NEW YORK, NY August 31, 2004 — Even if they didn't watch the Republican National Convention last night, New Yorkers couldn't escape the obvious. On newspaper stands, the front page of the New York Post screamed, It's 9-11. Republicans say they're showing solidarity with the city by holding their convention here. WNYC's Beth Fertig checked in with local residents to hear their reactions to opening night.

Commuters exiting the World Trade Center Path train are reminded of September 11th on a daily basis. Their trains pass through a gaping construction site where the twin towers once stood. So Katie Marshan of Hoboken says she didn't need any more reminders from politicians.

MARSHAN: I'm getting tired of hearing about it. And I don't really appreciate Republicans using it for their own gain.

GIULIANI: We need George Bush now more than ever!

GONNELA: To be honest I was somewhat turned off to it.

Mike Gonnela was working downtown on September 11th. He admired how Giuliani handled the attacks. But he felt uncomfortable with the heavy emphasis during the convention and Giuliani's 39-minute speech.

GONNELA: After a while when they keep putting it in your face, keep putting it in your face it just seems like they're just using it for their own political agenda and not so much for the people but for themselves.

Paul Cacioppo wasn't as turned off. Like Gonnela, he also fled his office building in a cloud of dust on September 11th.

CACIOPPO: I thought it brought back some memories which maybe I didn't want to have but it also brought back some feelings of pride that we rebounded from it. There were a lot of us out here in the streets that were helping others and you've got to give credit where credit is due, some of the politicians were here trying to do their best.

The emotions of September 11th are already a volatile mixture of pain, anger and fear. But for family members of the victims, they're even more complicated. Three of them addressed the convention last night. These women said nothing about the president or the election. They didn't have to. Here's Tara Stackpole, whose brother Timmy was a firefighter.

STACKPOLE: America must never forget the sacrifices of September 11th or the sacrifices that are made every day by our sons and our daughters in the military service.

For some family members, September 11th is ample reason to support the president - or his opponent. A New York Times poll found family members are divided. And many don't want either party using the attacks for political gain. Bruce DeCell, who lost his son-in-law Mark Petrocelli, definitely falls into that camp. The Staten Island Republican wasn't impressed with last night's display of patriotism.

DECELL: Both political parties are trying to use this to put forward their agenda. It's very relevant and appropriate. But the icky and bad thing is that it's just superficial. They're not getting to the nitty gritty of the fact that we haven't progressed to a point after, 3 years after, to get our country safer.

GIULIANI: When President Bush announced his commitment to ending global terrorism, he understood, I understood, we all understood that it was critical to remove the pillars of support for the global terrorist movement. And any plan to destroy global terrorism Saddam Hussein needed to be removed.

Clyde Frazier lost his son, Clyde Junior, in the Trade Center. He says Giuliani's speech left him cold.

FRAZIER: To me his speech was like a warmonger. You know, he want to take it to the enemy now, he want to be on the offense. I don't see us winning anything. Right now.

Frazier says Giuliani is winning, though. He notes that the former mayor was down in the polls before the September 11th attacks. And he's now got a thriving consulting business and he's being talked about as a presidential contender in 2008.

On the convention floor last night, members of the New York delegation were thrilled to hear Giuliani tell the nation about what the city endured. Myrtle Whitmore of Brookyn couldn't see why anyone says that's exploiting September 11th.

WHITMORE: That's ridiculous! It's part of our lives. It's not political. Suppose we said nothing about it. How do you think the families would feel. Most of the families want us to remember.

This week, the Republican National Convention will certainly remember September 11th. And so will the rest of the city. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.