Poll: Less worry about terror attacks

New York City residents are less concerned about a terrorist attack than at any time since the destruction of the World Trade Center almost 10 years ago, according to a new NY1-Marist poll.

The survey released Thursday showed 34 percent are "not too worried" and 17 percent are "not worried at all." While 49 percent expressed concern, it found 17 percent are "very worried" and 32 percent are "worried."

As the Sept. 11 anniversary nears, "many New Yorkers remain on guard concerning another terrorist attack; others think the threat has passed," Lee M. Miringoff, director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, said in a release Thursday. "There has also been significant healing in the city. A majority of New Yorkers say their lives have returned to normal."

In the NY1-Marist poll in May after the death of Osama bin Laden, 51 percent expressed concern while nearly three in 10 -- 29 percent -- weren't too worried, and 17 percent said they weren't anxious. A September 2004 poll showed 22 percent were "very worried," 33 percent were "worried," 31 percent were "not too worried" and 14 percent were "not worried at all."

Despite the failed car bombing in Times Square 15 months ago, the poll showed Manhattan residents today to be the least concerned about another terrorist attack, at 45 percent. Bronx residents were the most concerned, at 60 percent. Forty-nine percent were concerned in Queens and Staten Island, and 47 percent in Brooklyn.

Women were more concerned than men, and older people were more concerned than younger ones, the poll showed.

In the second part of the poll, 53 percent of adults in New York City say their lives have returned to normal since the terror attacks nearly 10 years ago. Eleven percent expect their lives to eventually return to normal, while 36 percent say their lives will never be the same.

In September 2004, only 24 percent reported their lives had returned to normal; 17 percent thought they would eventually recover, and nearly six in 10 -- 59 percent -- said their lives would never be the same. The poll was a survey of 808 adults conducted in late July by telephone.