NYC jubilant on news of bin Laden death

New York City was swept up in a wave of relief and jubilation late last night and into this morning at news of the death of Osama bin Laden.

In Times Square, fire trucks and firefighters drew cheers and applause. Visitors and residents waved American flags. Patriotic songs and chants erupted spontaneously.

Cheering and applause erupted once again when a firetruck emblazoned with the names of rescuers killed in the terrorist attacks passed, lights and sirens blaring.

"Thank God, is all I have to say," said Lizzy Miller, a businesswoman from Knoxville, Tenn. "Got him! It's been a long time coming."

The celebration wasn't confined to New York City. In Washington, where just hours earlier, President Barack Obama announced the terrorist leader's death, thousands made their way from the Mall toward the White House at 1 a.m. Monday, some of them climbing trees, chanting "God Bless America" and singing the national anthem. They joyously waved flags.

In Manhattan, a fire truck from Ladder 4 on 48th Street and Eighth Avenue arrived with lights blazing and parked between 48th Street and 7th Avenue. "The Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" erupted in the crowd as people snapped pictures and saluted the firefighters.

Firefighter Patrice McLeod, 36, took pictures with tourists and New Yorkers alike.

"Ten years and now we got him!" McLeod said.

Tony Balcan, an NYPD Officer from Dix Hills, said: "For a lot of policemen and a lot of firemen, justice has been served."

"I am at a loss for words," said Rick Stassi, an FDNY fireman from Stony Brook.

But not everyone was pleased by the scene.

David Yedid, 24, a Fordham law student, said he was happy bin Laden was dead and that it was a good day for the country.

But he said he saw parallels between the celebration in Times Square and the unseemly demonstrations that some in the Arab world had after America was attacked a decade ago.

Watching people cheer and hoot and holler, Yedid said: "This brings us to their level. I thought we could do it in a more honorable way."

Ground Zero became a veritable street party. Some climbed lampposts, others lit cigars. Chants of "N-Y-C! N-Y-C!" went up. One sign read: Osama 0, Obama 1.

Thomas Dowd-Warren, 28, was at a bar in TriBeCa when he got the news, bought a bottle of Champagne and headed to Ground Zero.

"This is the end of the face of evil," he said.

With Sophia Chang and Matthew Chayes