Sidewalks become expressions of grief for Heath Ledger
Photo credit: AP Photo | In this film publicity image released by Poopoo Pictures, Heath Ledger is shown in a scene from "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."
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In New York, even the most famous celebrities can live in relative anonymity, absorbed by a city that doesn't stop in its tracks at their every public move.
But that shield of privacy vanishes in the face of a celebrity's death, when New York becomes a stage for very public rituals of mourning. It's happened many times before, famously after the murder of John Lennon in 1980 and the accidental death of John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1999, and each time, sidewalks and stoops become tableaus for a city's collective grief.
The phenomenon is playing out again in the aftermath of Heath Ledger's shocking death at age 28.
The memorial outside 421 Broome St., where Ledger was found dead on Tuesday afternoon, included donated flowers, candles, cigarettes and some hand-painted signs. That it emerged spontaneously from the city's grief is indicative of that very distinct way New Yorkers mourn the passing of the famous (and beloved) who shared city life with them.
"Everyone is so disconnected in this city," said Colette Pycha, 56, a SoHo resident who came to deposit flowers at a large memorial outside Ledger's building yesterday. "But when something like this happens, I think we can't help but feel some sadness and loss."
A similar, though much smaller memorial was set up outside the Boerum Hill house on Hoyt Street, that Ledger shared with his then-girlfriend Michelle Williams.
A note placed outside the door and signed by "The Vega Family" read, "You were an amazing actor as well as a wonderful father. We love you!"Others expressed regret that they could not take part in the ritual of a memorial.
"Everybody should respect the dead," said Carmine Riviera, 76, a Hoyt Street neighbor. "I'm so sorry I don't have any money for flowers with me today."Events like the death of Ledger are unmistakable reminders of what lies beneath the hardscrabble veneer of many New Yorkers.
"We are very comfortable in New York with public displays of emotion," pointed out Richard Shadick, director of the counseling center at Pace University. "Not just sadness, but also irritation, anger, or support, or happiness. We are more open than is often acknowledged."
David Freedlander contributed to this story
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