Silent Streets

The Bronx was alive on Wednesday night. Even from Tampa, the Yankees can brighten this neighborhood. Andy Pettitte pitched well and Mariano Rivera was perfect, again. There was a ninth-inning rally and some tenth-inning drama. Even a Spring Training tie can make you smile in March.

Then everything went wrong. A fire started just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium. Nine people died at 1022 Woodycrest Avenue, eight of them children. They were the face of the neighborhood. New Americans who were everything we should all be: strong, happy, caring, courageous.

They were:

Forty-two-year-old mother:
Fatoumata Soumare

Seven-month-old twins:
Harouma Soumare
Sisi Soumare

Three-year-old:
Djibril Soumare

One-year-old:
Bilaly Magassa

Three-year-old:
Djama Magassa

Five-year-old:
Abudubary Magassa

Eight-year-old:
Mahamadou Magassa

Eleven-year-old:
Bandiougou Magassa

Newspapers have invested thousands of words.

This neighborhood has none.

There is only grief.

And the streets are silent.