A day after eight people were killed by a man who drove a pickup truck into a Manhattan bike path, it's business as usual in New York City.
Though the site of the attack remained taped off and surrounded by police, New Yorkers, who celebrated Halloween on Tuesday night, went to work and school and even got back on their bikes Wednesday.
"Here I am now. I just rode 14.3 miles from my house," Joe Lepore, a 58-year-old New Yorker, told VOA. "I woke up this morning in defiance. I am not going to be terrorized by terror. I am going to be out here living my life," he said, adding that the incident was "tragic" and he still feels "speechless."
Ashlee Smith, a student at the Bourough of Manhattan Community College, said that living in such a big and iconic city, New Yorkers are always alert and aware of possible threats.
"Not that we expect this kind of thing to happen, but we know that we're a target … so, I think we're always on alert for things that look a little strange," she told VOA.
VOA's Tina Trinh and Ramon Taylor provide and update from New York
The suspect
Authorities in New York have started questioning the suspect, Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbek immigrant who came to the United States in 2010. Saipov has been linked to social media accounts that contain Islamic State-related material. News reports said that a note was found at the scene of the attack in which he claimed allegiance to the jihadist group. IS has not officially claimed responsibility.
Saipov was shot in the abdomen by a New York policeman in the lower Manhattan area of the city, but survived.
Mayor: We are not terrorized
Though the city has heightened security, authorities have said there is no further credible threat. The New York marathon, in which over 50,000 runners will participate, will go ahead as planned Sunday.
"What New Yorkers showed already is that we will not change," New York city Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference Wednesday. "We will not be cowed. We will not be thrown off by anything and this cowardly act, targeting this most innocent people in the middle of the most innocent pursuits, was meant to make people feel they could not go about their daily lives."
De Blasio added that he, along with New York governor Andrew Cuomo and one million others, participated in the annual Halloween parade Tuesday night — just hours after the attack.
"The Halloween parade last night was a beautiful example of the failure of the attempt," Cuomo said Wednesday. "A million New Yorkers came out with their families, with their children. They celebrated. They were there. Just a number of hours after the incident and was New York's way of saying we will not be deterred. We are not terrorized. You will not win."
Watch related video report by VOA's Jeff Custer:
