At Valley Stream bakery, tears for Chilean miners

Patrons at the San Antonio Bakery in Valley Stream Wednesday were joyful, if sleep-deprived, as they gathered to see the historic moment unfolding in Chile.

Many had been up all night watching as the first of 33 miners were hoisted from 2,000 feet below the earth's surface. And now they gathered at the premises owned by a Chilean native, quietly marveling as one by one, the miraculous rescues continued.

"All the time we were expecting this moment," said Raul Cordejal of Queens, who is Peruvian.

The rescue has been a cathartic, emotional moment for many Chileans, some of whom stopped by the bakery to share their feelings with their community.

"It was very emotional," said Mariela Paredes of Union, N.J., who said she wept when the first miner was rescued.

Sara Ramirez, a Chilean native, was so invested in seeing every minute of the rescue she set her VCR to record the televised live footage before leaving her Inwood home for lunch Wednesday. Sipping a cafe con leche at the bakery, she took a seat facing the flat-screen television broadcasting the footage on the TV Chile channel via satellite.

"This is big - it's like they all have a second chance at life," Ramirez said as a steady stream of Chileans trickled through the eatery for coffee and empanadas.

The seemingly improbable but successful rescue had begun in the wee hours of the morning after the miners had been trapped for 69 days at the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile. A crew began drilling an escape route Sept. 19.

The owner of the bakery and cafe, Ruben Guzman, said he tried to stay open Tuesday night to await the rescue of the first miner, originally scheduled for 8 p.m. in Chile.

"They kept pushing it back," he said, explaining he had to close for the night before the first rescue happened at midnight.

Customer Paola Catalan said she had been riveted to the televised rescue since the beginning. "I started crying. It's very emotional," said Catalan, who lives in Inwood.

She was especially touched by the sight of the first rescued miner hugging his weeping son. "I saw the little kid, and I'm a mom, so . . . " she said, trailing off as her eyes dampened.

By 8:30 Eastern Standard Time Wednesday night, just one of the miners - shift foreman Luis Alberto Urzua, credited with helping the men endure the isolation - had yet to be rescued.

The event had touched all of Latin America, said many of the San Antonio bakery customers, who hailed from countries throughout the region.

"This is a good ending," said Alan Garcia, a native of Peru, and the winning jockey in the 2008 Belmont Stakes, aboard 38-1 long shot Da'Tara.