This thread is one meanspirited trainwreck of a thread with posts from a number of people that are ultimately disrespectful of the events following 9/11 that were aimed to start healing and restore spirits. The event at Shea Stadium on 9/17 was just one of many events in NYC and across the nation to help the nation deal with what happened and resume normal activities such as Major League Baseball. Below is a link to mlb.com listing events across the Major Leagues in the aftermath of 9/11. All of them played a role in helping people and they should be respected as such.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info...member_911.jsp

The performances by Diana Ross, Marc Anthony, and Liza Minnelli should all be respected for what they were aiming to do. But not everyone in NYC was paying attention to the events at Shea that night. Some were still at Ground Zero leading recovery and clean up efforts. Others were in mourning. Others were still holding out hope that a loved one would show up. Others were dealing the trauma of the day. And far less poignantly, others were Yankees fans [[there are two MLB teams in NYC) who don’t pay much mind to the Mets, or not sports fans at all.

I lived in NYC in 2001 and I vaguely recall this event along with many others. But to claim as Jimi and Skooldem that Diana Ross singing God Bless America was a significant turning point in the history of NYC in the aftermath of 9/11 is really over the top and evidence of deranged fandom, as are the attacks by Marv and Jill Foster on Diana Ross and the attacks on Liza Minnelli and Mary Wilson and the overall silly diva fan infighting on this thread. I highly suspect that many of the baseball fans in attendance that night were at most casual fans of Ross, Minnelli and/or Anthony, but appreciated the talents they brought to bear on the patriotic or NYC boosterism songs they performed.

IMO, the post 9/11 concert/musical performance that most resonated in NYC in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 was the concert for Firefighters and First Responders that was held at Madison Square Garden. It was called The Concert for New York City and it was held on October 20, 2001. It was mostly classic rock acts, but those acts and their music really resonated for the firefighters and first responders in attendance. They did more than just patriotic [[for USA or NYC) songs like God Bless America and New York, New York, but played songs that touched a wide range of emotional experiences. Here’s the wiki article on the event:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Con..._New_York_City