kids, my friend and I went to Puffy's tavern, where we watched Mike Piazza's eighth inning home run to defeat the Atlanta Braves; everyone went completely nuts. That was one hell of a night.

So I didn't live through it, but I was there for part of the aftermath. And yes, I remember the smell. My mother always suspected the exposure to pesticides played a role in my MCTD, but to my knowledge there is not any conclusive proof of this. Also, it's interesting that three out of five people in the "C" line of our apartment in New York on the upper East Side, where I lived full time for 18 years and off and on for half a century, developed Parkinsons. We always wondered if being next to the incinerator had something to do with it.

Exposure to chemicals or something burning might play a role, and I've always wondered b/c Livin Right works with chemicals.

There's just no way to be sure, no way to know. My best guess is genetic predisposition plus some kind of an environmental insult, which probably could be one of many things. Wish I had more answers.

I grew up in NYC but was living in Fla in 2001. As for pesticides... Cat, do you remember the mosquito trucks? I don't know if they did this all over, but on SI they come down the street blasting out a cloud of DDT that left the neighborhood looking like we were under a heavy fog. I don't know if it has anything to do with AI issues, but it CAN'T have been good for us. :-(

I remember the bug trucks too when I was a kid... I did some research and founf that silica exposure is a big one for us.. Yall should look up silica and see what all this chemical is in very scary.
glass, windows, drinking glasses, etc....

I never been to NY....but here in AZ when you guys were talking about mosquitos they spray here for a few years....and they would tell us when and where so you could cover up your cars etc. I was inside the house...but always kind of wonder what they use for spraying?

I watch it all on tv what happen on 9/11 in NY, it was hard for us all ....but living there must been 3x's worse to live thur it. sorry for you all and everything still going on...such as the illnesses etc.

big hugs

I never lived in NY, I grew up in a small town and then lived in Pittsburgh during and after college. I also worked for printing companies and was exposed to all kinds of chemicals (solvents and inks). I have no idea if that is what kicked it off for me or not. In PA, I don't recall them spraying for mosquitos, but they use to fly over spraying pesticides on the corn and other crops.
-Kate

Thanks you all! I just thought it was interesting theory my friend posed. It never even occurred to me that the chemicals might have had some sort of impact. My friend said that every time he spoke with me on the phone from Colorado, I complained about the smell in our apartment and at work. (I feel bad, but I dont remember these phone calls. Ill give myself a break because there was a lot going on. My husband and I married 2 months before, so we were newlyweds trying to cope with a terrorist attack. Having said that, we always acknowledge that we were/are lucky and nothing is worse than losing a loved one).

I remember big trucks in the 70s sparing chemicals on our laws.