Like thousands of New Yorkers who live downtown, filmmaker Beverly Peterson witnessed close-up the horrific events of 9/11. Her first instinct was to grab her video camera in order to bear witness to the tragedy unfolding. Filming became a way of surviving the following months as she documented what was happening to her community.
Beverly and her husband were forced to evacuate their apartment on West Broadway for several weeks. Then the hard work of cleaning up began. Some businesses in the neighborhood had been forced to close, others limped along, helping each other survive. Many were owned by recent immigrants to N.Y.C. who are featured in the film. The community was forced to organize to demand financial assistance from the government for the cleaning and rehabilitation of individual residences and businesses. They are still rebuilding their lives thanks to their strenuous efforts to help themselves and each other. 20 Minutes ©2002
Educational Distributor: Filmakers Library
"'Take One' [WNET PBS} boasts the true gems in this collection. It begins with the longest and strongest piece, Beverly Peterson's '71 West Broadway, Ground Zero, NY' That's her home address, and the film recounts what happened to her place and her friends and neighbors as everyday life stoppeed, then struggled to resume." - NY DAILY NEWS, David Bianculli, 6/7/02"
The highlight of [the Sundance Channel] by far is the first-person short titled "71 West Broadway, Ground Zero, NY" by Beverly Peterson who lives just two blocks from the attack site..." - TIMES PICAYUNE PUBLISHING, Dave Walker 9/08/02
" … this poignant documentary …gives a valuable record of how the attacks on the World Trade Center affected Lower Manhattan and its inhabitants." School Library Journal
**Screenings: 2002 Library of Congress 9/11 Commemoration, Walker Art Museum, The Warhol Museum, The Kitchen, Wisconsin Int'l Film Festival/ Broadcast: Sundance Channel, PBS (WNET) "REEL NY"**
