July 19, 1999
Web posted at: 1:47 a.m. EDT (0547 GMT)

NEW YORK -- In a scene reminiscent of the mourning for Britain's Princess Diana, hundreds of people came to John F. Kennedy Jr.'s doorstep on Sunday to leave flowers, candles, prayers and poetry expressing grief over the presumed deaths of Kennedy, his wife and sister-in-law in a plane crash.

People came on foot, in taxis and private cars to the former commercial building-turned-luxury condo in Manhattan's Tribeca district, where Kennedy lived in a top-floor penthouse. A claque of news media all but outnumbered the private citizens at any given time.

"We all watched him grow up through the TV and when something like this happens, it happens to all of us," said Frank Lopez, a furniture truck driver, who came from Queens with his mother, Lucy, to leave an American flag and flowers.

The Kennedys, he added, "are part of America, and they show Americans what they could be."

Melissa Monahan, 23, who came from New Jersey with flowers, said JFK Jr. was "a living part of history, yet he was very human... to honor them is kind of comforting."

At one point, film director Spike Lee arrived unexpectedly, left a white envelope addressed in red ink to "The Kennedy's," and darted back to his car before most spectators and photographers recognized him.

Near the door, Jose Torres of the Bronx had posted a drawing based on the famous picture of Kennedy at age 3, saluting the casket of his slain father, President John F. Kennedy. It was inscribed, "Has anyone here seen my old friend John-John?"

"The rose's beauty is very dear. Enjoy its beauty when it is here. As soon as it comes it is gone," said a note signed, "Hafez, a Persian Poet."

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly embracing each other. We send our prayers and hope you are in the arms of the angels," wrote Luciano DeCrecenzo.

"It should not have happened to him. He was our crown prince in America. He stood for everything that was good in this country," said Joan Roth, a special education teacher in the Bronx. "He was an American dream... he was beautiful."

Some visitors were surprised to find that Kennedy lived in what at first glance is a seedy neighborhood of 19th century warehouses, factories and lofts, whose facades belie the luxury conversions within. Actor Robert DeNiro and other film industry notables live in the area just north of the financial district.

"This is a very modest way of living ... I don't know many people who would live in this area, in San Francisco," said Gilles Desaulniers, 47, who runs a grocery store popular with celebrities in the bay city.

Desaulniers said he was in New York for a food fair and stayed over after hearing of the Kennedy crash. "I feel like the people of my generation are all disappearing, people who can make an impact on our lives," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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